Senior Data Engineer

Senior Data Engineer

Are you passionate about building scalable, cloud-native data solutions that drive real-world impact? We're looking for a Senior Data Engineer to join our Data Engineering team and help shape the Bank's strategic cloud-first data platform. You'll design and deliver robust, scalable data solutions that support the Bank's core responsibilities around monetary policy, financial stability, and regulatory supervision.

This role is open to flexible working patterns, which may include:

• Flexible start and end times
• Ability to adapt your calendar to fit in the school run, gym, or appointments
• 50% in-office attendance spread across the month
• Compressed hours (subject to approval and team policy)
• Working from abroad (subject to approval and team policy)

We're excited to be growing our presence in Leeds, a city we've been connected to for nearly 200 years! Our modern, accessible office in the City Centre offers a supportive, flexible working environment. The majority of roles, including this one, are now available in Leeds, giving you the chance to build a meaningful career outside of London while contributing to our mission from a dynamic and growing location. You'll work collaboratively with London-based colleagues in a hybrid model, with regular opportunities to travel into the London office to meet and connect together in person.

Your day begins with a team stand-up — a quick check-in to share updates on sprint tasks, surface any blockers, and align on priorities. From there, you'll move into hands-on engineering: designing and building data pipelines using Databricks, Python, and Spark, reviewing documentation, and contributing to code reviews.

You'll also collaborate with stakeholders such as data scientists, analysts, and delivery managers — gathering technical requirements, providing updates, or helping clarify data-related queries. Support duties are shared across the team, and you'll take turns running daily checks and resolving any issues to keep our data infrastructure running smoothly.

You'll also be part of Agile ceremonies like backlog refinements and sprint plannings, which help shape the team's priorities and keep delivery on track. Mentoring is a shared responsibility, and as a senior engineer, you'll support others when needed — offering guidance, sharing knowledge, and contributing to a collaborative team culture.

And finally, there's space to grow. Whether it's exploring new tools, deepening your cloud expertise, or attending internal workshops, upskilling is part of the journey — not just a perk.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex data challenges and wants to make a meaningful impact through engineering excellence. If you're someone who thrives in collaborative environments, enjoys mentoring and learning from others, and is excited by the idea of shaping modern data infrastructure - this could be the perfect next step in your career.

Minimum criteria:

• Extensive experience with Azure services including Azure Databricks, Azure Data Lake Storage, and Azure Data Factory.
• Advanced proficiency in SQL, Python, and Spark (PySpark), with a strong focus on performance optimization and distributed processing.
• Proven experience in CI/CD practices using industry-standard tools (e.g., GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
• Strong understanding of data architecture principles and cloud-native design patterns.

Essential criteria:

• Demonstrated ability to lead technical delivery, mentor engineering teams and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure alignment between data solutions and business strategy.
• Proficiency in Linux/Unix environments and shell scripting.
• Deep understanding of source control, testing strategies, and agile development practices.
• Self-motivated with a strategic mindset and a passion for driving innovation in data engineering.

Desirable criteria:

• Experience delivering data pipelines on Hortonworks/Cloudera on-prem and leading cloud migration initiatives.
• Familiarity with:
• Apache Airflow
• Data modelling and metadata management
• Experience influencing enterprise data strategy and contributing to architectural governance.

This role sits within the Data Services team, part of the Bank's Technology Directorate. As a Senior Data Engineer, you'll contribute to the Bank's strategic objectives around monetary policy, financial stability, and regulatory supervision. Your work will help modernize legacy systems, enhance data accessibility, and empower colleagues across the Bank to make data-driven decisions with confidence.

We're not looking for a 100% match across every skill listed. If you bring strong core experience and are excited to grow into the rest, we'd love to hear from you. We'll support you in developing new skills and filling any gaps. Diverse perspectives and backgrounds help us build better solutions, and we welcome applicants who share our passion for learning and collaboration.

The Bank of England values diversity, equity and inclusion. We're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, and we believe that it's by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we'll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the 'Candidate Personal Information' under the 'Disability Confident Scheme' section of the application.