Data Engineer - Senior Consultant

Ready to build data platforms, not just pipelines?   At Opencast, we believe great data engineering is about more than moving and transforming data. It's about creating reliable, scalable foundations that help organisations make better decisions and deliver better services.    Our consultants tackle complex engineering challenges across integration, migration, modelling and platform design, working with Microsoft Fabric, Azure and modern data technologies. We value engineering craft, thoughtful problem-solving and building solutions that are simple, robust and built to last.    As our data engineering capability continues to grow, you'll have the opportunity to influence its direction through delivery, mentoring, recruitment and technical leadership. If you're looking for a role where you can shape both solutions and the capability around them, we'd love to hear from you.    The role   Opencast data engineers help organisations transform how they manage, use and learn from data. The work ranges from building modern lakehouse and warehouse platforms in Microsoft Fabric to modernising legacy environments, migrating complex workloads and improving the quality, governance and reliability of critical data services.     This role offers the opportunity to work across the full data lifecycle, combining platform design, engineering, integration and optimisation. Expect to work with structured, semi-structured and unstructured data, building batch and near real-time data pipelines that underpin critical business and public services.     You'll collaborate with architects, analysts, software engineers and client teams to solve complex challenges and influence technical direction. The role also offers opportunities to contribute beyond delivery through mentoring, recruitment, community building and helping to define engineering standards and best practice as our capability continues to grow.      Requirements   This role involves weekly on-site work, and you’ll be required to travel regularly to client locations across the UK. We’re looking for people who value in-person collaboration, enjoy building strong relationships, and are passionate about delivering solutions that make a real difference for our clients.   Due to the nature of this role, you must either hold active Security Check (SC) clearance or be eligible and willing to undergo the clearance process.    SC clearance is granted in line with UK Government security vetting requirements. Typically, applicants must have UK citizenship and have lived continuously in the UK for at least the past five years, with no single absence exceeding 28 consecutive days. Nationality and immigration status may also be considered as part of the vetting process. We are unable to progress applications from candidates who do not meet these requirements.   If you are unsure whether you meet the eligibility criteria, we encourage you to review the guidance or discuss this with us before applying.   We are recruiting for multiple positions, with opportunities available immediately and in the coming months. If you are interested in joining Opencast, we encourage you to apply.      Essential experience     We're looking for engineers who enjoy solving complex technical problems and care about building solutions that are robust, scalable and built to last.    Experience in the following areas is important:  Microsoft Fabric and Azure data services, including lakehouse, warehouse, notebooks and pipeline capabilities.   Building enterprise-scale data platforms, lakehouses and data warehouses.   Data modelling and dimensional modelling techniques such as Kimball.  ETL/ELT development and large-scale data integration.   PySpark, Spark SQL and modern transformation techniques.   Advanced SQL and relational databases including SQL Server, PostgreSQL and Oracle.  Integrating structured, semi-structured and unstructured data sources.   Migration and modernisation of legacy platforms such as Oracle, SQL Server/SSIS or Synapse.   Power BI semantic models, curated datasets and supporting analytics platforms.  Data quality, governance, metadata management and lineage.  Data security, classification and access control approaches.  Automated testing, validation, reconciliation testing and performance optimisation.  DataOps, CI/CD and version control practices.   Agile delivery environments.    Essential consulting skills     Our clients look to us for more than technical delivery.    Success in this role comes from being able to navigate ambiguity, solve difficult problems and help clients make confident technical decisions. The strongest consultants combine technical expertise with curiosity, pragmatism and a collaborative mindset.    You'll thrive in this role if you enjoy:  Solving complex engineering challenges and exploring different approaches to finding the right solution.