Data Engineer

Job Title: Data Engineer

Salary: The starting salary is £53,459, which includes allowances totalling £2,928.

The salary is broken down as £50,531 basic salary, which will increase annually until you reach the top of the scale £55,103 Plus, a location allowance of £1,928 and a non-pensionable allowance of £1,000.

Location: This role can be based in either Sidcup, Hendon, Bow or Lambeth with some travel across the Met estate as required. The role is offered as a hybrid work pattern, with 3 days expected in the office.

Security Clearance: This post requires access to the most sensitive intelligence material on a daily basis. Applicants must hold or be prepared to undergo National Security Vetting (NSV) Security Check (enhanced) (SC(e)) level before taking up the post.

Mets Vetting process and charter:

More details relating to UK Security Clearance can be found here:

The Role:

Make London Safer with Every Line of Code

At the Metropolitan Police, data is more than numbers it’s intelligence, insight, and impact. As a Data Engineer, you’ll be at the forefront of our digital transformation, building the pipelines that power critical decisions and operational effectiveness across London’s policing.

This is an opportunity to apply your technical expertise in a high-stakes, high-impact environment. You’ll work with cutting-edge tools and cloud technologies, including Azure Data Factory, Data Bricks, SQL Server, Python, Alteryx, and FME, to deliver scalable, high-quality data solutions.

What we can offer:

• Hybrid working arrangements for a healthy work-life balance.
• 28 days annual leave (excluding public holidays), rising to 33 days after 5 years continuous service
• Personal and professional development opportunities
• Enrolment with the Met’s employee incentive partner, Edenred, giving access to a range of rewards and incentives
• Access to a range of financial products via the Metropolitan Police Trading Service, including preferred credit facilities
• Generous family leave for pregnancy, adoption, paternity and shared parental leave
• Childcare support including nursery and play scheme discounts
• Excellent contributory pension scheme for your financial future
• Access to the Bluelight Emergency Services discount card with a range of official discounts from large national retailers to local businesses including holidays, cars, days out, fashion, gifts, insurance, phones and much more
• A substantial range of health and wellbeing benefits including physiotherapy, 24/7 rehabilitation services and free eye tests
• To promote physical well-being you will have full access to subsidised sports centre membership to over 3,000 UK gyms and 80 London Fitness Centres. There is also an excellent range of sporting activities on offer through the various Met Police Sports and Social Clubs.

What will I be doing?

• Design, build, and maintain robust data pipelines for analytics and operational use
• Optimise databases and implement data validation and cleansing processes
• Collaborate with analysts, scientists, and stakeholders to deliver data-driven solutions
• Support junior engineers and contribute to a culture of continuous improvement
• Help transition our data infrastructure to Microsoft Azure
• Occasionally support operational policing through overtime

What You’ll Need to Succeed?

We’re not just looking for qualifications we’re looking for people who know how to get things done and want to keep learning. If you’ve got a degree in a STEM subject, great. If not, but you’ve spent the last few years working hands-on in data engineering or information systems, that works too.

Here’s what we’d like you to bring:

• You’re confident with SQL - writing queries, building stored procedures, and designing databases is second nature to you.
• You’ve worked with ETL tools like Alteryx, SSIS, FME or Python, and you know how to move and transform data efficiently.
• You’ve got experience building solutions in cloud platforms like Azure Data Factory or Data Bricks, or you’re keen to get stuck in.
• You understand how relational databases and data warehouses work, and you’ve had a hand in designing them.
• You’re comfortable solving problems independently whether it’s debugging a script or figuring out why a pipeline isn’t behaving.
• You’ve written batch or PowerShell scripts before and know how to automate tasks when needed.
• You can explain technical ideas clearly, whether you’re talking to a fellow engineer or someone who’s never seen a line of code.
• You’re self-motivated, detail-focused, and always looking for ways to improve how things are done.

It’s Great If You Also Have…

We know not everyone ticks every box, but if you’ve got experience in any of the following areas, it’ll definitely help you hit the ground running:

• You’ve used version control tools like GIT and understand the value of keeping things organised and collaborative.
• You’ve worked with automated testing and know how to build reliable, repeatable processes.
• You’re familiar with Agile ways of working and enjoy being part of a fast-moving, iterative team.
• You’ve handled geospatial data or dabbled in machine learning, or maybe even both.
• You’ve built dashboards or reports using tools like Power BI, Power Query or Tableau.
• You’ve worked in a SharePoint environment and know how to make the most of it.
• You’ve written code in Java, Scala or other programming languages and enjoy exploring new tech.

We view diversity as fundamental to our success. To tackle today’s complex policing challenges, we welcome applications from all of our London communities.