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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Engineering Manager - Data - **Company:** We're Nominet - **Location:** Oxford, UK - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Data Analysis, Automation of Tests, Configuration Management, Databases, Continuous Integration, Information Engineering, Data Governance, Data Infrastructure, Relational Databases, DevOps, PostgreSQL, Oracle (Applications), Apache Spark, Technical Debt, Infrastructure Automation Frameworks, Software Version Control, Databricks - **Published:** September 11, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.careerjet.co.uk/job/gb2e99048da12929f04ecc1018be777609/eaa ## About the Role Demonstrable experience line managing engineers or analysts, including development, performance, and recruitment; this is a genuine people leadership role. A strong engineering background in data: platform engineering, data engineering, database engineering, or a closely related discipline, with enough hands-on credibility to review a design and challenge an approach. Practical experience with a public cloud lakehouse or modern data platform; Databricks and Spark experience is an advantage. Solid grounding in relational databases at scale, ideally including Oracle and/or PostgreSQL. Real experience of DevOps practice applied to data or databases: infrastructure as code, CI/CD, automated schema migration, configuration management. A track record of raising engineering standards in an existing team, not just maintaining them. Clear evidence of a customer or product orientation in an internal-facing team Excellent communication skills, and the judgement to know when to decide, when to delegate, and when to escalate. Nice To Have: Experience leading a migration from traditional DBA operations towards an automated, code-defined model. Familiarity with immutable infrastructure patterns, containerised or ephemeral database environments, and blue/green or expand-contract release approaches. Exposure to data governance and cataloguing tooling, and to data quality frameworks. Experience managing a multi-disciplinary team where the disciplines do not naturally talk to each other. Awareness of how AI and machine learning workloads change the demands placed on a data platform. ## Description Lead Nominet's Data function, bringing together data platform engineering, data analysis and database engineering as one coherent, high-performing team. This is a people leadership role first, supported by enough technical depth to set engineering standards, review designs and challenge approaches. You will lead the modernisation of our data estate towards everything-in-code, automated and rebuildable infrastructure, while treating the teams who rely on our data as customers. Success means a reliable, well-governed data platform, stronger engineering practice and a team that grows in capability and impact. What You'll Be Doing: Lead, coach and develop a multidisciplinary team of approximately 11 people across data platform engineering, data analysis and database engineering, including recruitment, objectives, performance and career development. Build a high-performing, connected data function by creating stretch opportunities, encouraging learning across disciplines and setting a culture of accountability, psychological safety and continuous improvement. Own and deliver the roadmap across the Databricks platform, analytics capability and Oracle/PostgreSQL database estate, balancing strategic investment, operational demand and technical debt. Drive modern engineering practice across the data function, including version control, peer review, CI/CD, automated testing, infrastructure as code and eliminating manual production changes. Lead the transition from traditional DBA operations towards code-defined, automated and rebuildable database environments, including automated schema migrations and immutable infrastructure approaches. Own observability, reliability and cost management across the data estate, establishing meaningful monitoring, alerting and clear service levels for the services teams depend on. Make data quality, ownership, lineage, governance, security and privacy engineered properties of the platform, with clear accountability and consistent definitions for consumers. Build a strong product mindset around internal customers by understanding their workflows, creating feedback loops and ensuring the roadmap reflects the outcomes they need. Work closely with engineering, product, security, architecture, and business teams, communicating technical decisions and trade-offs clearly while managing relevant third-party and vendor relationships. ## Related Videos - [From Messy Queries to Scalable Systems - How Data Engineering actually works](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100203-from-messy-queries-to-scalable-systems-how-data-engineering-actually-works) - [Cutting LLM Costs Without Cutting Quality: How to Beat Proprietary LLMs with Fine-Tuned Open Source](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100151-cutting-llm-costs-without-cutting-quality-how-to-beat-proprietary-llms-with-fine-tuned-open-source) - [Kubernetes and Microservices with Multi-Model Databases](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/382-kubernetes-and-microservices-with-multi-model-databases) - [From DevOps to Scaled DevOps: How We’re Rebuilding Continuous Delivery as a Platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100018-from-devops-to-scaled-devops-how-we-re-rebuilding-continuous-delivery-as-a-platform) - [Modern Data Architectures need Software Engineering](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1030-modern-data-architectures-need-software-engineering) - [OLTP in the Lakehouse: Redefining Data for AI Workloads](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2038-oltp-in-the-lakehouse-redefining-data-for-ai-workloads) ## Related Articles - [Data Engineer Salary UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/253-data-engineer-salary-uk) - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [The Most Popular IT Jobs on the Market](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/376-the-most-popular-it-jobs-on-the-market) - [From developer to manager – what does it take to become an engineering manager?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/42-from-developer-to-manager-what-does-it-take-to-become-an-engineering-manager) - [Should Tech Managers Be Developers First? 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