Junior Data Engineer

Hays Technology
London, United Kingdom
3 weeks ago
£310 pd

Salary

£310 pd

Seniority
Junior
Posted
21 Apr 2026 (3 weeks ago)

Junior Data Engineer - Public Sector

Contract: Initial 7 months (extension possible)

Rate: £310 per day, Inside IR35

Location: Remote with travel to Waterloo (2-3 days per month)

Security Clearance: SC‑eligible (5 years UK residency required)

I am working with a key consultancy delivering a major UK public sector programme and are looking for a Junior Data Engineer / Scientist to join a mixed delivery team building and operating secure, reliable data platforms that support critical public services.This role is designed for someone early in their data career who wants to develop strong engineering fundamentals in a real production environment.

The role - a junior, generalist data engineering position. This is an engineering‑led role, not a specialist or senior position. The team is ideally looking for a generalist in their first few years within data engineering or data science, who is building breadth across data platforms, pipelines and operations.

You'll focus on:

Designing, building and maintaining data pipelines

Supporting the operation of data lakes and data warehouses

Implementing and improving ETL / ELT processes

Using Python and SQL to transform, validate and move data

Working with analysts and developers to turn data requirements into technical solutions

Monitoring data quality, documenting data models and lineage, and resolving issues

Automating data workflows and operational tasks

Participating in Agile delivery, sprint work and collaboration

Supporting incidents and helping improve platform reliability over time

Working within public sector data governance, security and privacy standardsThis role offers exposure to how data platforms are built, operated and supported in a regulated environment - forming the foundations of a long‑term data engineering career.

What this role is not

To avoid misalignment, it's important to be clear about what this role is not focused on:

❌ Not a Data Analyst role

❌ Not a Power BI / dashboard developer role

❌ Not an insight, reporting or MI position

❌ Not a modelling, ML or research‑focused role

❌ Not an LLM, AI or advanced data science roleWhile you may work alongside analysts and data scientists, this role does not centre on:

Building dashboards

Producing insights or reports

Statistical modelling

Predictive or machine learning solutionsThe emphasis is on data engineering foundations and platform delivery.

Ideal candidate profile

This role is best suited to someone who:

Is in their first few years of a data engineering or data science career

Wants to build core engineering skills rather than specialise immediately

Has hands‑on experience with SQL and Python

Understands basic data modelling and ETL concepts

Is comfortable learning through delivery in a production environment

Is interested in how data platforms work end‑to‑end, including operations and support

Is keen to grow within public sector data platforms

Who this role is unlikely to suit

This role is unlikely to be appropriate for candidates who:

Are very senior data engineers or architects

Have primarily worked in advanced ML, AI, or research‑focused roles

Are specialised Power BI, reporting or MI developers

Are looking for a role centred on analysis, insights or modelling

Are seeking leadership, ownership of platform strategy, or advanced optimisation workApplications that demonstrate significant seniority or deep specialisation rather than junior‑to‑mid generalist experience may not be progressed.

Required skills and experience

Your CV should clearly demonstrate:

A degree in a technical discipline (Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics or similar)

Hands‑on experience with SQL

Experience using Python, Java or Bash

Understanding of ETL processes and data modelling fundamentals

Experience with version control (e.g. Git)

Comfort working in Agile / DevOps environments

Awareness of data security and privacy

Eligibility for UK SC clearance

Nice to have (but not essential)

Exposure to AWS, Azure or GCP

Familiarity with tools such as Airflow, dbt, Spark

Awareness of CI/CD pipelines or containerisation

Experience in public sector or regulated environments

Important note for applicants

This role is deliberately positioned as a junior, generalist data engineering role. Please ensure your CV clearly demonstrates hands‑on data engineering fundamentals, rather than senior leadership, advanced AI/ML work, or analytics‑only experience.

Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at (url removed)

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Junior Data Engineer

Hays Technology London, United Kingdom
£310 pd

Data Engineer - Junior

Orbit Group Binley Woods, Warwickshire, United Kingdom
£37,500 – £40,779 pa

Junior Data Scientist

Experis Glasgow, City Of Glasgow, G2 1AL, United Kingdom
Hybrid

AWS Data Engineer

83zero Tower Hamlets, London, United Kingdom
£60,000 – £70,000 pa

Senior AWS Data engineer (LDW Data Warehouse Discovery)

Experis Telford, Shropshire, SY2 5TN, United Kingdom
£400 – £480 pd Hybrid Clearance Required

Data Scientist - London, UK (Fully

Randstad Technologies Recruitment London, United Kingdom
Remote

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

Where to Advertise Data Science Jobs in the UK (2026 Guide)

Where to advertise data science jobs UK in 2026: the specialist boards, communities and channels that actually reach senior and lead data science talent. Data science spans a broad and often misunderstood spectrum — from statistical modelling and experimental design through to machine learning engineering, product analytics and AI research. The strongest candidates identify firmly with specific subdisciplines and are frustrated by adverts that conflate data scientist with data analyst, business intelligence developer or machine learning engineer. General job boards produce high application volumes for data roles but consistently fail to match specialist data science profiles with the right opportunities. This guide, published by DataScienceJobs.co.uk, covers where to advertise data science roles in the UK in 2026, how the main platforms compare, what employers should expect to pay, and what the data says about hiring across different role types.

Data Science Jobs UK 2026: What to Expect Over the Next 3 Years

Data Science Jobs UK 2026: roles, salaries and the trends shaping UK data science hiring over the next three years — from MLE crossover to GenAI workflows. Data science has spent the past decade being described as the sexiest job of the twenty-first century. By 2026, the reality is both more nuanced and more interesting than that label ever suggested. The discipline has matured, fragmented, deepened, and in some respects reinvented itself — and the jobs market has changed with it in ways that create genuine opportunity for those who understand what employers actually want, and genuine difficulty for those still operating on assumptions formed five years ago. The data science jobs market of 2026 is not simply a larger version of what it was three years ago. The generalist data scientist — equally comfortable wrangling data, building models, and presenting insights to the board — is giving way to a more specialised landscape where employers know exactly what problem they are trying to solve and are looking for candidates with the specific depth to solve it. Machine learning engineering, causal inference, experimentation, AI product development, and domain-specific applied science have all emerged as distinct career tracks within what was previously a single, loosely defined profession. At the same time, the arrival of large language models and the broader AI capability wave has both threatened and created data science roles in equal measure. Some of the work that junior data scientists spent their early careers doing — data cleaning, exploratory analysis, basic model building — is being partially automated by AI tooling. But the demand for practitioners who can evaluate AI systems rigorously, apply statistical thinking to complex business problems, and build the data foundations on which AI depends has grown considerably. The candidates who will thrive over the next three years are those who understand where the discipline is heading — which specialisms are attracting the most investment, which technologies are reshaping what data scientists are expected to build and know, and how to position a data science career that will remain valuable as the field continues to evolve around them. This article breaks down what the UK data science jobs market is likely to look like through to 2028 — covering the titles emerging right now, the technologies driving employer demand, the skills that will matter most, and how to position your career ahead of the curve.

New Data Science Employers to Watch in 2026: UK and International Companies Leading Analytics and AI Innovation

New Data Science Employers to Watch in 2026: a UK and international shortlist of analytics and AI companies hiring data scientists, ML engineers and analysts. Data science has emerged as one of the most transformative forces across industries, turning raw information into actionable insights, predictive models, and AI-powered solutions. In 2026, the UK is witnessing a surge in organisations where data science is not just a support function but the core of their products and services. For professionals exploring opportunities on www.DataScience-Jobs.co.uk , identifying these employers early can provide a competitive advantage in a market with high demand for advanced analytics and machine learning expertise. This article highlights new and high-growth data science employers to watch in 2026, focusing on UK startups, scale-ups, and global firms expanding their data science operations locally. All of the companies included have recently raised investment, won high-profile contracts, or significantly scaled their analytics teams.