Junior Data Engineer

Junior Data Engineer - Public Sector

Contract: Initial 7 months (extension possible)

Rate: £310 per day, Inside IR35

Location: Remote with travel to Waterloo (2-3 days per month)

Security Clearance: SC-eligible (5 years UK residency required)

I am working with a key consultancy delivering a major UK public sector programme and are looking for a Junior Data Engineer / Scientist to join a mixed delivery team building and operating secure, reliable data platforms that support critical public services.This role is designed for someone early in their data career who wants to develop strong engineering fundamentals in a real production environment.

The role - a junior, generalist data engineering position. This is an engineering-led role, not a specialist or senior position. The team is ideally looking for a generalist in their first few years within data engineering or data science, who is building breadth across data platforms, pipelines and operations.

You'll focus on:

• Designing, building and maintaining data pipelines
• Supporting the operation of data lakes and data warehouses
• Implementing and improving ETL / ELT processes
• Using Python and SQL to transform, validate and move data
• Working with analysts and developers to turn data requirements into technical solutions
• Monitoring data quality, documenting data models and lineage, and resolving issues
• Automating data workflows and operational tasks
• Participating in Agile delivery, sprint work and collaboration
• Supporting incidents and helping improve platform reliability over time
• Working within public sector data governance, security and privacy standards

This role offers exposure to how data platforms are built, operated and supported in a regulated environment - forming the foundations of a long-term data engineering career.

What this role is not

To avoid misalignment, it's important to be clear about what this role is not focused on:

• Not a Data Analyst role
• Not a Power BI / dashboard developer role
• Not an insight, reporting or MI position
• Not a modelling, ML or research-focused role
• Not an LLM, AI or advanced data science role

While you may work alongside analysts and data scientists, this role does not centre on:

• Building dashboards
• Producing insights or reports
• Statistical modelling
• Predictive or machine learning solutions

The emphasis is on data engineering foundations and platform delivery.

Ideal candidate profile

This role is best suited to someone who:

• Is in their first few years of a data engineering or data science career
• Wants to build core engineering skills rather than specialise immediately
• Has hands-on experience with SQL and Python
• Understands basic data modelling and ETL concepts
• Is comfortable learning through delivery in a production environment
• Is interested in how data platforms work end-to-end, including operations and support
• Is keen to grow within public sector data platforms

Who this role is unlikely to suit

This role is unlikely to be appropriate for candidates who:

• Are very senior data engineers or architects
• Have primarily worked in advanced ML, AI, or research-focused roles
• Are specialised Power BI, reporting or MI developers
• Are looking for a role centred on analysis, insights or modelling
• Are seeking leadership, ownership of platform strategy, or advanced optimisation work

Applications that demonstrate significant seniority or deep specialisation rather than junior-to-mid generalist experience may not be progressed.

Required skills and experience

Your CV should clearly demonstrate:

• A degree in a technical discipline (Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics or similar)
• Hands-on experience with SQL
• Experience using Python, Java or Bash
• Understanding of ETL processes and data modelling fundamentals
• Experience with version control (e.g. Git)
• Comfort working in Agile / DevOps environments
• Awareness of data security and privacy
• Eligibility for UK SC clearance

Nice to have (but not essential)

• Exposure to AWS, Azure or GCP
• Familiarity with tools such as Airflow, dbt, Spark
• Awareness of CI/CD pipelines or containerisation
• Experience in public sector or regulated environments

Important note for applicants

This role is deliberately positioned as a junior, generalist data engineering role. Please ensure your CV clearly demonstrates hands-on data engineering fundamentals, rather than senior leadership, advanced AI/ML work, or analytics-only experience.

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