Data Engineering & Insight Manager

Role Profile

Job Title: Data Engineering & Insights Manager (Hybrid Working Policy) 2 days a month.

Reports To: Chief Innovation Officer

Role Purpose

The Data Engineering & Insights Manager is responsible for leading the design, build and operation of the Society's data platforms, alongside the delivery of high-quality, business-ready insights that support strategic decision-making and operational performance.
The role combines leadership of data engineering capability (including the data lake, pipelines and environments) with ownership of analytics and reporting outputs, ensuring data is transformed into accessible, trusted and actionable insight for the business.
Reporting to the Chief Innovation Officer, the postholder will play a key role in enabling the Society's innovation, digital and data strategy, ensuring the organisation can leverage data effectively to improve customer outcomes, drive growth and enhance operational efficiency.

The role requires a balance of technical leadership, business engagement and delivery focus, with strong accountability for execution, data quality, platform reliability and insight effectiveness.

Key Responsibilities

Data Engineering & Platform Leadership

* Lead the design, development and ongoing management of the Society's data architecture, including the data lake and associated data environments.
* Ensure robust, scalable and secure data pipelines are in place to support timely and accurate data ingestion, transformation and availability.
* Maintain high standards of data integrity, governance, security and resilience across all data platforms.
* Oversee performance, optimisation and continuous improvement of the data environment to meet evolving business needs.
* Work closely with technology and architecture teams to ensure alignment with broader IT and digital strategy.

Analytics & Business Insights Delivery

* Lead the development of business-ready data models, table structures and curated datasets to enable effective reporting and analysis.
* Oversee the production of high-quality, intuitive and accessible reports and dashboards, primarily through Power BI.
* Ensure insights are clearly communicated, relevant and tailored to business needs, supporting decision-making at all levels.
* Promote a self-service data culture by making data easy to access, understand and use across the organisation.
* Ensure consistency, accuracy and trust in all reporting outputs.

Leadership and Team Development

* Lead, develop and inspire a multi-disciplinary team of data engineers and analysts.
* Build strong technical capability across the team, ensuring best practice in engineering, modelling and visualisation.
* Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
* Provide coaching and development to enhance both technical expertise and business understanding.
* Ensure the team operates with clear priorities, strong delivery discipline and high performance standards.

Business Engagement and Value Delivery

* Partner with business stakeholders to understand data, reporting and insight requirements.
* Translate business needs into data solutions, ensuring outputs align with strategic priorities and deliver measurable value.
* Act as a trusted advisor on data and insight, supporting innovation and continuous improvement initiatives.
* Prioritise workload effectively to balance strategic delivery with operational demand.

Operational Execution and Delivery

* Take end-to-end accountability for the delivery of data and insight solutions, ensuring they are delivered on time, to quality and aligned to requirements.
* Establish and maintain clear delivery plans, standards and governance across data initiatives.
* Monitor and manage workloads, ensuring resource is aligned to priority activity.
* Drive continuous improvement in delivery processes, tools and methodologies.

Risk, Governance and Compliance

* Ensure all data activity meets regulatory, legal and internal governance requirements, including data protection and security standards.
* Maintain strong oversight of data quality, lineage and auditability.
* Identify, manage and escalate risks and issues related to data platforms and reporting.
* As a member of Data, Information Security & Architecture (DISA) forum, provide robust challenge and contribution to support strategic decisions
* Support the development and embedding of data governance frameworks and policies.

Key Accountabilities

* Reliable, secure and scalable operation of the data lake and data platforms.
* Delivery of high-quality, trusted and business-ready data and insights.
* Effective leadership and performance of the data engineering and analytics team.
* Strong alignment of data solutions to business strategy and innovation priorities.
* Data governance, quality and compliance across all data assets.
* Timely and effective execution of data and insight delivery.

Person Specification

Knowledge and Experience

* Proven experience in data engineering, data platforms and analytics leadership roles.
* Strong understanding of data lake architecture, ETL/ELT pipelines, and modern data environments.
* Experience of data modelling, structuring and preparing data for reporting and analytics use.
* Proven track record of delivering business insights through tools such as Power BI.
* Experience of using Codex and/or other AI-assisted coding tools to support efficient development, problem-solving and continuous improvement in data engineering and analytics activities.
* Experience of leading and developing technical teams in a data or analytics environment.
* Understanding of data governance, data quality and regulatory considerations in financial services is advantageous.

Skills and Capabilities

* Strong leadership and people management skills, with the ability to build and develop high-performing teams.
* Deep technical understanding of data engineering and analytics concepts, with the ability to translate into business value.
* Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, able to explain complex data concepts clearly.
* Strong problem-solving and analytical capability.
* Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery oversight.
* High level of organisation and delivery discipline, with a focus on execution and outcomes.

Personal Attributes

* Curious, forward-thinking and innovative mindset.
* Accountable and results-oriented, with a strong focus on delivery.
* Collaborative and supportive, with a commitment to team success.
* Customer- and business-focused, ensuring data delivers real value.
* Adaptable and resilient in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

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