Contract Principal Data Engineer
Remote London Contract Senior Data Engineering
At a glance
Senior Data Engineering role at Nasstar. Remote, United Kingdom · contract.
Pay not stated Data Engineer salary
RoleData Engineering
SenioritySenior
LocationLondon
WorkplaceRemote
EmploymentContract
PostedMay 22, 2026
Role brief
remoteroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Advise senior client contacts on technical choices, platform direction and roadmaps, translating complex concepts into business outcomes
- Lead architecture and implementation for enterprise Databricks platforms, setting engineering standards and improving performance and resilience
- Drive technical delivery across client projects, coordinating engineers, architects, product owners and client teams
- Guide engineering teams on modern data practices, resolve technical incidents and promote automation and DevOps approaches
What you bring
- You have worked as a principal or lead data engineer, or data architect, in enterprise settings
- You bring substantial Databricks expertise across architecture, optimisation and leading delivery teams
- You have consulting and client-facing experience, preferably spanning multiple engagements
- You can design cloud data platforms on Azure or AWS and work with PySpark, SparkSQL and distributed processing
Who this fits
This contract role suits a senior technical leader who can move between hands-on engineering, architecture and client advice. It is remote and based in London, with work spanning client engagements.
From the employer
We are looking for an experienced Principal Data Engineer to join us on a contract
basis, supporting complex client engagements across Data & AI transformation
programmes.
This is a highly client-facing consultancy role, suited to someone who is comfortable
operating at both strategic and hands-on technical levels. You will work directly with
senior client stakeholders, delivery teams and architects to design and deliver
scalable modern data platforms.
We are specifically looking for someone with deep expertise in Databricks, either
operating at Architect level or leading high-performing engineering teams within
enterprise environments.
The successful candidate will bring strong consulting capability, commercial
awareness and stakeholder management skills alongside exceptional technical depth. Client Engagement & Stakeholder Management
basis, supporting complex client engagements across Data & AI transformation
programmes.
This is a highly client-facing consultancy role, suited to someone who is comfortable
operating at both strategic and hands-on technical levels. You will work directly with
senior client stakeholders, delivery teams and architects to design and deliver
scalable modern data platforms.
We are specifically looking for someone with deep expertise in Databricks, either
operating at Architect level or leading high-performing engineering teams within
enterprise environments.
The successful candidate will bring strong consulting capability, commercial
awareness and stakeholder management skills alongside exceptional technical depth. Client Engagement & Stakeholder Management
- Act as a trusted technical advisor across client engagements.
- Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders, delivery leads and
engineering teams. - Translate complex technical concepts into clear business value and delivery
outcomes. - Support clients through technical decision-making, platform strategy and
roadmap planning.
- Lead the design and implementation of enterprise-scale Databricks solutions and modern data platforms.
- Provide architectural leadership across cloud-native data engineering
initiatives. - Define engineering standards, best practices and scalable delivery approaches.
- Drive platform optimisation, resilience and performance improvements.
- Lead technical delivery across multiple client engagements within a consultancy environment.
- Work closely with cross-functional teams including Data Engineers, Architects, Product Owners and client stakeholders.
- Support project planning, technical governance and delivery execution.
- Ensure high-quality, scalable and maintainable engineering solutions.
- Mentor and guide engineering teams across modern data engineering practices.
- Lead technical problem-solving and incident resolution where required.
- Drive adoption of engineering best practices, automation and DevOps
principles.
- Proven experience operating as a Principal Data Engineer, Lead Data Engineer or Data Architect within enterprise environments.
- Strong consultancy and client-facing experience, ideally across multiple customer engagements.
- Deep expertise in Databricks, including architecture, optimisation and leading delivery teams.
- Strong experience designing and delivering cloud-native data platforms within
Azure and/or AWS environments. - Advanced experience with PySpark, SparkSQL and large-scale distributed data processing.
- Strong understanding of modern data architecture, ETL/ELT frameworks and
data modelling. - Excellent SQL skills and experience working with large-scale datasets.
- Strong understanding of data governance, security and platform reliability
principles. - Excellent communication, stakeholder management and consulting skills.
- Ability to operate confidently in fast-paced, delivery-focused environments
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