We're looking for an experienced Head of Data Engineering to lead and develop a growing data engineering function within a major retail business.
This is a senior leadership position, responsible for shaping the data engineering strategy, overseeing delivery and establishing best-practice engineering standards across an enterprise-scale Azure Databricks environment.
You'll lead internal engineering teams and third-party partners, driving improvements across data architecture, DataOps, governance, quality and cost efficiency.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead and develop the data engineering function, including internal teams and external delivery partners.
- Own the design, development and delivery of enterprise-scale data products.
- Establish and embed engineering standards, best practices and a robust DataOps operating model.
- Drive improvements across data quality, governance, monitoring and platform performance.
- Oversee data engineering costs, optimisation and delivery efficiency.
- Work closely with senior stakeholders, data science and technology teams.
- Help shape the future direction of data applications, machine learning and AI engineering.
- Extensive experience leading enterprise-scale data engineering teams.
- Strong hands-on experience with Azure Databricks and the wider Azure ecosystem.
- Strong knowledge of Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, Lakeflow / Delta Live Tables and Databricks Workflows.
- Experience implementing CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code and automated testing.
- Proven experience establishing DataOps practices, engineering standards and data governance.
- Strong understanding of data architecture, performance optimisation and cost management.
- Experience managing third-party delivery partners and engaging with senior stakeholders.
- Experience building data applications on the Databricks Lakehouse.
- Exposure to MLflow, Mosaic AI, RAG and agentic AI solutions.
- Experience taking machine learning and AI workloads into production.
- Background in retail, grocery, supply chain or another high-volume transactional environment.
This is a fantastic opportunity for an established data engineering leader to take ownership of a significant enterprise data environment and help shape its future direction, including its growing AI capabilities.
Head of Data Engineering in Leeds employer: TechYard
Join a dynamic consultancy that champions innovation in Data & AI transformation, where your expertise as a Senior Cloud Engineer will be valued and nurtured. With a strong emphasis on collaboration and professional growth, you'll have access to cutting-edge tools and technologies while working alongside industry leaders in a supportive environment. Located in a vibrant tech hub, this role offers unique opportunities to engage with enterprise clients and make a tangible impact on their AI initiatives.
