Senior Data Engineer

Senior Data Engineer

Place of Work: London

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract

Our client, USS, a principal pension scheme for universities and higher education institutions is searching for a Senior Data Engineer to join their team in London.

When you join USS, the size and scale of our pension scheme means you will have numerous opportunities to learn and develop your career. Given our size you'll have real autonomy and influence as you collaborate closely with a wide-ranging team of experts.

About the role

In your role as Senior Data Engineer you will make a meaningful and valued contribution from the outset. This role will provide a great opportunity to assist in the development and build of the Investment Data Platform (IDP).

This senior position is essential to advancing USSIM’s data strategy project and wider agenda, aligning with the organisation’s strategic objectives and shaping the technology, people and processes required to embed a data driven culture.

What you will be doing

As a trusted part of the Operations team you will be responsible for:

• Developing a Fabric Data Lakehouse for the Investment Management business, implementing scalable and secure ETL/ELT frameworks to ingest, transform and deliver data, across a medallion architecture.
• Knowledge share across a small team of data engineers, fostering strong data engineering practices aligned to industry standards.
• Working in partnership with architects, support the design and implementation of best practices in development and data disciplines.
• Partnering with business stakeholders, technology, data and analytics teams, to translate business needs into scalable solutions.
• Working with the Data Oversight and Information Security teams to ensure compliance with data security and privacy requirements, implementing secure-by-design engineering practices.
• Advocating and educating colleagues and stakeholders on data engineering capabilities, gaining stakeholder buy-in to the value and potential of the data platform’s capabilities.
• Providing technical support and troubleshooting production issues.
• Analysing business requirements and document technical solutions and processes.

About you

We know that sometimes people can be put off applying for a job if they don't tick every box, if you're excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we're looking for, then please apply, regardless of whether you meet all the requirements outlined in this profile.

To be successful in the role you will have:

• Significant practical data engineering experience delivering scalable data platform solutions on cloud technologies e.g. Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, Azure, Snowflake.
• Strong technical proficiency in data engineering and cloud technologies e.g. Python, Spark, SQL/NOSQL, PowerShell, Azure Data Factory, Azure DevOps.
• Professional experience in modern data warehousing, data lakes and lakehouse architectures.
• Agile practitioner with experience working with scrum teams, sprints, backlogs.
• Experience working in Investment Management, with a good understanding of the data which underpins Investment Management activities.
• Understanding and first-hand experience working with data masters, market data sources, data quality/cataloguing/lineage tools.
• Microsoft certified in Fabric Analytics Engineer such as DP-600 or DP-700.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, operating at different levels across the organisation.
• Self-starter, enthusiastic, and hands-on individual who wants to make a difference in a team working environment.

Desirable

• Understanding of both business and data architecture practices, with experience working with data models and toolsets such as Bizzdesign and ER/Studio.
• Understanding of data governance, data quality and data security practices, and experience in adopting and embedding these capabilities within platform deliveries.
• Qualification in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Data Science

Why join us?

At USS, every individual contributes to building a secure financial future for our members and their families. We strive to create a work environment where everyone can thrive professionally while making a meaningful impact on the lives of others. We're also committed to helping you build your career by providing opportunities for development. We put a focus on recognising and supporting each individual's unique career path, driving this forward with the support of an engaged and proactive management team. Here at USS, we want you to thrive in and out of work with a friendly team, flexible culture and excellent range of benefits!

How we will reward you

 - Great starting salary

 - Generous annual leave package

 - Access to a high quality pension scheme provided through Universities Superannuation Scheme

 - Supportive people policies (including enhanced occupational sickness pay and family friendly pay)

 - Financial contributions towards your personal development to help you maintain your physical and mental wellbeing

 - Access to a range of health and wellbeing services i.e., private healthcare, discounted gym membership

 - Learning and development opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and talent

 - Employee Volunteer Day’s to support the communities where you work and live

 - Cycle to Work Scheme
 

Our culture and values

Our people are what makes us different. We work together to create a diverse and inclusive culture that embraces individuality, where people are welcomed and feel comfortable in the knowledge that they can be themselves. Our purpose firmly states the importance of members, putting them ‘front and centre’ of what we do. This is embedded through our values:

Integrity

Collaboration

Excellence

About us

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) was established in 1974 as the principal pension scheme for universities and other higher education institutions in the UK. We work with around 330 employers to help build a secure financial future for almost 577,000 members and their families. We are one of the largest private defined benefit pension schemes in the UK, with total assets of around £76.8bn (at 31 March 2025). 

USSIM is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We strive to ensure our recruitment process is as flexible and inclusive as possible so we can attract diverse candidates and recruit the best talent. We want all candidates to perform at their best during the recruitment process, so if you need any reasonable adjustments or if there is anything we can do to help support you through your recruitment journey please let us know.