Data Engineer (SC Cleared)

About the Opportunity

Fortice are recruiting on behalf of a fast-growing AI and data engineering scale-up operating on complex, mission-critical programmes for government and enterprise clients.

The business sits at the intersection of data engineering, advanced analytics, and applied AI, delivering solutions that support real operational decision-making in high-stakes environments. The company has recently entered its next phase of growth following a strategic acquisition by a global consulting and technology partner, bringing scale and long-term programme stability while retaining an engineering-led, delivery-focused culture.

The Role

Forward Deployed Data Engineer (security cleared)

We are hiring Forward Deployed Data Engineers across multiple levels (Junior through Senior Manager).

This is a hands-on, client-embedded engineering role. You will work close to operational users, helping them solve messy, ambiguous problems by designing and building robust data pipelines, workflows, and decision-support tooling.

You are not just "building data platforms" in isolation; you are deploying engineering capability directly into client environments and adapting solutions to real constraints.

What You'll Do

• Buddy up with clients: Work directly alongside stakeholders to understand operational challenges and translate them into technical solutions.
• Design under ambiguity: Break down poorly defined problem spaces and design pragmatic, scalable architectures.
• Engineer data pipelines: Build and maintain ETL pipelines that support operational and analytical use cases.
• Develop workflows: Create decision-support tools and operational workflows that real users rely on.
• Apply AI where it counts: Collaborate on deploying AI and ML models that solve real problems, not experiments.
• Write production code: Deliver clean, reliable, maintainable software across the stack.
• Raise standards: Mentor peers, contribute to internal best practice, and help set the engineering bar.
• Build trust: Earn credibility with clients through delivery, judgment, and consistency.

What We're Looking For

• Strong experience in Python, SQL, and TypeScript.
• Solid grounding in data engineering, ETL pipelines, and workflow orchestration.
• Experience with enterprise data platforms used in operational settings (Palantir experience is a strong plus, but not mandatory).
• Comfort operating in complex, high-pressure client environments.
• Interest in applied AI / machine learning with a practical mindset.
• Clear communicator who can bridge technical and non-technical audiences.
• Curious, adaptable, and delivery-focused.

Why This Role

• Work on mission-critical programmes with real operational impact.
• Be trusted to operate close to the problem, not shielded from it.
• Build rare experience as a forward-deployed engineer, not a back-office implementer.
• Access large-scale programmes and long-term career progression through a globally backed organisation.
• Join a culture that values engineering judgement, accountability, and hard work over hype.