Lead Data Engineer (Ref: 9383)

East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, Scotland, South East England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the Humber Job Summary This position is based Nationally Job Description Lead Data Engineer Location: National • Closing Date: 08/09 Interviews: From the 18/09 Grade: G6 (MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer) Salary: National: £71,381 - £80,419 (which may include an allowance of up to £17,519) London: £75,674 - £85,257 (which may include an allowance of up to £17,651) Working pattern: full-time, part-time, flexible working Contract Type: Permanent • We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP The Role We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Lead Data Engineer to join our collaborative Business Intelligence team within Technology Service Delivery department at Justice Digital. As a senior technical leader, you will drive the design, development, and implementation of advanced data engineering solutions that empower data-driven decision-making across the Ministry of Justice. This role aligns against Head of Data Engineering from the Government Digital and Data Framework You will lead a multidisciplinary team of data engineers and analysts, working closely with senior stakeholders, programme leaders, and delivery partners to align data engineering strategy with wider business and technology objectives. You will serve as a technical authority on data engineering, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, secure, scalable, and sustainable data services. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital please take a look at our blog and our Digital and Technology strategy 2025 Key Responsibilities: Strategic Leadership & Technical Ownership • Define and lead the technical roadmap for data engineering within Justice Digital. • Provide architectural direction for data products including data warehousing, pipelines, metadata management, and analytics solutions. • Champion the use of modern data engineering tools and techniques (e.g. Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Power BI). • Ensure solutions are future-proofed, compliant, and deliver measurable business value. Team Management & Development • Line-manage a team of Senior and Mid-level Data Engineers, fostering a culture of learning, inclusion, and high performance. • Support recruitment, onboarding, coaching, and professional development within the data engineering function. • Lead on workload planning, performance management, and skills capability building. Stakeholder Engagement & Communication • Act as a primary liaison between the Business Intelligence team and senior stakeholders across MoJ, presenting technical and non-technical content with clarity and impact. • Collaborate with Delivery Managers, Product Owners, Architects, and other disciplines to align data engineering with product and business goals. • Represent the data engineering function at governance boards, show-and-tells, and wider departmental forums. Delivery & Operations • Oversee the end-to-end delivery of large-scale data engineering projects, ensuring alignment with agile practices and strategic goals. • Establish best practices for ETL/ELT development, version control, CI/CD, and cloud-native data architecture. • Maintain oversight of BAU data operations, ensuring service continuity, proactive incident management, and operational resilience. • Lead data quality assurance and data governance processes in line with departmental and national data standards. If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply! Lead Data Engineer Location: National • Closing Date: 08/09 Interviews: From the 18/09 Grade: G6 (MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer) Salary: National: £71,381 - £80,419 (which may include an allowance of up to £17,519) London: £75,674 - £85,257 (which may include an allowance of up to £17,651) Working pattern: full-time, part-time, flexible working Contract Type: Permanent • We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP The Role We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Lead Data Engineer to join our collaborative Business Intelligence team within Technology Service Delivery department at Justice Digital. As a senior technical leader, you will drive the design, development, and implementation of advanced data engineering solutions that empower data-driven decision-making across the Ministry of Justice. This role aligns against Head of Data Engineering from the Government Digital and Data Framework You will lead a multidisciplinary team of data engineers and analysts, working closely with senior stakeholders, programme leaders, and delivery partners to align data engineering strategy with wider business and technology objectives. You will serve as a technical authority on data engineering, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, secure, scalable, and sustainable data services. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital please take a look at our blog and our Digital and Technology strategy 2025 Key Responsibilities: Strategic Leadership & Technical Ownership • Define and lead the technical roadmap for data engineering within Justice Digital. • Provide architectural direction for data products including data warehousing, pipelines, metadata management, and analytics solutions. • Champion the use of modern data engineering tools and techniques (e.g. Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Power BI). • Ensure solutions are future-proofed, compliant, and deliver measurable business value. Team Management & Development • Line-manage a team of Senior and Mid-level Data Engineers, fostering a culture of learning, inclusion, and high performance. • Support recruitment, onboarding, coaching, and professional development within the data engineering function. • Lead on workload planning, performance management, and skills capability building. Stakeholder Engagement & Communication • Act as a primary liaison between the Business Intelligence team and senior stakeholders across MoJ, presenting technical and non-technical content with clarity and impact. • Collaborate with Delivery Managers, Product Owners, Architects, and other disciplines to align data engineering with product and business goals. • Represent the data engineering function at governance boards, show-and-tells, and wider departmental forums. Delivery & Operations • Oversee the end-to-end delivery of large-scale data engineering projects, ensuring alignment with agile practices and strategic goals. • Establish best practices for ETL/ELT development, version control, CI/CD, and cloud-native data architecture. • Maintain oversight of BAU data operations, ensuring service continuity, proactive incident management, and operational resilience. • Lead data quality assurance and data governance processes in line with departmental and national data standards. If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply! Person specification Please Refer To Attached Job Description Alongside your salary of £71,381, Ministry of Justice contributes £20,679 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. • Access to learning and development • A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance • A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity • A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% • Annual Leave • Public Holidays • Season Ticket Advance For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page. Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ Selection process details How To Apply Candidates must submit CV and Statement of Suitability (of up to 750 words), which describes how you meet the below requirements: • Deep understanding of data modelling, data warehousing, dimensional modelling, and data governance. • Strong stakeholder management skills, including influencing, negotiating, and presenting at senior levels. • Experience driving adoption the of best practices, tooling, and processes across the wider digital and data community. • Microsoft certifications or Strong hands-on experience with the Microsoft BI Stack, especially Azure SQL, Fabric, Power BI, and Azure Data Factory. Application Guidance Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply and how to complete a Personal Statement Application Guidance In Justice Digital, We Recruit Using a Combination Of The Government Digital And Data Profession Capability And Success Profiles Frameworks. We Will Assess Your Experience, Technical Skills And The Following Behaviours During The Assessment Process: • Leadership • Working together • Communicating and Influencing A diverse panel will review your application against the Person Specification above. Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a 1-hour panel interview held via video conference. Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift based on the below criteria will be conducted before the sift. • Microsoft certifications or Strong hands-on experience with the Microsoft BI Stack, especially Azure SQL, Fabric, Power BI, and Azure Data Factory. Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application. A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups: • UK nationals • nationals of the Republic of Ireland • nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) • individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 • Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job Contact : • Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team • Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk • Telephone : 0345 241 5359 Recruitment team • Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/ https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/justicedigital/Job/JobDetail?JobId=806