Principal Data Engineer

Hybrid in London / Remote within UK

The company

Imagine a world where every small business has the power to thrive. That's the world we're building at iwoca. Small businesses aren't just statistics – they're the heartbeat of our communities, the character of our high streets, and the engine of our economy. Since 2012, we've revolutionised how these businesses access finance, turning what was once a lengthy, frustrating process into something remarkable: funding that's fast, flexible, and actually works for modern businesses.

Our impact speaks for itself: we've provided billions in funding to over 150,000 businesses across Europe, making us one of the continent's leading fintech innovators. But we're just getting started. Our mission? To empower one million businesses with the financial tools they deserve.

We combine cutting-edge technology and data science with genuine human understanding to make finance feel less like a barrier and more like a superpower. Whether it's managing cash flow or seizing unexpected opportunities, we ensure businesses get the funds they need – often within minutes.

The team

You’ll join the Core Systems team, who are responsible for driving innovation across the business by optimising development, building data systems, and continuously improving iwoca products. We follow Agile-inspired processes, using continuous integration and delivery, so that features go live in days or weeks, not months or years. 

The role

As the Principal Data Engineer, you’ll be responsible for our data platform. You'll define our data strategy, drive the evolution of our data infrastructure, and ensure our data systems enable impactful decision-making across the business. 

The Projects

You’ll identify and lead a range of strategic data engineering projects, driving improvements across our data systems, platforms, and infrastructure to support innovation, efficiency, and growth, such as:

• Evolve Our Snowflake Data Warehouse: Take ownership of our Snowflake platform to ensure it is a highly efficient and accessible resource for the business. Implement best practices for performance optimisation, scalability, and cost management, empowering teams to access and utilise data seamlessly.

• Streamline Data Pipelines: Lead the development and optimisation of data pipelines using dbt, enabling faster and more reliable data flows.

• Enhance Data Governance and Quality: Design and implement robust data governance frameworks, ensuring high data quality, compliance, and consistency.

• Develop Scalable Data Models: Collaborate with analysts and data scientists to design and maintain data models that enable more intuitive use for reporting, machine learning, and advanced analytics.

• Research and Adopt Emerging Data Technologies: Stay ahead of industry trends by researching emerging tools and frameworks. Recommend and lead the adoption of innovations that enhance our data engineering capabilities, ensuring we remain competitive and forward-thinking.

The requirements 

Essential:

• Expertise in Snowflake, including performance optimisation, cost management, and advanced data warehousing techniques.

• Experience in designing and implementing scalable data architectures that meet the needs of complex, data-driven organisations.

• Strong SQL skills and a solid understanding of relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL).

Bonus:

• Advanced LookML knowledge and experience building data visualisation tools.

• Skilled in building and managing real-time and batch data pipelines using Kafka and dbt.

• Familiarity with Docker, Terraform, and Kubernetes for application orchestration and deployment.

• A strong numerical or technical background, ideally with a degree in mathematics, physics, computer science, engineering, or a related field.

• Understanding of data science concepts and experience collaborating with data scientists to productionise machine learning models.

• Active participation in tech or open-source communities, with a passion for sharing knowledge and inspiring others.

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex business needs into effective technical solutions.

The salary

We expect to pay from £100,000 - £160,000 for this role. But, we’re open-minded, so definitely include your salary goals with your application. We routinely benchmark salaries against market rates, and run quarterly performance and salary reviews. 

The culture

At iwoca, we prioritise a culture of learning, growth, and support, and invest in the professional development of our team members. We value thought and skill diversity, and encourage you to explore new areas of interest to help us innovate and improve our products and services.

The offices

We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a great place to work:

• Offices in London, Leeds, and Frankfurt with plenty of drinks and snacks

• Events and clubs, like bingo, comedy nights, yoga classes, football, etc.

The benefits

• Flexible working.

• Medical insurance from Vitality, including discounted gym membership. 

• A private GP service (separate from Vitality) for you, your partner, and your dependents.

• 25 days’ holiday, an extra day off for your birthday, the option to buy or sell an additional five days of annual leave, and unlimited unpaid leave. 

• A one-month, fully paid sabbatical after four years.

• Instant access to external counselling and therapy sessions for team members that need emotional or mental health support.

• 3% pension contributions to total earnings.

• An employee equity incentive scheme. 

• Generous parental leave and a nursery tax benefit scheme to help you save money.

• Electric car scheme and cycle to work scheme.

• Two company retreats a year, we’ve been to France, Italy, Spain, and further afield.

And to make sure we all keep learning, we offer:

• A learning and development budget for everyone.

• Company-wide talks with internal and external speakers.

• Access to learning platforms like Treehouse.