Senior Data Engineer

THE TEAM & THE JOB

The Enterprise Systems BI Data & Analytics team owns the design, delivery and governance of YouGov's Power BI reporting and analytics estate, built on the Microsoft Fabric platform. Following an investment in internal capability, the team is building out its in-house engineering and development resource under the Enterprise Systems Senior Manager BI Data & Analytics.

As Senior Data Engineer, you will be an advanced-level professional responsible for the data pipelines, models and Fabric architecture that underpin the company's reporting and analytics. You will work autonomously on complex data engineering assignments, determine methods and procedures on new work, provide technical direction and mentoring to more junior engineers.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

• Design and implement scalable data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes using Microsoft Fabric to deliver reliable, timely data for reporting.
• Build and maintain data warehouse, data lake and lakehouse architectures within the Fabric ecosystem, implementing OneLake integration patterns.
• Develop and optimise semantic models for performance and scalability, applying DAX and data-model best practices.
• Determine methods and procedures on new data engineering assignments, evaluating complex and variable factors to select the right approach.
• Leverage Fabric workloads (Data Factory, Synapse Data Engineering, Data Warehouse) and Spark notebooks for large-scale data processing.
• Configure and manage Fabric workspaces, security and governance, including row-level security and capacity monitoring and optimisation.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g. GDPR) and enforce data standards and best practices across the platform.
• Provide technical guidance on data architecture decisions and develop models and procedures within the discipline.
• Mentor junior data engineers, reviewing work and building the team's internal capability.
• Work closely with BI developers to deliver robust reporting solutions that deliver value to the business. Document technical designs, processes and best practices so the platform is supportable and knowledge is retained in-house.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW – TECHNICAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Extensive experience in data engineering or related roles.
• Hands-on Power BI experience, including advanced DAX, Power Query (M), data modelling/star schema design, Power BI Service administration and Premium/Fabric capacity management.
• Experience with Microsoft Fabric, or comparable experience with Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory or Databricks.
• Strong SQL skills and solid grounding in data warehousing and lakehouse architecture concepts.
• Programming experience in Python or PySpark, with proficiency in version control (Azure DevOps) and CI/CD practices.
• Experience with Azure cloud services (e.g. Data Lake Storage, Event Hubs, Stream Analytics) and data orchestration/workflow management.
• Microsoft certifications (DP-203, DP-600 or DP-700), or similar.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW – BEHAVIOURAL SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

• Works autonomously, with authority over day-to-day priorities and the judgement to determine methods and approach on new assignments. Work is reviewed on completion against agreed outcomes rather than supervised in progress. (be accountable)
• Solves complex, non-routine problems by weighing variable factors and adapting established techniques, rather than applying a set procedure. Knows when to escalate and when to decide. (be accountable)
• Conveys complex technical information persuasively to non-technical audiences, adapting style to the listener and developing recommendations that stakeholders can act on. (communicate clearly)
• Provides work direction, mentoring and design review to less experienced colleagues without formal line management authority, giving feedback that raises the standard of the team's output. (trust each other)
• Builds working relationships beyond the immediate team, advising colleagues across functions and locations and negotiating priorities where demand competes. (trust each other)
• Owns quality and governance standards for their own area, holds others to them, and raises problems early rather than working around them. (be accountable)
• Keeps pace with the modern data stack and the Fabric roadmap, evaluating new capabilities on their merits and championing those that earn their place. (be fast)
• Works comfortably with ambiguity on new engineering assignments, defining the approach where no precedent exists and documenting it so others can follow. (be fast)

Why join YouGov?

Join our global team to help us achieve our social mission: to make millions of people’s opinions heard for the benefit of our local, national, and international communities.

Understanding diversity of opinion requires diversity of background. Although our global panel of millions of people worldwide powers our research, our biggest asset is our people. If our research is to be truly representative of what the world thinks, we need people from all walks of life to be part of the team to bring their perspective to the work we do.

Life at YouGov

We are driven by a set of shared values. We are fast, fearless, and innovative. We work diligently to get it right. We are guided by accuracy, ethics, and proven methodologies. We respect and trust each other, bringing these values into everything that we do.

We strive to provide YouGovers with best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellbeing. We want our employees to have a sense of belonging and uniqueness in a supportive workplace, so they can bring their full selves to work.

Equal Opportunity Employer

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity or expression, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, marital status, age, disability, genetic information, HIV status, political affiliation, socioeconomic background, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law or in line with our responsibilities as a fair and ethic employer. All employment decisions are made based on occupational qualifications, merit, and business need.

Data Privacy

To find out how we collect and use your personal data when you apply for a role at YouGov, please read our privacy notice at https://jobs.yougov.com/privacy