Principal Data Engineer

Principal Data Engineer Lead the design and delivery of a modern cloud-based data platform, driving engineering standards, architecture, and innovation across a growing data function. The Opportunity This is a senior technical leadership role responsible for shaping data engineering strategy, architecture, and best practices across multiple product domains. Working within a modern cloud environment and Data Mesh architecture, you will drive the development of scalable, secure, and high-performing data solutions while mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction. Key Responsibilities • Provide technical leadership across data engineering teams and product domains. • Define and implement data platform architecture, standards, and best practices. • Design and optimise data ingestion, transformation, quality, security, monitoring, and governance processes. • Lead the development of Data Mesh principles, data models, and semantic data layers. • Drive automation, CI/CD adoption, and continuous improvement initiatives. • Mentor and coach data engineers, promoting engineering excellence. • Ensure cross-domain interoperability, scalability, and compliance. • Collaborate with architects, platform engineers, and business stakeholders to deliver robust data solutions. About You • Extensive experience in cloud-based data engineering and distributed systems. • Strong knowledge of Data Mesh, domain-driven design, and data product thinking. • Proven ability to lead teams and deliver complex data engineering initiatives. • Strong communication and stakeholder management skills. • Passionate about engineering quality, innovation, and mentoring others. Essential Skills & Experience • 10+ years' experience in Data Engineering. • Experience in a Lead or Principal Data Engineering role. • Strong cloud data platform expertise, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP). • Hands-on experience with BigQuery, Dataflow, Datastream, Data Fusion, Cloud Functions, Dataproc, and Airflow/Composer. • Advanced SQL and Python skills. • Expertise in data lakes, data warehouses, and modern data architectures. • Strong understanding of data governance, lineage, MDM, data privacy, and PII handling. • Experience optimising complex queries and large-scale data processing. • Proven mentoring, coaching, and leadership capability. • Experience working within Agile/Scrum environments and across the full software development lifecycle. This is an excellent opportunity for a senior data engineering leader to play a key role in the evolution of a modern cloud data platform, influencing architectural decisions and helping shape the future of a data-driven organisation.