Principal Data Engineer (AWS)

TL;DR

Principal Data Engineer (AWS/Python): Designing and evolving cloud-native data platforms and scalable architectures for a digital retailer with an accent on data lakehouse technologies and engineering standards. Focus on building resilient data pipelines, optimizing system performance, and providing technical leadership across multiple engineering teams.

Location: Hybrid in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Company

The team behind digital retailer Very, focused on helping families get more out of life through scalable technology.

What you will do

• Provide technical leadership across multiple teams and initiatives to guide data transformation.
• Design and implement scalable, resilient, and secure cloud-native data architectures.
• Develop and evolve data platforms using AWS services and Lakehouse technologies.
• Establish engineering standards through code reviews and reusable patterns.
• Mentor and coach engineers to improve technical skills and practices.
• Collaborate with Product and Architecture teams to align technical roadmaps with business goals.

Requirements

• Proven experience building and supporting production-grade data solutions.
• Expertise in AWS cloud services (S3, EKS, Lambda, SNS, EventBridge, IAM).
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL.
• Experience with data lakes, data warehouses, or Lakehouse architectures.
• Solid understanding of CDC, data ingestion, and data modelling.
• Proficiency with version control and CI/CD pipelines.

Nice to have

• Exposure to Java or Scala.
• Experience with Iceberg, Starburst, Teradata, or HVR.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model.
• £1000 flexible benefits allowance.
• 30 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• Access to LinkedIn Learning and matched pension up to 6%.
• Performance-related bonus potential and up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk.

Hiring process

• Initial 30-minute Teams call with the Data Engineering Manager.
• Technical take-home task.
• One-hour technical interview to discuss the task.