Lead Data Engineer

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne (primarily remote, occasional travel)Contract Type: Contract (Outside IR35)Day Rate: Up to £800 per day

The Opportunity

We’re partnering with a highly respected Software business to find an experienced Lead Data Engineer to support a major client engagement. This is a hands-on, client-facing role where you’ll play a key part in shaping and delivering modern data platforms and pipelines.

You’ll work closely with stakeholders to unlock the value of data, building scalable solutions that support analytics, reporting, and advanced use cases such as machine learning.

Role responsibilities:

• Lead the design and delivery of robust, scalable data platforms and pipelines
• Work alongside client teams to understand requirements and translate them into effective technical solutions
• Build and optimise data ingestion, transformation, and storage processes
• Develop integrated data models to enable reporting, analytics, and AI use cases
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to engineers within the delivery team
• Contribute to architectural decisions and best practices across the project lifecycle

Key Skills & Experience we’re looking for:

• Strong background in data engineering and software development
• Proven experience working with Databricks (essential)
• Hands-on expertise with tools such as Python, PySpark, Spark, and SQL
• Experience building and maintaining data pipelines and data platforms
• Solid understanding of data modelling and data architecture principles
• Experience working with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Comfortable working in client-facing environments

Why Apply?

• Great flexible working arrangement
• Opportunity to work on complex, high-impact data projects
• Collaborative, engineering-led culture with a focus on quality