Data Engineer

My client is a consultancy founded by scientists with research backgrounds from Cambridge. They work the way scientists do: rigorously, from first principles, on complex data problems in regulated, high-stakes environments such as financial services, higher education, healthcare, banking, insurance, and life sciences. To support our growth they are looking to bring in data engineers for specific client projects. If you bring a scientific or research methodology to your engineering, even better — that's how they think, and how we build. You'll deliver real, production data engineering work for our clients: building ETL pipelines and robust data models to support data warehouse, lakehouse, and reporting solutions on Azure. This is a project-based, fully remote, independent contract role, suited to someone who delivers to a high standard and shares our passion for data. Key Responsibilities: • Design, build, and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines for client projects • Develop robust, scalable data models to support data warehouse and lakehouse architectures • Build and support reporting solutions on Azure • Apply rigorous, methodical, research-grade thinking to data engineering problems • Work within regulated, high-stakes environments (e.g. financial services, healthcare, insurance, life sciences, higher education) — with appropriate attention to data quality, governance, and compliance • Collaborate remotely with consultancy team members and client stakeholders • Deliver high-quality, production-ready outputs independently and to deadline Essential Requirements: • Proven experience delivering production data engineering work (ETL pipelines, data modelling, data warehouse/lakehouse builds) • Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure data services • Experience working on complex data problems, ideally within regulated or high-stakes industries • Ability to work independently and remotely, managing your own delivery to a high standard • Strong analytical, first-principles approach to problem-solving • Excellent communication skills, comfortable working directly with client stakeholders Desirable • A scientific, research, or academic background, or a research-driven approach to engineering • Appreciation of, or hands-on experience with, Microsoft Fabric and its ecosystem • Prior experience in a consultancy or client-facing project environment • Experience across multiple regulated sectors (financial services, healthcare, insurance, life sciences, higher education, banking) Contract Details • Role type: Project-based, independent contractor • Working pattern: Fully remote • Day rate: £300 per day • Engagement: Ongoing pipeline of client projects (assignment-based)