Lead Data Engineer

Company Description

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. 

PA. Bringing Ingenuity to Life. 

Job Description

Are you up for the challenge of creating seamless user experiences from every angle?

Our teams are trusted to deliver and given the space to be awesome. We’re an inclusive community for the curious, generous, pragmatic and committed digital practitioner. Would you like to join this vibrant community of experts? Do you enjoy developing your team members, especially technically, but also on a personal level? If the answer is yes – we are looking for you!

Flexible working - We are currently operating a discretionary hybrid working model which is designed to help you plan your work and your life. We want our people to come into the office at least two days a week.

Your Role as a Lead Data Engineer

In this role, you will advise clients on designing, building, and evaluating data platforms and transformation processes—spanning both batch and streaming solutions. You’ll collaborate closely with data engineers, data scientists, project managers, clients, and other stakeholders to deliver impactful outcomes. Leveraging modern design principles, you will ensure data pipelines are optimised for efficiency and reliability.

Beyond client-facing projects, you’ll play a key role in elevating our data engineering practice. This includes mentoring and coaching colleagues, driving innovation, and leading research and development initiatives. At PA, we’re deeply committed to continuous learning, with dedicated working hours set aside for personal training and development.

"Empower clients to maximise the value of their data by designing, implementing, and refining data platforms and transformation processes."

Our diverse team of data engineers and data scientists are passionate about technology and analytics. We go beyond applying algorithms to data—we create scalable, real-world solutions. Projects typically last 1 to 6 months, and we maintain a pragmatic, flexible approach, leveraging the platforms, tools, and methods best suited to each challenge. We perform big data analyses for clients in a variety of sectors like public sector, consumer goods and manufacturing, finance and banking, health and life science, transport & energy & utilities.

At PA Consulting, our Data Science Capability combines deep industry expertise with indigenous, cutting-edge data capabilities to deliver transformative insights for our clients. We collaborate closely with organisations to help them become resilient, future-ready, and powered by data. We address our clients’ most complex analytical challenges and pioneer innovative technologies that have the potential to reshape industries and create lasting impact.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in designing end-to-end data architectures, with a strong ability to understand the client’s data landscape, business requirements, and translate them into scalable and efficient solutions.
• Experience designing cloud architectures, including Platform-as-a-Service components, serverless solutions, and containers.
• Strong experience designing and deploying production-grade data pipelines (batch and streaming) within a big data architecture using tools like Python, Scala, Spark, and SQL.
• Expertise in either AWS or Azure cloud platforms, with hands-on experience in key services such as:
  • AWS: EMR, Glue, Redshift, Kinesis, Lambda, DynamoDB
  • Azure: Data Factory, Synapse, Databricks, Event Hubs, Logic Apps, Cosmos DB
• Understanding of best practices for end-to-end software development lifecycles in a cloud environment, with the ability to adapt to other platforms.
• Hands-on experience processing and integrating structured and unstructured data from multiple sources through ingestion, transformation, and curation functions.
• Ability to write scripts, extract data using APIs, and create complex SQL queries.
• Familiarity with data cleaning, wrangling, visualisation, and reporting using effective tools and frameworks.
• Knowledge of data mining, machine learning, natural language processing is an advantage.
• Ability to travel to client site, where required, will be a consideration.
• You enjoy working within cross-functional Agile teams and you are familiar with Scrum ceremonies.

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

#LI-IC2

#Hybrid

Additional Information

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 for you and your family 
• 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 other by 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]