Senior Data Engineer

At Leonardo, our Data Engineers play a hands-on role in designing and building secure, scalable data solutions that support defence, government, and commercial operations.  Taking ownership of data engineering solutions and mentoring junior team members as you contribute to secure, scalable architectures. you’ll gain exposure to cloud platforms, big data technologies and the full data lifecycle - developing the skills to turn raw data into actionable insight across hybrid and cloud environments.

Your work at Leonardo UK will see you take the lead in solving customer problems in an agile, innovative and team-centric manner. The role may involve a blended hybrid working model, with a mixture of working from home and working on site at one of our Leonardo offices to ensure close collaboration with the wider team and with our customers.

• →Design, administer and optimise SQL Server databases, ensuring performance, security, resilience, and availability.
• →Troubleshoot and resolve database-related issues in development and production environments.
• →Implement and maintain database security controls, backup strategies, replication, and high-availability solutions.
• →Support change management activities and continuous improvement of data platform services.
• →Develop tools for data-driven insights and task automation
• →Collaborate with stakeholders to define data and tool requirements
• →Work with cloud platforms and diverse operating systems
• →Support development and deployment of machine learning models
• →Collaborate with DevOps Engineers, Data Scientists, Analysts and Cyber Consultants
• →Leverage big data technologies and orchestration tools
• →Lead small work packages and provide technical guidance to junior engineers.

• Proven experience in data engineering with ability to work independently and take ownership of deliverables.
• Strong Python and SQL skills, with experience building and optimising data pipelines.
• Strong experience with Microsoft SQL Server and working with large, complex databases.
• Strong experience designing, administering and optimising database solutions, including performance tuning, troubleshooting, security, access controls, and working with SQL, NoSQL and cloud-based technologies.
• Experience with ETL processes and data integration techniques.
• Ability to lead small work packages and provide technical guidance to junior engineers.
• Experience contributing to design decisions and ensuring quality of outputs.
• Strong problem-solving mindset and ability to collaborate across teams.
• Excellent communication skills for engaging stakeholders and sharing technical insights.

• Strong experience with Microsoft SQL Server and large-scale database environments.
• Understanding of database architecture, including SQL and NoSQL technologies.
• Experience with ETL flows, data pipelines and orchestration tools.
• Experience with database query tuning and performance optimisation.
• Experience troubleshooting and resolving issues in database and production environments.
• Understanding of database security and access management.
• Experience with cloud technologies.
• Exposure to Docker and APIs.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving mindset.
• Ownership of deliverables and quality.
• Leadership of small work packages.
• Mentoring and knowledge sharing.
• Proven experience in data engineering.
• Strong Python and SQL skills.

• Degree in STEM, Data, AI, or Programming-related field
• Experience influencing technical decisions and supporting capability growth.
• Experience with CI/CD practices
• Experience with big data tools e.g. Spark, Hadoop, NiFi
• Exposure to infrastructure scaling e.g. Kubernetes
• Exposure to Ansible and Terraform
• Understanding of ML algorithms and deployment
• Experience with SQL Server high-availability technologies, including replication, mirroring, or clustering.
• Experience with Windows Server administration.
• Exposure to PowerShell scripting and automation.
• Experience working within Agile delivery methodologies (Scrum/Kanban).
• Exposure to virtualised or cloud-hosted database environments, including Azure, AWS, or VMware.
• Experience with Visual Studio or related database development tooling.

This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn.

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting