Principal Data Engineer (GCP) – Hybrid

About the role

We are looking for a Principal Data Engineer to join a leading social enterprise that has fully migrated to a cloud‑native data platform. In this senior technical role you will shape the data engineering function, drive platform design and mentor a team of engineers within a Google Cloud environment.

Key responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to data engineers.
• Define and govern the approach to data engineering projects.
• Collaborate with architects to design and evolve the cloud data platform.
• Ensure robust, scalable and compliant data pipelines across the platform.
• Lead best practices for data ingestion, transformation, quality, security and monitoring.
• Drive automation, CI/CD adoption and continuous improvement.
• Challenge technical decisions and raise engineering standards.

Required profile

• Extensive experience in data engineering, including senior or principal roles.
• Strong background in cloud‑native data platforms, preferably Google Cloud Platform.
• Hands‑on experience with Terraform, Docker and dbt.
• Deep knowledge of data lake and data warehouse solutions.
• Advanced SQL and Python programming skills.
• Understanding of data governance, lineage, legislation and PII.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments and following the SDLC.

Required skills

• Google Cloud Platform
• Terraform
• Docker
• dbt
• SQL
• Python
• Data Lake
• Data Warehouse

What we offer

• Hybrid working model in the North West of England.
• Competitive salary up to £100,000 per year.
• Opportunity to influence a fast‑growing, purpose‑driven organisation.