Lead Data Engineering Manager - #2186149

Lead Data Engineering Manager

central Birmingham - Hybrid – 2–3 days per week in the office

c£70k - £80k + excellent benefits

Are you a hands-on Data Engineering specialist with strong Microsoft Fabric experience, looking for an opportunity to take technical ownership of a growing data function and step into a leadership role?

We're looking for a Lead Data Engineer / Technical BI Manager to take responsibility for the development of a modern data and reporting platform, leading a small team of data engineers and BI developers.

This is a predominantly technical role (approximately 70% hands-on engineering and architecture, 30% leadership), offering the opportunity to shape the evolution of the data function while developing and mentoring an established team.

The opportunity

The business is investing in transforming its data capabilities, moving away from fragmented, spreadsheet-based reporting towards a modern, integrated Microsoft Fabric data platform.

The core architecture has already been designed and partially implemented, giving you the opportunity to take ownership, build on the foundations in place and drive the next stages of delivery.

You'll work closely with the Group IT Director and wider technology leadership team, becoming the senior technical authority for data engineering and reporting.

What you'll be doing

• Taking technical ownership of the Microsoft Fabric data platform, progressing its implementation and ongoing development.
• Developing and extending a medallion lakehouse architecture across bronze, silver and gold data layers.
• Working hands-on with PySpark notebooks, SQL, Dataflows Gen2 and data integration technologies.
• Developing robust ETL/ELT pipelines, bringing data together from multiple business systems and sources.
• Applying data warehousing principles, including data modelling, fact and dimension tables and reporting structures.
• Supporting the development of finance and operational reporting, including the delivery of a consolidated P&L reporting view.
• Overseeing CI/CD and deployment processes using Azure DevOps across Fabric and Power BI environments.
• Providing technical direction and guidance to a team of five data engineers and Power BI developers.
• Developing the team's technical capabilities, introducing good engineering practices and helping them transition towards a more mature data environment.
• Working with senior stakeholders to shape the future data roadmap as the business continues its wider technology transformation.

What we're looking for

You'll be an experienced Data Engineer or Technical Data Lead with a strong grounding in data warehousing and modern Microsoft data technologies.

You'll ideally bring:

• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Fabric, including Lakehouse architecture and its wider data engineering capabilities.
• Good working knowledge of PySpark and Spark notebooks, with the ability to understand, troubleshoot and extend existing code.
• A solid understanding of data warehousing, ETL/ELT processes, data integration and data modelling.
• Experience working with medallion architectures (bronze, silver and gold).
• Familiarity with Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines and deployment management.
• Good SQL skills and an understanding of Power BI, sufficient to provide technical direction and challenge developers.
• Experience leading, mentoring or developing technical teams, or a genuine appetite to take that next step into management.

This is an opportunity and make a genuine difference to how an established business uses its data.

It's an excellent opportunity for an experienced Senior or Lead Data Engineer looking to broaden their responsibilities and move into technical management without losing the hands-on engineering element with plenty of scope to develop a small team, shape the data function and take ownership of a developing data platform.

This is an urgent hire and ideally looking to hire asap so to apply please send your CV asap.