Data Platform Data Engineer - AVP
London, LND, GB, EC2M 2AT
SMBC: A trusted partner for the long term
Here at SMBC Group, we want to help you find the next step in your career so read on to discover if this opportunity is the one for you. We like to recognise potential in our people, so we welcome your application even when your experience doesn’t perfectly align with the job description. Whilst we’ll always strive to be better, we’re proud of our inclusive culture, and encourage our applicants and colleagues to be their authentic, unique selves.
Who we are
United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.
Purpose of Job
We are seeking an experienced and skilled Data Platform Data Engineer to join the Data Platform Delivery Team in EMEA Data & Analytics Technology. The successful candidate will play a key role in designing, implementing, and maintaining robust data infrastructure and pipelines to support our organization's data-driven initiatives, ensuring optimal performance, scalability, flexibility, and reliability. The data platform is to be built in a hybrid cloud environment with Azure and some components residing in our on-prem data centre. The platform is to be built on a green field basis and legacy capability migrated to it. The role will include the following.
- Understanding of business and data requirements and translation to data pipeline and systems design.
- Implementation of agreed designs.
- Mentoring and guiding other members of the team through collaboration and peer review.
- Building production quality components.
- Aligning the implementation of the Data Platform to the agreed strategy of the platform.
- Deliver excellence in data ingestion and distribution for SMBC EMEA.
The anticipated salary range for this role is £70,000 - £106,000, with the final offer determined based on the candidate’s skills, experience, role scope, location, and relevant market factors. In addition to base salary, the role may be eligible for a discretionary incentive award and a competitive benefits package, including core benefits such as pension provision.
Background
The newly created EMEA Data & Analytics Technology team has been put in place to deliver data integration, reporting, and analytics services to the SMBC EMEA business. It exists within the wider ITSD department that is responsible for all IT delivery to the SMBC EMEA enterprise.
The team deliver data and analytics solutions to FO P&L business lines, cross business line departments (eg Finance, Risk, Operations, etc), and the Data Office as a key client. This is within a complex systems environment which has been built over several years and is looking to be re-architected for the next phase of SMBC EMEA growth.
Facts and Scale
- Will be working in a team of circa 100 IT staff across multiple locations within a department of 500+
- Will deliver robust, reliable, performant, and maintainable components of the Data Platform for use across the SMBC EMEA entity covering capital markets and corporate banking activities.
- Will attend the London office at least 2 days a week.
Accountabilities and Responsibilities
- Design and implement scalable and efficient data pipelines, ETL processes, and data integration solutions to collect, process, and store large volumes of data.
- Develop data models, schema designs, and data architecture frameworks to support diverse analytical and reporting needs.
- Build and optimize data processing workflows using distributed computing frameworks available on Azure, our preferred cloud provider.
- Implement data transformation logic to cleanse, validate, and enrich raw data for analysis and consumption by downstream applications.
- Integrate data from various internal and external sources including databases, APIs, and streaming platforms into centralized data repositories and data warehouses.
- Ensure data quality and consistency by implementing validation checks, data profiling, and error handling mechanisms.
- Optimize data pipelines and processing algorithms for performance, reliability, and scalability to handle growing data volumes and user demands.
- Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, optimize SQL queries, and fine-tune system configurations for improved efficiency.
- Implement data governance policies, access controls, and encryption mechanisms to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive data.
- Collaborate with security and compliance teams to adhere to regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
- Monitor data pipelines, job schedules, and system health metrics to proactively identify issues and ensure the availability of data infrastructure.
- Perform routine maintenance tasks, data backups, and disaster recovery procedures to mitigate risks and ensure data continuity.
- Create and maintain technical documentation including system architectures, data flow diagrams, and operational procedures.
- Share knowledge and best practices with team members through code reviews, technical presentations, and training sessions.
Knowledge, Skills, Experience and Qualifications
Essential
- Extensive experience working as an analyst developer or data engineer in a data-centric environment.
- Proven experience in designing and implementing end-to-end data solutions from ingestion to consumption.
- Strong experience with Azure data PaaS services and data pipeline delivery on the Azure platform with Databricks.
- Experience delivering data platforms with C#, Python, JSON, XML, APIs, and message bus technology. Or similar technologies.
- Strong knowledge of database systems, data modelling, and data integration technologies.
- Strong Analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to troubleshoot complex issues and propose effective solutions.
- Ability to analyse data requirements, identify patterns, and design scalable data designs to meet business needs.
- Strong experience of different data architectures including hub and spoke, data lakes, data fabrics, lakehouses.
- Strong SQL skills and experience with relational databases (e.g., ORACLE, MS SQL) and NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra).
- Good communication skills to explain and gain buy in for designs from other analyst developers in the team and other stakeholders.
- Collaborative and curious practices to develop strong well thought through solutions.
- Curiosity to learn new ways of delivering solutions and openness to new designs or other people’s ideas.
Desirable
- Knowledge of complex systems estates with diverse data needs. Preferably in capital markets, corporate banking or asset management.
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
- Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Scala, or Java for data processing and scripting tasks.
- Experience of Agile practises and especially scrum of scrums and Atlassian tooling.
- Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
- Data warehouse virtualisation technologies eg Denodo, Snowflake, etc.
- Coaching / mentoring of more junior staff.
- Advanced certifications in data engineering, cloud computing, or related fields would be a plus.
Challenges
Taking full ownership of solutions including the CICD pipelines for deployment and automated testing are part of the strategy for the Data Platform as part of a holistic delivery.
Competencies
What we offer
For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it’s only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.
As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:
- Hybrid and flexible working
- Competitive paid leave days
- Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance
- Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services
- Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities
- Ambitious remuneration package
So, if you like a challenge and want to continuously grow and develop in a role where you will be supported along the way by a dynamic and diverse team, apply today!!
We recognise our role as a bank to support social change and welcome all applications, including those from groups often under-represented in financial services. We value the uniqueness of professional and personal, backgrounds and perspectives as they play a vital role in continuing the sustainable growth of our organisation. We’ll ensure reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process are offered due to a disability or long-term condition whenever requested.
We are committed to transparent and equitable pay practices. Compensation is determined using objective criteria, including skills, experience, and role responsibilities, and applied consistently throughout our recruitment processes. We do not request candidates' pay history and are committed to preventing unjustified pay disparities.