Data Engineer

Duration: Contract

Workload: Full time hours

Setup: Freelance (Daily Rate / Limited Company / Umbrella / Sole Trader)

Location: Birmingham (Hybrid, 3 days onsite)

Our client is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to design and optimise enterprise-scale data platforms that support AI, Machine Learning, and advanced analytics initiatives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain high-throughput data pipelines using Apache Spark and cloud-native AWS technologies.
• Develop scalable ETL/ELT solutions for structured and unstructured data.
• Support AI/ML and Generative AI initiatives by enabling robust, data-driven platforms.
• Implement modern lakehouse architectures to improve scalability, resilience, and analytics capabilities.
• Optimise SQL-based data transformations and processing performance across large datasets.
• Ensure best practices around data governance, security, monitoring, and reliability.
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to improve automation, observability, and platform performance.

Must-Have Skills:

• 5+ years of Data Engineering experience.
• Strong Apache Spark development skills using Java or Scala.
• Hands-on experience with AWS services such as S3, EMR, Glue, and IAM.
• Advanced SQL expertise.
• Experience building ETL/ELT pipelines and data lakehouse solutions.
• Exposure to AI/ML or Generative AI data ecosystems.
• Strong understanding of data governance, security, and operational resilience.

Nice-to-Have:

• Snowflake experience.
• Knowledge of observability tooling, automation, and DevOps practices