Principal Data Engineer – Consulting
Location: Leeds, Bristol or London (hybrid)
Salary: £90,000 – £105,000 (depending on experience) + bonus + benefits
NOTE: Candidates for this role must be eligible for UK Security Clearance.
Are you passionate about designing modern data solutions that drive real business value? We're looking for an experienced, hands-on Principal Data Engineer to join our growing consulting practice. This is a fantastic opportunity to work across greenfield projects, collaborating closely with clients to deliver scalable, cloud-native data platforms and pipelines.
About the Role
You’ll lead the design and implementation of cutting-edge data architectures using AWS technologies such as Redshift, S3, Lambda, Glue, Step Functions, and Matillion. Your role will include liaising with stakeholders to shape technical solutions, driving delivery excellence, and ultimately empowering clients to take ownership of their platforms.
We're looking for someone who thrives on complex challenges, is highly self-motivated, and values a collaborative, knowledge-sharing culture. You’ll also play a key part in mentoring other engineers and contributing to best practices in data engineering and DevOps.
What You’ll Bring
* Strong hands-on experience with AWS data services – especially Redshift, Glue, and S3
* Strong consulting experience - strong stakeholder management and experience leading large teams
* Heavy involvement in RFI + RFPs
* Proficiency in data integration/ETL development, including ELT patterns and hands-on experience with Matillion
* Skilled in handling structured and unstructured data (JSON, XML, Parquet, etc.)
* Comfortable working in Linux and cloud-native environments
* Strong SQL skills and experience with relational databases
* Knowledge of CI/CD processes and infrastructure-as-code principles
* Experience with data cleansing, metadata management, and data dictionaries
* Familiar with modern data visualisation tools (e.g. QuickSight, Tableau, Looker, QlikSense)
Desirable Skills
* Exposure to large-scale data processing tools (Spark, Hadoop, MapReduce)
* Public sector experience
* Experience building APIs to serve data
* Familiarity with other public cloud platforms and data lakes
* AWS certifications (e.g. Solutions Architect Associate, Big Data Specialty)
* Interest or experience in Machine Learning
If you're ready to bring your data engineering expertise to the next level and help shape solutions that matter, we’d love to hear from you.