Data Engineer

Location:       Hybrid 

Contracted to our Wilmslow, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast office, however, we offer flexible home and office-based working opportunities. There will be times when you will be expected to attend the office to collaborate with colleagues or travel due to business need.  

Why work for the ICO? 

• Pay progression scheme.
• Hybrid and flexible working options.  
• 25 days paid holiday per year, plus privilege and public holidays. 
• Flexi leave (up to 26 additional days leave per year). 
• Pension (employer contribution around 28.9%). 
• Online discount scheme to save money at major supermarkets, retailers, gyms, restaurants, insurance providers and many more. 
• Health Cash Plan. 
• Fantastic development opportunities to learn and progress. 

Further details can be found on the benefits section of our website . 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent regulator of information rights. In a data-driven world, we provide advice, guidance, and support to organisations enabling compliance with their obligations, as well as protecting individuals and their personal data. 

As an employer, we are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives and careers of our people, and we empower you to be curious, impactful, collaborative and respectful. 

Job description

• The role will develop and construct data products and services, and integrate them into systems and business processes for insights, decision making, digitalisation, automation, data science and AI
• The role will implement data solutions according to the enterprise architecture strategy and solution architecture and design for the ICO data platform
• The role will support the selection and management of appropriate technology and delivery partners for the ICO data platform, ensuring value for money, quality and on time delivery
• The role will implement solutions compliant with the safety, security, policies and operational performance of the data platform
• The role will support the delivery of value from data for the ICO and for its stakeholders such as individuals, businesses, public and third sector organisations

Key responsibilities:

• Designing and engineering solutions that together constitute the ICO’s data platform, for instance for data warehousing, data integration, Big Data, data analytics as well as technologies for data governance, data science and AI/ML, in line with organisational needs and opportunities, and compliant with the Enterprise Architecture vision 
• Supporting the Head of Data Platform and Director of Data in developing and executing the Enterprise Data Strategy
• Supporting the development of and compliance with engineering standards for the data platform
• Implementing continuous improvement activities to improve the data platform’s performance, resilience, use, efficiency or effectiveness
• Providing appropriate technical support for data products and services for incident and problem resolution

Person specification 

Essential criteria assessed at application stage:

• Experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification, and accumulated through any combination of academic or vocational qualifications or experience
• Experience of the whole data pipeline in designing and developing data platforms including ETL/ELT, data warehousing, data modelling, Big Data and data integration as well as technology used for data governance, analytics and AI / ML, both on-premise and cloud-based. 
• Extensive knowledge of data and data analytics technologies on-premise and in the cloud, and ability to apply this to the role. 
• Experience of the Microsoft stack for CRM, data warehousing and analytics including Dynamics 365, SQL Server, Power BI, Python, Azure and Fabric
• Knowledge of the data protection and privacy landscape, regulations and obligations for data practitioners. 

Essential criteria assessed during interview:

• Communicating effectively across organisational boundaries, requirements gathering, understanding the context.
• Ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity, creative problem solving and developing innovative solutions. 
• Experience of data governance approaches and operations, including for data quality, metadata management, master data management, records management and cataloguing. 
• Experience of building data products and services supporting data use cases with tangible value for areas including customer experience, operational efficiency or product development.  
• Actively keeps informed of industry developments to make cost-effective use of new and emerging tools and technologies.
• Knowledge of the public sector and regulatory environment, or clear appreciation of specifics and complexities and how they would influence the role. 
• Knowledge of the role of data modelling including industry-recognised data modelling patterns and standards and how these apply to data architecture, design and engineering.
• Understanding of wider DDaT profession and practices and their relationship with Data. Experience of delivering using adaptive methodologies such as Agile.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion 

The ICO is committed to promoting and enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion. We are focused on developing a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve and together we are building an inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference. We are championing this through our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board together with a number of staff networks. Read more about our commitment on our website.  

Candidates with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy will be invited to interview as part of the ICO’s commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme. 

If you have a disability or impairment and require an alternative application method, please email the HR team at recruitment@ico.org.uk . 

Closing Date 

Please submit your CV and cover letter detailing your suitability to the role by 23:59, Wednesday 6th November 

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before this date should we receive sufficient applications. Please apply as soon as possible to ensure your application is considered.