Data Engineering Lead

Salary Circa £65,000

Location Flexible - Chipping Sodbury, Tewkesbury or Wolverhampton

The vacancy

We are looking for a visionary and experienced Data Engineering Lead to shape Bromford’s next-generation data platform. This is a pivotal opportunity to lead a talented team of data engineers, replatform our infrastructure, and drive the delivery of scalable, intelligent data solutions across the business. With an ambitious transition to Databricks on the horizon, you’ll take a central role in modernising our data ecosystem and enabling data-driven decision-making at every level of the organisation.

Bromford’s Mission

It’s a unique time here at Bromford as we embark on one of the most ambitious technology transformations to ever occur in the social housing industry. The motivation is driven by our simple, overarching belief:
We believe every customer deserves a safe, secure, and warm home. We ensure our homes meet these standards and more. Our goal is to provide homes that customers are proud of, that support their families, and help them achieve their aspirations.
To meet our goals, we recognise the need for a true technology evolution and a fundamental change in how we operate.

This role is permanent and full time. You can be based from any of our main offices in Chipping Sodbury, Tewkesbury or Wolverhampton with regular home working available. A basic DBS and consumer check is required.

In this role, you’ll be responsible for:

Leading the Data Engineering team, managing and mentoring engineers to deliver robust, high-quality data pipelines and services.
Designing, building, and optimising data pipelines with Azure technologies and leading our migration to Databricks.
Architecting scalable ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) solutions that support analytics, reporting, and machine learning.
Collaborating with cross-functional teams including analysts, data scientists, and product teams to understand requirements and deliver actionable data solutions.
Championing best practices in data governance, security, quality, and modelling, ensuring consistent standards across the platform.
Driving the automation of data workflows, improving delivery times and maintaining SLA compliance.
Supporting the continuous evolution of Bromford’s cloud-based data platform, leveraging Azure Data Lake, Synapse, and Databricks.
Aligning with data architects and governance specialists to define enterprise data models and architecture strategies.
Leading root cause analysis, performance tuning, and optimisation efforts to ensure our data systems are fast, reliable, and cost-effective.

Experience and Qualifications

Strong experience with Databricks, including notebooks, cluster management, and data pipeline development.
Proficiency in Python, especially for data manipulation and transformation.
Solid background in Azure Data Lake, Azure Synapse, and the broader Microsoft Azure ecosystem.
Proven track record in cloud data engineering, with expertise in building, maintaining, and scaling ELT workflows.
Sound understanding of data governance, security, and quality assurance best practices.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate across business and technical teams to deliver impactful data solutions.
Previous experience leading or mentoring other engineers, fostering a culture of quality and continuous improvement.

Desirable

Experience with additional cloud providers such as AWS or Google Cloud Platform.
Knowledge of data warehousing, data modelling, and dimensional modelling techniques.
Experience integrating machine learning workflows into data pipelines.
Familiarity with Agile methodologies, CI/CD, and Azure DevOps.

We’re looking for someone who:

Is a strong communicator, able to translate complex concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
Leads by example and inspires a culture of accountability, innovation, and collaboration.
Approaches challenges with curiosity and persistence, always seeking effective solutions.
Thrives in dynamic environments and can manage shifting priorities and multiple projects.
Is customer- and outcome-focused, with a passion for delivering real business value through data.

Important information for internal colleagues:

If you are successful, you will move onto Bromford's new terms and conditions and will adopt these benefits as part of your colleague package. For more information and FAQs about the new T&Cs, visit Hub. (N.B. this will not apply if you are moving into a role as part of a secondment)

Secondments:

If you are seconded into a role that pays more than your substantive role, you will receive a secondment allowance. This effectively “tops up” your pay to match that of the seconded role for the duration of your secondment. As the allowance is separate from your substantive salary, it is not included in e.g. performance-related pay (PRP) calculations, pension contributions etc.

If your salary is more than that advertised for the role you’re seconding into, there will be no drop in salary during the secondment.

About us

We are a housing association- one that owns and provides over 47,000 homes for people who can't access market housing; has individual relationships with more than 112,000 customers; has a strong balance sheet and plans to build 11,000 homes by 2032. All of this is only possible because of our 1,900 dedicated colleagues.

We take a simple view that nothing is more important to any individual or a family than their home. It's a matter of social justice that everyone should have a home that is safe, secure, and affordable. We exist to provide such homes. With the right home, people can achieve great things, not only for themselves but for wider society too.

We provide quality, affordable homes. But we care about the people who live in them too. We want each of them to be able to achieve their goals. This will be different for each customer. Put simply, we want people to thrive.

Diversity Statement
We are committed to recruiting, developing and retaining colleagues who are representative of the diverse communities we work with. This commitment is embedded in our DNA, and we are striving to build an inclusive workplace culture where all colleagues feel valued and respected, and individuality is celebrated. We are a proud "Disability Confident" (Level 2) and Menopause Friendly employer and have signed the Armed Forces covenant to support those who serve.

We encourage people from all sections of our community to apply for jobs with us. Particularly, we welcome those who have been historically underrepresented in areas of our workforce including people from ethnic minority backgrounds, disabled people, women, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Great Place To Work Certified
Bromford have once again been certified as a Great Place To Work (Nov 24 – Nov 25). The 2024 Great Place to Work Trust Index Survey highlighted that our employees believe we have an amazing company culture and that 91% of our employees were made to feel welcome when they joined us. We are also proud to have been named as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women for two years running (2023 and 2024) demonstrating that all colleagues, regardless of gender, can thrive at Bromford.