Head of Data Engineering

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.

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• 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.
  

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• 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.
  

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• 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.
  

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• 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