Senior Manager - Data Engineer in England

Squarcle is a growing strategy, operations and digital consultancy dedicated to driving the performance of our clients. We are people orientated and pride ourselves on our people-first culture. The Technology and Digital department is responsible for providing expert technology and digitisation strategy, operational optimisation and analysis advice to clients operating within a fast-moving global environment.

The Senior Manager Data Engineer, Digital, reports to the Head of Digital and is responsible for the provision of independent technical expertise in data engineering, infrastructure and back-end development best practice, both on client projects and Squarcle’s proprietary platform development. All of our digital team members are expected to have input into our digital, product and technology strategy and be comfortable presenting technical content to non-technical colleagues and clients.

Primary Roles And Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across multiple client engagements and internal product initiatives, setting direction and assuring quality for data engineering deliverables in line with the DDAT framework.
• Own end-to-end delivery governance for data engineering workstreams, including engagement planning, estimating, budgeting, mobilisation, RAID management, and delivery assurance.
• Lead architecture and design of scalable, secure, and cost-effective data platforms and pipelines (batch, streaming, API, event-driven, and unstructured), ensuring appropriate technology choices and design patterns.
• Define and enforce data engineering standards (coding, testing, CI/CD, observability, documentation, and operational readiness), and conduct technical assurance including design and code reviews.
• Partner with client stakeholders to understand business objectives, data maturity, information governance requirements, and security constraints; translate needs into robust roadmaps, backlogs, and delivery plans.
• Ensure compliance with relevant policies and regulations (e.g., data protection, access controls, retention), embedding data quality, lineage, metadata management, and auditability into delivered solutions.
• Lead multi-disciplinary teams (data engineers, platform/infrastructure engineers, analysts, data scientists, and product delivery) and contribute to ways of working that enable effective delivery (Agile, Discovery–Alpha–Beta–Live where appropriate).
• Drive platform reliability and performance, setting SLOs/SLAs where appropriate, and implementing monitoring, alerting, incident response processes, and continuous improvement.
• Lead and contribute hands-on to critical technical delivery when required (e.g., complex pipeline development, optimisation, troubleshooting, and secure integration design).
• Develop client and internal capability through coaching, mentoring, and formalised knowledge sharing; build and maintain communities of practice and reusable assets (patterns, accelerators, templates).
• Support growth of the Data & Digital practice through business development activities, including shaping proposals, defining delivery approaches, contributing to thought leadership, and supporting recruitment and capability planning.
• Provide people leadership for direct reports, including objective setting, performance reviews, development planning, and creating an inclusive, high-performing culture.

Secondary Roles And Responsibilities

• Champion continuous improvement and professional development across the Data & Digital practice, including organising and sponsoring communities of practice, team events, and internal training programmes.
• Support recruitment and growth activities, including shaping role profiles, interviewing, onboarding, and workforce/capability planning for current and future delivery demand.
• Contribute to internal governance and assurance activities, including peer reviews, delivery health checks, escalation support, and ensuring consistent application of engineering standards and DDAT-aligned ways of working.
• Represent Data Engineering capability internally and externally through thought leadership (e.g., white papers, case studies, presentations) and by supporting proposal development and client account growth.
• Act as an escalation point for delivery, people, and client matters within the Data Engineering community, supporting issue resolution, prioritisation, and risk management.
• Carry out other duties as specified by the Head of Digital (or delegate).
• Deputise for the Head of Digital (or nominated senior leader) during periods of absence, as required.

Essential

• Demonstrable expertise in data engineering, including creating robust data pipelines for streamed, batched and on-demand data sources.
• Strong data modelling and analysis skills.
• Cloud and platform experience (Azure centric, strong understanding of Azure data services; Azure Data Factory etc.), Must Have experience in Databricks and Delta Lake.
• Strong understanding of API based integrations.
• Experience with integrating to SaaS platforms.
• Strong SQL experience.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills – an analytical, innovative, and creative mindset.
• Experience supporting the designing and delivering of data and digital solutions to solve business problems and create enduring value for clients.
• A growth mindset, enthused by challenge and the opportunity for continuous learning.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical audiences, influence decisions, and manage expectations at senior levels.
• Demonstrable leadership experience, including line management and coaching/mentoring of data engineering practitioners and multi-disciplinary delivery teams.
• Intellectual curiosity, exceptional client service, and a strong work ethic.
• Proven experience leading delivery of complex data engineering workstreams, including planning, estimation, prioritisation, governance, and active management of risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies (RAID).
• Ability to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and to think creatively to solve client issues.
• Security: Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is SC.

Desirable

• BSc/BA in Computer Science, Engineering or a related analytical or technical field.
• An understanding of supply chain.
• An understanding of construction.

What we offer

• Generous leave package: 26 days of annual leave (including your birthday!) plus UK bank holidays — increasing to 27 days after three years, and 28 after seven years.
• Private medical insurance.
• £1,000 referral bonus for successful hires.
• Performance-related awards.
• Annual training week abroad.
• Funding for qualifications that benefit both you and the business.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Pension contributions are 3% employer and 5% employee.

Our working hours are 8:30 am – 5:30 pm (with an hour for lunch), Monday – Friday.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you’ve been recruited for.

We’re committed to creating a diverse environment. We embrace differences and hire based on merit, giving equal consideration to all applications, regardless of gender, background, and race.