Lead/Staff/Principal Analytics Engineer/Data Engineer/BI Engineer

_hackajob is collaborating with Virgin Media to connect them with exceptional tech professionals for this role.

_Senior Technical Data Solution Designer

The Senior Technical Data Solution Designer is a pivotal, hands-on leadership role and represents a high point of the technical career journey in our Data Democratisation data product squads. We are looking for a master practitioner who can bridge the gap between high-level architecture and high-quality execution. This is not a people manager role; it is a senior individual contributor responsible for the end-to-end technical success of our data products.

You will be the ultimate technical authority within your squad, responsible for translating business needs into robust, scalable, and well-engineered data solutions. You will own the solution design, from the creation of trusted Business Layers to the development of intuitive and insightful dashboards. You will lead by example, writing code, mentoring your peers, and ensuring that everything your squad builds is of the highest quality and aligns with our data mesh principles.

A Day in the Life (Example)

A typical day is a blend of high-level design, hands-on development, and collaborative leadership:

Morning (Design & Collaborate): You might start by leading a whiteboarding session with your Product Owner and BI Specialist to design the user journey and wireframes for a new strategic dashboard. You then collaborate with an Analytics Engineer to design the underlying Business Layer that will power it.

Mid-day (Build & Mentor): You get hands-on, writing the most complex dbt model for the new solution. You then pair-program with an Analytics Engineer in your squad, mentoring them on an advanced SQL technique and conducting a peer review of their code to ensure it meets our quality bar.

Afternoon (Guide & Govern): You work with a BI Specialist, providing expert guidance on advanced Tableau features to bring their design to life and improve data storytelling. You end the day in Atlan, ensuring all new assets, from the data model to the dashboard, are properly documented and governed.

Key Responsibilities

End-to-End Solution Design

• Collaborate with Product Owners and business stakeholders to translate complex business requirements into scalable, performant, and secure technical solutions.
• Own the hands-on design of data solutions, with a strong focus on improving Business Layer Design, creating Data Contracts, and establishing single sources of truth.
• Ensure all solutions align with our hybrid data mesh architecture, balancing central governance with domain autonomy.

BI & Visualisation Excellence

• Champion best practices in data visualisation, user experience (UX), and data storytelling within your squad.
• Provide expert guidance on the design and development of insightful, intuitive, and user-centric dashboards in Tableau.
• Ensure the final data product not only presents data accurately but also answers key business questions in a clear and compelling way.

Hands-on Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Act as the senior technical authority for your squad, providing guidance and mentorship to BI Specialists and Analytics Engineers.
• Lead by example through active, hands-on participation in development, tackling the most complex parts of the solution yourself using tools like dbt, SQL, and GCP.
• Champion and enforce technical best practices for coding, testing, and documentation through rigorous peer review.

Agile Delivery & Collaboration

• Lead the technical aspects of Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog grooming, and retrospectives, to ensure the squad's work is well-defined and achievable.
• Own and prioritise the technical backlog in Jira, ensuring it aligns with the product roadmap and sprint goals.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners, including central Data Architects and Data Governance teams, to ensure seamless delivery.

Data Governance & Quality

• Work hands-on with Atlan to champion data quality and governance processes within your squad.
• Promote data lineage and metadata management for all data solutions to ensure transparency and traceability.
• Ensure all solutions adhere to VMO2's data governance, privacy, and security standards.

Key V2MOM Measures for This Role (Example)

Your direct impact on our core strategic objectives will measure your success:

• Design and Develop Engaging Data Products: The quality, scalability, and business impact of the solutions you design will be a direct measure of your success.
• Elevate Data Governance, Privacy, and Trust: Your hands-on work in implementing data quality and governance standards within your squad is critical to building trust in our data.
• Build a High-Performing, Collaborative, and Inclusive Data Team: Your mentorship of the BI Specialists and Analytics Engineers in your squad directly contributes to upskilling our team and fostering a culture of technical excellence.

Core Competencies & Skills

• Technical Mastery: Expert-level, hands-on skills in SQL and dbt are essential. Strong proficiency in data visualisation tools (Tableau) and cloud platforms (GCP).
• Data Architecture & Modelling: Deep understanding of data management concepts, including dimensional modelling, data warehousing, data integration, and data mesh principles.
• Data Storytelling & Visualisation: A proven ability to design intuitive user experiences and tell compelling stories with data using advanced data visualisation techniques.
• Agile & Leadership: Proven experience leading the technical delivery of a squad in an Agile environment. A passion for mentoring and developing the technical skills of your peers.
• Collaboration & Communication: Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical designs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.