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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principal Data Engineer - **Company:** Places for People - **Location:** Cambridge, UK - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Airflow, BigQuery, Continuous Integration, Data Dictionary, Information Engineering, Data Fusion, Data Governance, Data Infrastructure, Data Systems, Database Queries, Distributed Systems, Document-Oriented Databases, Data Flow Control, Scrum Methodology, Systems Development Life Cycle, Query Optimization, Data Mesh, SQL Databases, Data Streaming, Data Processing, Google Cloud, Cloud Platform System, Data Ingestion, Build Management, Data Lakes, Google Cloud Functions, Domain Driven Design, Data Pipelines - **Published:** October 15, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.apply4u.co.uk/jobs/principal-data-engineer/51889175 ## About the Role You will have an extensive cloud data engineering background with deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud platforms and modern data stacks. You will have a strong understanding of domain driven design, data mesh and product thinking. You will be an excellent communicator and collaborator across technical teams. Having worked on multiple projects within the cloud you have hands on experience in many of the tools and technologies on offer, and you embrace and learn new technologies quickly. You have a very clear view of what good looks like and can formulate plans to deliver a target state working closely with managers and engineers to deliver that vision. You will have multiple years' experience working in GCPwith good knowledge across the platform and deep knowledge in core processing and orchestration products such as Big Query, DataFlow, Data Fusion, Data Stream, Cloud Functions, Data Proc and Airflow / Composer. You will have excellent problem-solving skills, a rigorous approach to code checks / peer reviews and have the strength of character to drive high standards in the team.You will be able to manage and participate in the full development lifecycle of data products. You will have held a leading role in a Data Engineering function with responsibility for the directing the efforts of other data engineers though the design, build and deployment of complex data solutions. This includes driving the implementation and adoption of CI / CD. You will be self-motivated with excellent leadership qualities, capable of driving innovation and mentoring data engineers. Experience & Skills A proven track record within Data Engineering, Experience in a Lead / Principal Engineer role Experience in a cloud data platform experience GCP experience and associated tech stack Strong understanding of Data Mesh principles (direct experience beneficial) Technical mentoring / coaching skills Extensive experience with Data Lake / Warehouse solutions Strong proficiencyin multiple languages with SQL andPython as must haves In-depth knowledge of query optimization techniques and experience in fine-tuning complex queries. Strong understanding of Data Governance including Data Dictionaries, MDM, Lineage, Data Legislation, and the handling of PII Exceptional communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with cross functional teams Experience of Agile / Scrum / SDLC ## Description Technical leadership across product domains Architecture and design Mentorship and capability building Cross domain interoperability Governance and compliance enablement Innovation and strategic influence With a solid understanding of Google Cloud Platform, the Principal Data Engineer is responsible for the ensuring that the design and build of all data processes on the data platform are robust, performant, and compliant. This includes, data ingestion, data quality / integrity, transformation, security and encryption, batch management, monitoring, alerting and cost control. In addition to leading data processing the Principal Data Engineer will help design and build the Data Mesh including data modelling and the processing of data from raw through the semantic layers. The Principal Data Engineer will identify opportunities for automation and process improvement, coach and mentor data engineers, set coding standards and best practices, implement and document data integrity and quality checks, optimise queries, and facilitate data engineering collaboration across the team. The Principal Data Engineer will work hand in glove with the Principal Data Platform Engineer and the Data Domain Architect to ensure that the data platform and data pipeline design is optimised and reliable within Google Cloud Platform, documenting the approach and explaining the solution to engineers and non-technical business users. More about you?, As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application. We are dedicated to creating a supportive and accessible recruitment process for all. We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best. If you are a Places for People customer and you're looking for support with your application, please contact our skills and employment team on . We understand the importance of a supportive and inclusive work culture so please talk to us at interview about flexibility you may need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we promise not to judge you for asking. For this role we are open to discussing the possibility of reduced hours, flexible start and finish times or compressed hours. If you are a recruitment agency please note we operate a PSL and do not take cold calls Safeguarding At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect. We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment. By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities JBRP1_UKTJ