Principal GCP Data Engineer

£Up to £95,000 GBP

Hybrid WORKING

Location: Bristol; Gloucester; Cardiff; Corsham; Cheltenham, Bristol, South West - United Kingdom Type: Permanent

Principal GCP Data Engineer

Join an award-winning innovation and transformation consultancy recognised for its cutting-edge work in data engineering, cloud solutions, and enterprise transformation. This organisation is known for bringing ingenuity to life, helping clients turn complexity into opportunity, and fostering a culture where technical specialists thrive and grow.

An opportunity has arisen for a Principal GCP Data Engineer to join the London-based data and analytics practice. This Principal GCP Data Engineer role offers the chance to lead the design and delivery of end-to-end data solutions on Google Cloud Platform for high-profile clients, shaping data strategy and driving technical excellence across complex programmes.

With a reputation for combining breakthrough technologies with pragmatic delivery, the organisation empowers senior data engineers to influence architecture, mentor teams, and deliver production-ready solutions that create lasting impact.

The Role - Principal GCP Data Engineer

The Principal GCP Data Engineer is a senior technical role responsible for leading data engineering solutions, guiding teams, and acting as a subject matter expert in Google Cloud Platform. As a Principal GCP Data Engineer, you will define end-to-end solution architectures, implement best practices, and lead the development of robust, scalable data pipelines.

This role combines hands-on technical leadership with coaching, mentorship, and client engagement, making it ideal for a Principal GCP Data Engineer who enjoys delivering complex solutions while shaping the capabilities of their team and influencing enterprise-wide data strategy.

What You'll Be Doing as a Principal GCP Data Engineer

As a Principal GCP Data Engineer, you will:

• Lead the design, development, and delivery of data processing solutions using GCP tools such as Dataflow, Dataproc, and BigQuery
• Design automated data pipelines using orchestration tools like Cloud Composer
• Contribute to architecture discussions and design end-to-end data solutions
• Own development processes for your team, establishing robust principles and methods across architecture, code quality, and deployments
• Shape team behaviours around specifications, acceptance criteria, sprint planning, and documentation
• Define and evolve data engineering standards and practices across the organisation
• Lead technical discussions with client stakeholders, achieving buy-in for solutions
• Mentor and coach team members, building technical expertise and capability

Key Responsibilities

• Develop production-ready data pipelines and processing jobs using batch and streaming frameworks such as Apache Spark and Apache Beam
• Apply expertise in data storage technologies including relational, columnar, document, NoSQL, data warehouses, and data lakes
• Implement modern data pipeline patterns, event-driven architectures, ETL/ELT processes, and stream processing solutions
• Translate business requirements into technical specifications and actionable solution designs
• Work with metadata management and data governance tools such as Cloud Data Catalog, Collibra, or Dataplex
• Build data quality alerting and data quarantine solutions to ensure downstream reliability
• Implement CI/CD pipelines with version control, automated tests, and automated deployments
• Collaborate in Agile teams, using Scrum or Kanban methodologies

Key Requirements

The successful Principal GCP Data Engineer will bring deep technical expertise, client-facing experience, and leadership skills. You will have:

• Proven experience delivering production-ready data solutions on Google Cloud Platform
• Strong knowledge of batch and streaming frameworks, data pipelines, and orchestration tools
• Expertise in designing and managing structured and unstructured data systems
• Experience translating business needs into technical solutions
• Ability to mentor and coach teams and guide technical decision-making
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• A pragmatic approach to problem solving, combined with a drive for technical excellence

Why Join

• Take a senior technical leadership role as a Principal GCP Data Engineer within a globally recognised innovation and transformation consultancy
• Lead the delivery of complex data engineering programmes on Google Cloud Platform
• Shape the data engineering standards, practices, and architecture across client engagements and internal teams
• Work in a collaborative, inclusive, and learning-focused culture where technical specialists are empowered to grow and succeed