Data Engineering Manager

This role exists to support the data engineering team in the creation of high quality, scalable and flexible data engineering foundations and architectures to support the Gymshark business and customers on our journey to be more data-driven. The role has a key focus on supporting people through technical and people‑focussed coaching and personal development whilst helping set and hold people accountable for their objectives in line with wider team and business objectives.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING:

• Leadership: Drives accountability across the data engineering team, defining and communicating a high bar for individual performance. Empowers data engineers to achieve consistent high quality engineering excellence in their work, through regular facilitation of skill‑sharing. Creates unique opportunities and supports the technical upskilling of individuals within the data engineering team. Understands capability gaps and creates proactive plans to effectively staff and structure their teams to enable them to deliver to our data and business strategy. Clearly understands team objectives in‑line with strategic objectives and uses this understanding as a baseline for wider decision‑making. Maintains an excellent relationship with senior stakeholders to align and support strategic decision‑making. Maintains an open, performance‑led environment to identify and resolve interpersonal conflicts quickly. Considers team morale, skill and current workload when involved in ad‑hoc decision‑making. Drives cross‑functional collaboration to achieve consistency of approach across the Tech teams. Raises the visibility of the team’s work in the wider organisation, recognising both individual and team achievements. Collaborates with other engineering managers, lead engineers and Heads‑of Tech to form a ‘one‑team' fully aligned on general engineering approach and delivery requirements. Ensures situations in relation to delivery do not stagnate, taking personal responsibility to restore clarity, capability, and motivation where necessary.
• Culture: Creates a culture of skill‑sharing, ownership, and accountability within their team through excellent documentation and retrospectives. Facilitates mentorship opportunities cross‑team to improve team skill bases. Continuously composes and delivers constructive feedback to direct reports but also seeks out consistent feedback from peers and direct reports. Supports direct reports to independently pull and deliver feedback, sympathetic to areas of specific developmental importance. Proactively raises any team/individual performance or people retention issues to the Head of and appropriately manages any performance or flight risk concerns by working constructively with direct reports to set mitigating actions. Regularly spotlights and rewards enacted feedback on a 1:1 and team level. Ensures direct reports efficiently manage their capacity to allow for personal growth 10% time. Recognises and highlights the value of delegated work, through more strategic focus time for Leads and more stretch goals for Seniors / Mid‑weight Data Engineers. Comfortable managing a team of 6-8 Junior‑Lead Data Engineers. Leads interviews and ensures their engineers are taking part in hiring where appropriate, and that their feedback is well calibrated. Ensures new joiners in their team are set up for success. Understands and is sympathetic to the impact of a new starter or leaver on team dynamic.
• Delivery: Makes significant improvements to internal processes to ensure projects are delivered to deadlines, and therefore budgets. Proactively manages incidents directly affecting their team or area which could have knock‑on implications cross‑function. Understands and anticipates the need for change, diagnoses the underlying issues and builds the case for change to Tech leadership. Ensures a high level of transparency when it comes to team knowledge (or lack of) planning appropriate training / workshops as required. Builds an excellent relationship with relevant peers in their team to ensure cross‑functional alignment on key success metrics. Comfortable gathering problem statements and requirements from business stakeholders and planning the work. Supports the Head of Data Platform in creating a strategy and scalable operating model for data engineering aligned with the business strategy and vision for data. Works with Data Product Manager to create a roadmap for the team. Ensures project work aligns with the aims of the business and vision for the data function whilst not compromising team autonomy. Continuous approach to optimising both efficiency and impact of team output.
• Craft: Utilises a quality‑focused and business value‑driven approach to planning, delivering and supporting data engineering work. Provides technical leadership and coaching to direct reports in order to support business vision, mission, and objectives. Solid understanding of direct reports strengths and weaknesses. Builds a culture of accountability and curiosity across the team, to encourage focus and development. Establishes a ‘coaching first’ mentality to work, with regular, immovable cadences for 1:1 engagements. Establishes trust‑based relationship, demonstrably beyond ‘the work’ with their direct reports. Sets meaningful professional and personal development goals and milestones for direct reports. Leads conversations around what their direct reports need to demonstrate in order to progress. Can demonstrably align the growth of their data engineers with the success of their team. Takes every opportunity to recognise and celebrate direct reports progress towards developmental goals.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• Has worked as part of a high performing data or software engineering team in a lead or senior contributor capacity.
• Has a strong technical background and can demonstrate previous experience in delivering and developing data engineering pipelines or software.
• Has a strong understanding of high‑quality code and architecture best practices, producing readable, maintainable code with sound structure and scalable design.
• Has a strong background in coaching and supporting the technical and personal development of a data engineering team.
• Has led and supported the activities of an agile delivery team, with a laser focus on delivering business value.
• Has experience in training and/or mentoring team members.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Has managed a team of at least 3-4 people and can evidence delegation skills and the development of those people over a period of time.
• Broader understanding and/or experience with data or software engineering practices such as but not limited to analytics, data science/Machine Learning and DevOps.

Value Driven Behaviours:

• Working with a ‘business value, quality and team‑first mentality’.
• Involving & empowering data engineers in the team (Delegating).
• Collaborating with other managers, lead engineers & tech teams.
• Reflecting and upholding the Gymshark values in their day‑to‑day actions and interactions.
• Inviting and giving candid, constructive feedback.
• Being honest and transparent.
• Aptitude and attitude to learn with opportunities to expand remit.