Principal Data Engineer

Principal Data Engineer

This is a hybrid role working from home and our offices in either London or Leicester. Home. There’s no place like it. And there’s no feeling like helping people create the joy of feeling truly at home. At Dunelm, that’s what we do.

We’re the UK's number one choice for homewares because we make home life lovelier for our customers. And the caring and supportive culture we've created makes this a place you'll feel right at home too.

Role Summary:

The Principal Data Engineer is the lead Technical Engineer for the Data chapter and tribe, operating at the focus area leadership level. The role holder is both the line manager of lead engineers and the recognised technical expert for our Modern Data stack data platforms (Snowflake, AWS, DBT, ThoughtSpot, Python) and go to contact point for technical and functional aspects of the FA’s deliverables and systems.

The Principal Data Engineer works closely with the Principal Delivery Manager, Principal Product Manager and Principal Quality Specialist in developing the Data FA’s roadmap, assessing and communicating engineering and quality constraints, ensuring that outcomes are delivered in line with the broader data strategy, in that respect the role holder is expected to contribute to and implement best practise.

The Principal Data Engineer is enthusiastic about conceptual, technical and best practise developments within the Data Engineering and AI domains, identifying opportunities to leverage new and emerging capabilities across our data engineer capability. The role holder is visible both internally within the team, across our business and technology organisation and externally (through events, conferences and domain networks either virtually or in person), maintaining a strong working relationship with our central architecture function to ensure alignment and agreement for broader data concepts.

From a people leadership perspective, the Principal Data Engineer is accountable for leading and managing our lead data engineering colleagues within the forty strong Data Engineering Chapter, helping to develop and empower them to achieve their full potential throughout their career journey with Dunelm. The principal engineer role holder will be accountable for the recruitment, development and retention of lead data engineers, setting and monitoring objectives and performance, managing day to day challenges and career growth.

The Principal Data Engineer role holder will balance duties across line management and talent development, technical and design leadership and hands-on, splitting their time accordingly depending upon the challenges and priorities at hand (expect a 40/40/20 split).

What this role requires of you:

Accountabilities:

• Accountable for the design, engineering and quality of the technical delivery of the data focus area
• Accountable for ensuring the design, solutions and capabilities support delivering the business’ data and tech strategy.
• Accountable for ensuring the alignment of technical solutions to architectural governance, data roadmaps and data strategy.
• Accountable for driving continuous improvement across the core data platforms, including managing and remediating technical debt.
• Accountable for managing the delivery of cost-effective solutions, monitoring consumption and identifying opportunities to optimise technology spend.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and mentoring to lead data engineers.
• Leading on the creation and design of technical solutions for the FA, collaborating across teams to ensure solutions are delivered to expected timelines and quality.
• Providing estimates for epics and stories with a specific focus on technical complexity and dependencies, working alongside product and Delivery to support planning.
• Owning technical risks and issues at the FA level.
• Owning remediation issues for service and support at the FA level
• Ensuring that the data tribe is working to support the ongoing delivery of the broader Dunelm data strategy and 3 Year business plan.
• Responsible for supporting and developing our talent through the lead engineers, ensuring clear and supportive career pathways, succession and retention/engagement strategies for data engineers.
• Responsible for technical recruitment, retention and onboarding of Lead Data Engineers within the Chapter
• Responsible for effectively administering chapter colleagues’ compensation, benefits, and promotion process.
• Responsible for developing Lead Data Engineering talent through effective performance management and supporting leads in line managing data engineers.

Essential skills:

• Extensive experience line managing technical colleagues through both coaching and mentoring techniques.
• Extensive experience in design and development of modern data stack, cloud first data platforms and pipelines, specifically including the following:
• Cloud Data Platforms such as Snowflake, Redshift or Big Query (ideally Snowflake)
• AWS Platforms including S3, firehose, lambda, SQS and Kinesis
• DBT Labs
• Programming in one or more languages e.g. Python, Node
• Excellent SQL skills
• Data modelling including conceptual, logical and physical design (including extensive experience of dimensional modelling practises and techniques).
• Best practise approach for continuous integration and delivery using tools such as Gitlab/GitHub, Terraform for Infra as code.

Desirable skills:

• Visualisations tools Such as Power BI and ThoughtSpot
• Understanding of quality best practise and understanding of test automation.
• Experience in consumption-based cost management, including monitoring, optimisation and cost reduction.
• Vendor management from an operational and service performance lens

Behaviours:

Connecting

• Creating a strong sense of connection and common purpose within the team
• Using your network of internal and external connections to help shape our plans
• Building strong relationships with other teams and connecting colleagues across team boundaries

Adapting

• Anticipating pitfalls and responding to issues, having courage to change direction to achieve the required outcomes
• Creating a safe environment for the team to experiment and learn, helping others learn from mistakes.
• Promoting a culture of flexible working, helping the team feel at home wherever and however they choose to work.

Growth Mindset

• Being bold and brave in what you can achieve with the team.
• Coaching the team to improve performance and develop their careers.
• Growing the talent and capability needed now and, in the future, creating great learning experiences for the team.

Thinking Big

• Raising the bar with every colleague hire, move or promotion to build capability and be fit for the future.
• Using the internal environment and emerging external trends to inspire big thinking
• Having a winning mindset and motivating the team to succeed and deliver our ambitions.