Senior Data Engineer

Join DWP Digital and lead the future of data engineering in one of the UK's largest and most impactful digital environments

As a Senior Data Engineer, you'll join our Data Platform and Operations team within Data & Analytics, where you'll play a pivotal role in shaping how we design, build and evolve data platforms that support DWP's ambition to become a truly data-driven organisation.

We're recruiting for two roles, both focused on technical leadership, engineering excellence, and building capability. You'll lead engineers - sometimes through direct line management, sometimes through technical leadership across teams - setting direction, guiding delivery and mentoring others as we grow our senior engineering capability. This is a unique opportunity to help establish what excellence looks like for senior data engineering within our enablement space.

With significant platform migration and transformation activity underway, your role will combine hands-on engineering, technical oversight and strategic influence. You'll help ensure our data pipelines and services are robust, scalable, and aligned to best practice - supporting services that make a real difference to millions of people across the UK.

The scale of what we do is extraordinary, and our purpose is unique. We'd love you to join us.

What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?

• Experience leading the technical delivery of data or ETL projects, making sure the work is high quality, reliable, and fit for purpose.
• Solid, hands-on experience with Informatica Power Centre is essential, including how it's used to integrate, transform and manage data effectively.
• Strong experience building and delivering data pipelines using cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and big data tools like Kafka or Spark.
• Confident using Python (or PySpark) and SQL to process, transform and analyse data, and able to guide others in doing the same.
• Good understanding of modern data platforms (such as Azure/Fabric), including how data is ingested, cleaned, structured and made available to users.
• Experience leading or supporting large-scale platform migrations or transformations, ensuring best practice is followed and risks are managed.
• Ability to lead engineers - either through line management or technical leadership - coaching, mentoring and helping others develop their skills.

Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance.

You and your role

You'll be a key part of building and shaping the senior data engineering capability within our Data Platform and Operations function - particularly within our enablement space, where we are establishing stronger leadership, standards and engineering practices.

You'll lead engineers both directly and indirectly, providing day-to-day guidance, mentoring and technical direction. In some teams, you'll have line management responsibility; in others, your influence will come through leading work, setting direction and driving conversations that shape engineering outcomes across multiple teams.

A significant focus of your role will be supporting ongoing platform migrations and transformation activity. This might mean designing and building new pipelines and services, reviewing and assuring the work of other engineers, or setting the standards and patterns that ensure consistency and quality across delivery.

You'll play a central role in building engineering capability - supporting less experienced engineers, embedding best practice and helping create a culture of continuous improvement. From code reviews and technical coaching to defining how we approach data engineering at scale, your contribution will be instrumental in raising the bar across the organisation.

Details. Wages. Perks.

Location: You'll join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Blackpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield, whichever is most convenient for you.

Hybrid Working: We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face to face in a hub.

Pay: We offer pay up to £75,664. That's up to £68,205 salary plus a Digital Allowance of up to £7,459 subject to our assessment of your capability at interview.

Pension: You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97%, worth up to £16,786 per year.

We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies
• Time off volunteering and charitable giving
• Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'
• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
• Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference
• Sports and social activities
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.

And we have an award-winning environment and culture:

• DWP have been recognised as 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year at the Computing Women in Tech Excellence awards
• Diverse and Inclusive Leadership at Digital Leaders Awards 2024
• Commended as Best Place to Work in Digital category in the Computing Digital Technology Leaders awards 2025
• Recognised as one of the Best Public Sector Employers at 2025 Women In Tech Employer Awards

Process

We know your time is valuable so our application and selection process is just two stages:

Apply: complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There'll be full instructions when you click through.

Interview: a two stage interview online.

Click APPLY for more information and to start your application.