SQL Analytics Engineer (AI-Enabled, Databricks) - Software - London or Reading
Daily rate: £350 - £450
Duration: 12 months
Start: ASAP
My client is looking for an Analytics Engineer to join a global analytics team supporting critical post-sales reporting, data insights, and business intelligence initiatives. This is a hands-on contract opportunity for a technically strong data professional who enjoys solving complex data challenges, improving reporting capabilities, and using AI-assisted development tools to accelerate delivery while maintaining high standards of quality and accuracy.
You'll play a key role in enhancing existing analytics solutions, troubleshooting data issues, optimizing performance, and identifying opportunities to improve the efficiency of the wider data environment. The ideal candidate combines advanced SQL expertise with strong analytical thinking and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and enhance analytics and reporting solutions across a large-scale data environment.
- Deliver incremental improvements to existing datasets, reports, dashboards, and data workflows.
- Investigate data issues, performance bottlenecks, and process inefficiencies.
- Work closely with senior engineers to troubleshoot, prioritise, and resolve technical challenges.
- Optimise SQL queries and data processes to improve performance, scalability, and reliability.
- Leverage AI-assisted development tools to accelerate coding, testing, documentation, and analysis activities.
- Validate and challenge AI-generated outputs to ensure technical accuracy and business relevance.
- Assess existing data architecture and propose improvements to performance, maintainability, and cost efficiency.
- Collaborate with stakeholders across global teams to gather requirements and deliver effective solutions.
- Provide regular progress updates and manage workload independently within a flexible hybrid working environment.
Required Skills & Experience
- Strong commercial experience in Data Analytics, Analytics Engineering, or Data Engineering.
- Advanced SQL skills with the ability to write, optimise, and troubleshoot complex queries.
- Experience working with enterprise-scale data platforms and analytics environments.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work autonomously.
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, ChatGPT, or similar technologies.
- Proven ability to validate, test, and improve AI-generated code and recommendations.
- Excellent stakeholder communication and collaboration skills.
Desirable Experience
- Python programming experience.
- Databricks experience.
- Experience with platforms such as Snowflake, Hadoop, Microsoft SQL Server, or similar enterprise data technologies.
- Exposure to data architecture, infrastructure optimisation, and performance tuning.
- Experience within the Microsoft ecosystem, including Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint integrations.
- Understanding of regression testing and AI-assisted development best practices.
What We're Looking For
We're particularly interested in candidates who:
- Have exceptional SQL expertise.
- Can quickly understand complex datasets and business processes.
- Demonstrate strong critical thinking and engineering judgement.
- Are comfortable working independently with minimal supervision.
- Can effectively leverage AI tools while maintaining ownership and accountability for outcomes.
- Enjoy identifying opportunities to improve systems, processes, and reporting capabilities.
- Thrive in collaborative, globally distributed teams.
Rates depend on experience and client requirements