At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team tackling complex intelligence data challenges and drive innovative solutions.
- Company: A global intelligence business with over 125 years of heritage, now modern and cloud-native.
- Benefits: Up to £100k salary, hybrid working, 27 days leave, private medical, and pension contributions.
- Other info: Join a dynamic team in Manchester with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on critical data platforms that serve governments and enterprises worldwide.
- Qualifications: Hands-on engineering leader with backend experience and knowledge of unstructured data.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
We're recruiting an Engineering Manager for a global intelligence business with over 125 years of heritage, now operating as a modern, cloud-native data platform serving governments, defence organisations and commercial enterprises worldwide. This is a hands-on leadership role sitting at the heart of how complex intelligence data is structured, delivered and consumed.
The team you'll lead owns the downstream layer of the platform, APIs, search and discovery systems, and data access and delivery services, working with some genuinely interesting technical challenges at scale.
What you'll be working on:
- The platform handles complex, unstructured intelligence data with heavy validation requirements.
- Leading a team of 6-8 engineers through live infrastructure challenges including a significant Document DB migration, large-scale S3 data transfers and evolving API design for backend data handling.
This is not a role for someone who manages from a distance. The tech stack includes AWS throughout, Python and Node.js on the backend, MongoDB and DocumentDB for document storage, OpenSearch and Elasticsearch for search and indexing, event-driven architecture, CI/CD, and strong observability standards.
What we're looking for:
- A hands-on engineering leader with a strong backend or data platform background.
- Genuine experience with unstructured data, schema design and document databases.
- Someone who understands what good looks like around data quality, validation and system reliability.
- A people leader who can develop engineers, have difficult conversations when needed and build a team that takes ownership.
- AWS experience and comfort with distributed, event-driven systems.
- Corporate governance instilled, you know the standards without needing to be taught them.
What this isn't:
- An analytics or BI role.
- A DevOps or infrastructure role.
- A role for someone who hasn't worked close to the data layer.
Package: Up to £100k base. Hybrid working, 2 days per week in Manchester city centre. Benefits include 27 days annual leave, BUPA private medical, 6% employer pension contribution and life cover.
If you're a technically credible EM who wants to work on data that genuinely matters, get in touch.
Engineering Manager - Data Platform employer: Wave Group
Join a prestigious global intelligence business with over 125 years of heritage, where you will lead a dynamic team in a hands-on Engineering Manager role focused on innovative data solutions. Enjoy a supportive work culture that prioritises employee growth, offering hybrid working arrangements and comprehensive benefits including private medical care and generous annual leave. This is an exceptional opportunity to tackle complex technical challenges while contributing to meaningful projects that impact governments and enterprises worldwide.
