Principal Data Engineer at Skipton… · Skipton

Hours:

35 hours per week, Hybrid (3 days in office)

Closing Date:

Fri, 12 Jun 2026

We’re recruiting a Principal Data Engineer to set the technical direction for our enterprise data platform and raise the bar for modern, trusted, high-quality data across Skipton.

**Who Are We?**Not just another building society. Not just another job.We're the fourth biggest building society in the UK and what makes us a bit different is that we're a mutual organisation. We don't have shareholders; we're owned by our members.Our colleagues say Skipton's a great place to work, and you could be one of them, bringing with you new ideas on how we can keep customers at the heart of what we do.Whatever your background, and whatever your goals, we'll help you take the next step towards a better future.You’ll be joining our Data Capability function, working at enterprise scale across product, platform, analytics, governance, cyber, and delivery teams.As a Principal Data Engineer, you’ll operate with company wide scope, shaping how data is ingested, modelled, governed, and consumed across Skipton. You’ll collaborate closely with Data Platform, Architecture, Data Governance, BI & Analytics, Cyber Security, DevSecOps, Quality Engineering, and Risk teams to ensure data is secure, trusted, observable, and fit for purpose.This is a senior leadership role where your impact is multiplied through standards, Golden Path patterns, and the development of talented Data Engineers across the organisation.**What’s In It For You?**Skipton values work/life balance and we are proud to support hybrid and flexible working, where possible. We have a newly refurbished head office which offers a vibrant and collaborative working space. We have a range of other benefits available to you including;

• Annual discretionary bonus scheme

• 25 days standard annual leave + bank holidays + rising 1 day per year of service to a maximum of 30 days

• Holiday trading scheme allowing the ability to buy and sell additional annual leave days

• Matching employer pension contribution (up to 10% per annum)

• Colleague mortgage (conditions apply)

• Salary sacrifice scheme for hybrid & electric car

• A commitment to training and development

• Private medical insurance for all our colleagues

• 3 paid volunteering days per annum

• Diverse and inclusive colleague networks available for you to join including our Carers and Pride Alliance groups

• We care about your health and wellbeing – we provide a range of benefits that support this including cycle to work initiative and discounted gym membership ******What Will You Be Doing?**As our Principal Data Engineer, you’ll provide both technical and people leadership, acting as a bar raiser for modern data engineering across Skipton. Key deliverables include:

• Defining enterprise wide data engineering standards, principles, and Golden Path patterns

• Leading hands‑on greenfield data platform implementations where no existing pattern exists, establishing reference architectures and engineering standards through delivery

• Setting the technical direction for cloud native, secure‑by‑design data platforms

• Improving data quality, freshness, lineage, observability, and operational resilience

• Shaping and delivering multiyear data platform and modernisation roadmaps

• Line managing, coaching, and developing Data Engineers and future technical leaders

• Evaluating data initiatives across data science, analytics, and reporting to determine the most appropriate platform strategy **What Do We Need From You?**We’re looking for an experienced data engineering leader with technical depth and credibility to influence at enterprise scale. You’ll bring:

• Deep, hands-on expertise in modern data engineering, such as lakehouse platforms, cloud data architectures, ingestion frameworks, and data modelling with a clear understanding of architectural trade-offs

• Proven experience establishing reusable data standards, patterns, and frameworks through greenfield implementations, with adoption driven through delivery rather than documentation alone

• Strong knowledge of data governance, security, lineage, metadata, and observability, including how to embed these concerns into platform design rather than layering them on afterwards

• Experience improving data quality, reliability, or delivery speed at enterprise scale

• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including coaching and developing engineers into senior-level technical leaders

• The confidence to provide technical direction, challenge ambiguous problems, and make high‑impact decisions