Senior Data Engineer
About this role
Designing, building, and enhancing custom data pipelines and database layers forms the core daily focus for the engineer managing Fount, Burson’s proprietary communications intelligence platform. Operating inside the London-based Intelligence and Insights practice, this individual translates product roadmaps into robust data architectures while directly mentoring a junior teammate. Success in the role requires bridging hands-on technical execution with architectural strategy, optimizing everything from SQL transformation layers to AI token costs.
Fount powers large-scale reputation measurement by processing client monitoring subscriptions, Boolean search criteria, and AI-driven enrichment workflows. The person in this seat collaborates closely with Product Owners within a structured Jira-driven Agile environment to assess technical feasibility and build production-ready Python services. Ideal candidates bring substantial experience operating within cloud ecosystems and a genuine interest in elevating team engineering standards.
What you will do
- Lead the technical design, architectural standards, and delivery of business-critical data pipelines and platform components across media monitoring data sources.
- Partner closely with Product Owners in an Agile Jira environment to assess technical feasibility and translate product requirements into maintainable technical solutions.
- Build and maintain production-ready Python services, SQL transformation layers, star-schema data models, and API integrations across relational databases and cloud storage.
- Optimize pipeline performance, system reliability, compute efficiency, and AI token costs while establishing robust monitoring and incident-response practices.
- Enhance the analyst-facing configuration layer through Boolean searches, API ingestion rules, and NocoDB workflows to streamline setup processes.
- Operationalize AI-enabled enrichment frameworks including classification, summarization, sentiment analysis, and topic detection with strict quality assurance and cost controls.
- Mentor junior engineers through code reviews, pairing, architectural guidance, and knowledge-sharing while refactoring technical debt.
What you need
- Substantial experience designing, building, and operating production data platforms, star-schema data models, and complex ELT/ETL pipelines.
- Advanced proficiency in Python and SQL, including clean object-oriented design, Pandas, query optimization, and REST API integrations.
- Hands-on experience within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem including Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL, and Azure Data Lake Storage, alongside Azure DevOps and Git.
- Proven track record in system reliability engineering, production troubleshooting, logging, monitoring, and performance optimization.
- Demonstrated capability mentoring junior engineers and elevating team capabilities through code reviews and documentation.
- Agile execution expertise using Jira and partnering with Product Owners to evaluate technical trade-offs.
- Familiarity with modern AI and integration frameworks such as LLM enrichment workflows, Parquet formats, and NoSQL databases.
Nice to have
- Low-code UI tools like NocoDB or Airtable
- Infrastructure as Code tools including Terraform or Terragrunt
- Power BI and DAX
- Communications measurement data experience
Benefits
- Professional development opportunities
- Mentorship programs with industry leaders
- Inclusive company culture fostering collaboration and innovation
- Packages designed to reward and retain top talent
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the remote work policy for this position?
The role follows a hybrid working policy based in London, UK. Teams typically work in the office around four days a week.
Where does this role sit within the company structure?
The position sits within Burson’s Intelligence & Insights capability and reports directly to JT Joseph. It operates as a senior individual-contributor role with technical leadership and mentoring responsibilities.
What tools and technologies will I be working with?
You will work with Python, SQL, Pandas, REST APIs, and the Microsoft Azure ecosystem including Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL, and Azure Data Lake Storage. The stack also incorporates Jira, NocoDB, and various AI enrichment and LLM workflows.
What are the primary responsibilities regarding team leadership?
While this is not a formal people-management position, you will serve as the lead engineer building the Fount platform. Responsibilities include directly mentoring a junior engineer and providing technical peer support across the wider engineering team.