Data Technical Lead

We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future.  

As strategies, technologies, and innovation collide, we create opportunity from complexity. 

Our teams of interdisciplinary experts combine innovative thinking and breakthrough technologies to progress further, faster. Our clients adapt and transform, and together we achieve enduring results. 

We are over 4,000 strategists, innovators, designers, consultants, digital experts, scientists, engineers, and technologists. And we have deep expertise in consumer and manufacturing, defence and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government and public services, health and life sciences, and transport.  

Our teams operate globally from offices across the UK, Ireland, US, Nordics, and Netherlands. 

Hybrid working - our approach is to be in the office or on client site a minimum of 2 days per week. However, the actual time you spend and where you spend it will vary by role or assignment, including up to 5 days per week on a client site.

We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future. We challenge where it matters and own the outcome. We combine strategic thinking, customer-centric service design, and agile engineering practices to accelerate innovation in a tech-driven world. 

Why consider joining our Digital & Data community? 🤔 

• Join our Digital & Data team working alongside product, design and a wide range of other experts and cross-disciplinary teams to bring ideas to life through innovative software solutions. 
• Grow a flexible and unique career within a trust-based, inclusive environment that values excellence, innovation, and curiosity. You have the option to progress with us on a technical career track. No need to go onto the Partner career track if this doesn’t align with what you want to do. 
• Hybrid working - our approach is to be in the office or on client site a minimum of 2 days per week.    
• Work on a broad variety of projects and tech stacks for clients across seven sectors - no project is ever the same 
• Join other experts within our supportive and collaborative tech community through knowledge-sharing and peer-level support, coaching and mentoring 
• Deepen your expertise through our a culture of learning and growth  – you’ll have budget to take courses (technical and non-technical training), plus gain certifications 

Our tech stack 🚀 

We believe in using the right technology for the problem rather than prescribing a single stack. As a Data Platform Tech Lead, you can expect to design and deliver scalable, secure and high-performing data platforms that support analytics, operational workloads, AI and emerging use cases.  

You may work with technologies and architectural approaches including, but not limited to: 

• Cloud platforms: AWS, Azure and GCP 
• Modern data platforms: Databricks, Snowflake and cloud-native data services 
• Data architecture: Lakehouse, medallion, data mesh and domain-oriented patterns 
• Data processing: Apache Spark, SQL and distributed processing technologies 
• Data storage: Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg and open table formats 
• Data pipelines: Enterprise-scale ETL/ELT, batch and streaming patterns 
• Transformation and quality: dbt, Great Expectations and equivalent tooling 
• Orchestration: Apache Airflow and cloud-native orchestration services 
• Event streaming: Kafka and cloud-native event-streaming technologies 
• Data modelling: Dimensional, analytical and domain-oriented modelling 
• Data governance: Catalogue, metadata, lineage, quality, security, privacy and access controls 
• Data products: Reusable, discoverable and well-governed data products and marketplaces 
• DataOps and observability: Testing, monitoring, operational controls and platform reliability 
• Platform engineering: Terraform, CloudFormation, Azure Bicep and infrastructure-as-code 
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins and equivalent tooling 
• Modernisation: Greenfield delivery, migration and integration of complex legacy data estates 
• AI-enabled engineering: GenAI-assisted development, agentic workflows and appropriate engineering, security and governance controls.     

What you can expect 🌱 

• Work to agile best practices and cross-functionally with multiple teams and stakeholders. You’ll be using your technical skills to problem solve with our clients, as well as working on internal projects  
• Steer technical teams through complex challenges and guide our clients towards successful digital transformations  
• Provide mentorship to engineers and create an environment of continuous improvement  
• Live in-person whiteboarding sessions to problem solve as a team, alongside asynchronous communication on Teams  
• Help teams use GenAI effectively across engineering delivery, applying the right practices, controls and guardrails. 
• Hybrid working with the team on client site or in our office a minimum of two days per week. However, the actual time you spend and where you spend it will vary by role or assignment, including up to 5 days per week on a client site.  
• An environment that deeply cares about its values  

Essential requirements ✅ 

Even if you do not meet every requirement below, we encourage you to apply. We often recruit for related roles where your experience may be a strong fit. 

You will have demonstrable experience of: 

• You have technically led data engineering or data platform teams, setting direction while enabling engineers to own and deliver solutions. 
• You have designed and delivered modern data platforms that are scalable, reliable and cost-effective in enterprise environments. 
• Making sound architectural decisions across ingestion, storage, processing, modelling, orchestration and serving. 
• Applying strong software engineering practices to data platforms, including testing, CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code. 
• Establishing effective approaches to data quality, observability, governance, metadata and security. 
• You can lead data platform modernisation and migration, including coexistence, cutover and decommissioning. 
• Making pragmatic technology choices and understanding the trade-offs between platform, storage, processing and integration patterns. 
• You shape the end-to-end engineering lifecycle, improving how teams build, test, deploy and operate software and data products. 
• You communicate clearly with engineers, clients and senior stakeholders, and can establish credibility quickly in complex delivery environments. 
• You are comfortable with ambiguity, challenge assumptions and turn business problems into practical technical solutions. 
• Providing technical input into bids, proposals and client discussions, including shaping solution approaches and implementation plans. 

#LI-SG1

We know the skill-gap and ‘somewhat need to tick every box’ can get in the way of meeting brilliant candidates, so please don’t hesitate to apply – we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today by completing our online application

Please be aware that some of our UK roles at PA Consulting require a UK security clearance.

All PA people are required to undergo background checks and to achieve the Baseline Personnel Security Standard however, some UK roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting, where applicants must have at least 5 years of continuous residency in the UK.

We therefore ask that you only apply if you meet the residency requirements (i.e. you are a British citizen or have been resident in the UK for the past 5 years), as this is the prerequisite for a security clearance. If you're unsure about your eligibility, we encourage you to review the UK Government’s guidance on security vetting before applying.

Assessment process ⚖️ 

• Quick video call with one of our Tech Recruiters – to discuss your application, the role and PA 
• Round 1: Competency interview (45 minutes)
• Round 2: Technical interview (90 mins face to face) 
• Final round 🎉: Meeting with a PA leader - a discussion around your client-centricity (30 mins face to face) 

Life At PA encompasses our peoples' experience at PA. It's about how we enrich peoples’ working lives by giving them access to unique people and growth opportunities and purpose led meaningful work. 

Our purpose guides how we work with our clients and our teams, and support our communities, to deliver insight and impact, solving the world’s most complex challenges. We're focused on building a workplace that values human difference and diverse mindsets, and a culture of inclusion and equality that unlocks the potential in our people so everyone can be their best self. 

Find out more about Life at PA here. 

We are dedicated to supporting the physical, emotional, social and financial well-being of our people. Check out some of our extensive benefits: 

• Health and lifestyle perks accompanying private healthcare
• 25 days annual leave (plus a bonus half day on Christmas Eve) with the opportunity to buy 5 additional days 
• Generous company pension scheme 
• Opportunity to get involved with community and charity-based initiatives 
• Annual performance-based bonus 
• PA share ownership 
• Tax efficient benefits (cycle to work, give as you earn) 

We’re committed to advancing equality. We recruit, retain, reward and develop our people based solely on their abilities and contributions and without reference to their age, background, disability, genetic information, parental or family status, religion or belief, race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity (or expression), political belief, veteran status, or any other range of human difference brought about by identity and experience. We welcome applications from underrepresented groups. 

Adjustments or accommodations - Should you need any adjustments or accommodations to the recruitment process, at either application or interview, please contact us on [email protected]