Data Engineering Lead

About the role

You will own the technical design and hands-on delivery of data solutions for strategic client engagements in London. You will serve as the credible data engineering authority in client meetings, shaping proposals and defining scope that aligns business needs with technical reality. You will directly build and maintain pipelines, transformation layers, and models while mentoring engineers across the company to elevate our overall capability. You will adapt your approach across legacy warehouse migrations and greenfield lakehouse projects, rescuing and modernizing transformation layers where needed. You will define and evolve internal standards for testing, documentation, project structure, and code review to ensure consistent quality. You will join commercial and client service leadership in high-stakes conversations, providing the technical justification that wins and delivers engagements. You will build YLD's external reputation in data through community writing, event participation, and public thought leadership in the data space.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Perform hands-on data engineering work directly, writing pipelines, transformation layers, models, and the surrounding infrastructure rather than only directing others.
• Adapt technical approaches for diverse client contexts including legacy warehouse migrations, greenfield lakehouse builds, and transformation layers that require urgent rescue and modernization.
• Guide the wider engineering team and unblock hard technical problems as your remit expands beyond your own delivery into team-wide ownership.
• Define and evolve internal standards for data work, covering testing strategies, documentation practices, project structure, and code review processes to ensure consistency and quality.
• Mentor and grow data engineers across the company, providing technical leadership, career guidance, and practical coaching on complex data problems.
• Join client and prospect meetings as the technical authority on data, working alongside commercial and client services leadership to translate problems into credible approaches.
• Shape proposals and pitches by converting ambiguous client requirements into well-scoped, defensible data strategies backed by real delivery experience.
• Act as the escalation point on live data engagements, providing decisive technical judgment and steering solutions when critical issues arise under pressure.
• Travel to client sites for workshops, discovery sessions, and in-person relationship building, reinforcing trust and shared understanding on complex initiatives.
• Represent YLD at external data events and in the wider community, contributing through talks, workshops, and active participation in meetups and conferences.
• Build and maintain an external profile in the data community through writing, public speaking, and thoughtful contribution to relevant technical discussions.
• Support the sales team so that data capabilities become something YLD can proactively sell into new opportunities rather than only responding to inbound requests.
• Continuously improve how YLD delivers data value by evaluating new tools, patterns, and methodologies and introducing those that meaningfully improve outcomes.
• Collaborate closely with delivery and commercial teams to ensure data solutions remain aligned with client objectives, timelines, and constraints.

Requirements

• You have been a strong data engineer or data lead for several years, with deep, current experience in data platforms and pipelines.
• You are comfortable presenting to senior client stakeholders and holding your own under commercial pressure while managing competing priorities.
• You have the ability to quickly understand an unfamiliar domain and become an effective technical voice for clients within a short period.
• You have led a team or function before, demonstrating technical leadership, coaching, and the ability to grow other engineers.
• You can translate complex engineering constraints into clear business terms, enabling cross-functional negotiation and realistic commitments.
• Consultancy or agency experience is a strong plus, though real client or stakeholder-facing exposure in any context is acceptable if demonstrated clearly.
• You do not require an existing public profile in the data community, but you must show the appetite to build one and the technical depth to make it credible.
• You have hands-on experience with data stack components such as storage, processing, orchestration, and transformation in at least one major cloud environment.
• You understand software delivery best practices including testing, versioning, documentation, and code review, and you can advocate for their consistent application.
• You are comfortable working with ambiguous requirements and turning them into well-defined technical scopes that clients can understand and value.

Nice to have

• Prior experience working with AI and data workflows in production environments, including prompt engineering, agent patterns, and retrieval strategies.
• Experience contributing to or building technical communities, including speaking at events, organizing meetups, or maintaining public content.
• Background in selling or scoping technical services into new business opportunities in a consultancy or agency setting.

Practical notes

• Location is fixed in London (UK).
• Engagement is full-time.
• Willingness to travel to client sites and attend external events is required.
• The successful candidate should be prepared to build and grow a public profile in the data community over time.