Data Engineering and DBA Manager

Are you passionate about turning raw data into powerful insights? West Northamptonshire Council is looking for an exceptional Data Engineering and DBA Manager to continue the modernisation of our entire data infrastructure. This is a fantastic opportunity to shape how data is managed, shared and secured across the council. You'll be at the forefront of our digital transformation – continuing to move us from legacy on-premise systems into a cloud-first (Microsoft Fabric), insight-driven future. Reporting to the Head of IT Operations and working within our innovative Digital, Technology & Innovation team, you’ll initially lead a skilled team of four senior technical experts, with plans to grow the function as we strengthen our data capability.

Our benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.

What will you be doing?

In this vital role, you’ll be leading the charge in transforming our data landscape - designing and implementing efficient, modern data pipelines and architectures that enable timely and accurate insight-sharing across the organisation. You'll be a central figure in collaborating with business teams to understand their data needs, designing robust models, and ensuring security, integrity and performance at every step. As you build the Council’s data science and engineering capabilities from the ground up, you'll also play a key role in defining standards, delivering technical training, and ensuring best practices are embedded across our data estate. From managing enterprise database systems and supporting major upgrades, to driving supplier performance and shaping future data strategy, this role is about making a real impact through smart, sustainable data engineering.

About you

We’re looking for someone who thrives at the intersection of technology, strategy and delivery - someone who sees data not just as numbers, but as the fuel that drives better decisions and better services. You’ll bring a wealth of experience in data engineering, database administration and cloud technologies, along with a passion for innovation and continuous improvement. You’ll be a confident communicator, able to bridge the gap between technical teams and business needs, and a natural leader ready to grow and inspire a team. If you're excited by the idea of building a modern, fit-for-purpose data environment that makes a tangible difference to how a council serves its community, then we want to hear from you.

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what its like to work at West Northants Council.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.

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