Head of Data Engineering

Gravitas Recruitment Group (Global) Ltd
Manchester
3 days ago
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Gravitas is delighted to be supporting a forward-thinking financial services organisation seeking their first-ever Head of Data Engineering. This is a rare opportunity to take full ownership of a modern Azure-based data estate and transform a reactive function into a proactive, value-generating capability.


You’ll lead a team of engineers within a business that recognises data as a strategic differentiator. You won’t just “build to spec”, you’ll be expected to deeply understand business problems, shape solutions, and drive engineering excellence across a rapidly maturing data environment.


If you’re looking for a genuine meritocracy where you can define the vision, elevate standards, and own the roadmap end-to-end, this is an outstanding next step.


The Opportunity

  • Lead, develop, and mentor a team of 5 Data Engineers (note: BI is being separated into its own function).
  • Own and evolve a modern Azure data ecosystem including Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, and Databricks.
  • Build robust, scalable data pipelines, ensuring high governance, strong documentation, and engineering discipline.
  • Translate business problems into engineering solutions, not just deliver against tickets.
  • Create the blueprint for turning data engineering from a reactive support function into a strategic growth driver.
  • Partner with the CDAO, analytics specialists, and ML teams to ensure the platform enables modelling, insight, and product innovation.
  • Maintain high standards around regulation, data governance, and FCA expectations.
  • Oversee platform integrity: security, access controls, audit trails, and compliance workflows (e.g., DSARs, sanctions screening).
  • Shape engineering best practice and guide the implementation of modern patterns, frameworks, and tooling.
  • Provide architectural and infrastructure insight, this is a hands‑on role with no dedicated Azure infrastructure team.

What You Bring
Core Technical Expertise

  • Proven experience leading a data engineering team
  • Hands‑on experience with Databricks (Delta Lake, Notebooks, Workflows, Unity Catalog).
  • Proficiency in SQL, Python, and PySpark.
  • Experience across Azure Data Lake, Synapse Analytics, and cloud‑native architectures.
  • A strong track record building scalable, high‑quality pipelines and lakehouse structures.

Additional Valuable Experience

  • Understanding of hybrid on‑premise/cloud patterns and SQL Server integrations.
  • Exposure to ML engineering, feature stores, or analytics‑ready data assets.
  • Familiarity with FCA requirements, data governance frameworks, or credit/debt management environments.
  • Financial services experience is highly advantageous.
  • Collaborative, empowering people leader who sets high standards.
  • Able to communicate clearly with both technical and non‑technical audiences.
  • Thinks strategically, balancing delivery with long‑term capability building.
  • Comfortable diving into detail when needed; leads by example in code quality.
  • Energised by solving complex problems with a practical, solutions‑first mindset.
  • Resilient and driven, capable of maintaining momentum in a fast‑paced, evolving environment.

What You’ll Get

  • Discretionary annual bonus
  • 25–30 days holiday (depending on service) + birthday day off
  • Pension scheme with up to 5% matched contributions
  • Manchester‑based during probation; 3 days hybrid working thereafter


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