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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Lead Data Engineer, Portugal - **Company:** Zego - **Location:** London, UK (Remote available) - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** £80,000.0 - £100,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Airflow, Amazon Web Services, Amazon S3, Data Analysis, Apache HTTP Server, Big Data, Code Review, Continuous Integration, Data Architecture, Information Engineering, Data Infrastructure, Extract Transform Load (ETL), Data Security, Python (Programming Language), Machine Learning, SQL Databases, Data Streaming, Snowflake, Apache Spark, Build Management, Kubernetes, Apache Kafka, Data Management, Machine Learning Operations, Terraform, Stream Processing, Data Pipelines, Docker - **Published:** September 23, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=c475682ff48e59db ## About the Role You're a hands-on engineer who thrives on solving complex problems and helping others do their best work. You bring technical depth, a pragmatic mindset, and a collaborative approach to everything you do., * Experience: 5+ years as a Data Engineer working on scalable data platforms, ideally in product-led or high-growth environments. * Technical Skills: + Proven expertise in designing, building, and operating ETL/ELT pipelines and large-scale data architectures. + Deep hands-on experience with modern data stacks - our tech includes Python, SQL, Snowflake, Apache Iceberg, AWS S3, PostgresDB, Airflow, dbt, and Apache Spark, deployed via AWS, Docker, and Terraform (experience with similar technologies is essential). * Collaboration: Ability to work effectively with cross-functional stakeholders, translating technical concepts into business value. * Mentorship: Demonstrated experience in supporting the growth of other engineers through code reviews, pairing, and knowledge sharing. * Problem-Solving: Pragmatic approach to balancing technical excellence with delivery needs. Nice to Have: * Experience building Data Mesh or Lakehouse architectures. * Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, and real-time streaming technologies (e.g. Kafka, Kinesis). * Exposure to ML engineering pipelines or MLOps frameworks. ## Description We're looking for a Lead Data Engineer to be a technical authority within our data engineering function, helping to shape and evolve our data platform to meet Zego's ambitious growth. This is a hands-on technical role- you'll design and build scalable, resilient, and secure data systems, while acting as a mentor and technical guide for other engineers. You'll work closely with peers across Engineering, Data Science, Analytics, and Product to ensure our data infrastructure is efficient, reliable, and future-proof. While this role doesn't involve direct line management, you'll be expected to foster technical excellence within the team by sharing knowledge, reviewing code, and coaching others. What you will be doing Technical Leadership & Mentorship * Act as a senior technical reference point for the Data Engineering team. * Mentor and coach other engineers, helping them grow their technical skills and deliver high-quality work. * Promote best practices in data engineering, including testing, CI/CD, observability, and infrastructure as code. Platform & Architecture * Design, build, and maintain scalable and secure data pipelines, warehouses, and streaming systems. * Ensure data is modelled and structured to meet the needs of analytics, data science, and operational use cases. * Contribute to the evolution of our data architecture, ensuring it can support both current and future business needs. Collaboration & Delivery * Partner with teams across the business to understand requirements and translate them into robust technical solutions. * Identify opportunities for optimisation, re-architecture, or tool improvements. * Contribute to the definition and execution of the technical roadmap for data engineering., Teams work better with time to collaborate and space to get things done. We call it Zego Hybrid: some of us are in our office (central London or Halifax) weekly, others monthly or quarterly. It's about finding the balance between face time and focus that produces great work and a healthy life around it. We also make a point of getting everyone in the same room. Teams come together every quarter, and once a year the whole company does, properly. It's a serious investment and consistently one of the best parts of the year. ## 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) - [Alibaba Big Data and Machine Learning Technology](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/37-alibaba-big-data-and-machine-learning-technology) - [Fully Orchestrating Databricks from Airflow](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/336-fully-orchestrating-databricks-from-airflow) - [Docker Compose: Rediscovered](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1978-docker-compose-rediscovered) - [PySpark - Combining Machine Learning & Big Data](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/44-pyspark-combining-machine-learning-big-data) - [Modern Data Architectures need Software Engineering](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1030-modern-data-architectures-need-software-engineering) ## Related Articles - [Data Engineer Salary UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/253-data-engineer-salary-uk) - [Fully Remote Software Engineer Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/447-fully-remote-software-engineer-jobs) - [Find a Developer Job: 12 Best Job Sites For Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/165-find-a-developer-job-12-best-job-sites-for-developers) - [7 Most Popular Web Developer Jobs in Europe](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/163-7-most-popular-web-developer-jobs-in-europe) - [Where To Find Software Engineering Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/396-where-to-find-software-engineering-jobs) - [Software Engineer Salary London](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/252-software-engineer-salary-london)