Contract Principal Data Engineer

Department: Services

Location: Remote, UK

Description 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.

Key Responsibilities 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.

Databricks Leadership & Solution Architecture

• 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.

Delivery & Consultancy

• 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.

Technical Leadership

• 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.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• 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

Benefits

• Opportunity to work on complex, high-impact client programmes.
• Exposure to enterprise-scale Data & AI transformation initiatives.
• Flexible remote-first working model aligned to client requirements.
• Access to AWS & Databricks partner training and certifications.
• Collaborative culture focused on technical excellence and innovation.
• Opportunity to influence engineering standards, delivery capability and client success across Colibri Digital.