Data Engineer

Job summary

Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT)

We are transforming DCMS to meet the demands of an agile, delivery-focused department leading on some of the highest priority work for the government’s agenda to drive growth, enrich lives and level-up society.

Our modernisation plans include critical investment in our systems, ensuring they are fit for purpose and reducing the manual input required, as well as the ongoing development of a new central function to transform the way DCMS uses technology, data and digital services.

We also want to transform how we solve policy challenges by using user centred design and collaboration with using multi-disciplinary teams.

This is an incredibly exciting time to join the team within DCMS. Our mission is to digitally enable how DCMS delivers its priority outcomes which can adapt and respond to the changing needs of the sectors and partners we work with. Can you help us get there?

Job description

You will work within an agile multidisciplinary team supporting the design, development and maintenance of data pipelines and systems on our Databricks platform. You will help ensure that data within the department is accessible, reliable and secure, enabling data-driven decision making.

As an SEO Data Engineer, you will work with autonomy to translate user requirements and operational needs into production-ready data architectures while supporting best practices across the team.

As a Data Engineer, you will:

• Write clean, efficient, reusable and tested code, applying best practices, version control and CI/CD automation.
• Design, implement and maintain robust ETL/ELT pipelines and data flows connecting operational systems to analytics and Business Intelligence (BI) platforms using Databricks.
• Design and maintain structured data models to ensure data is conformed, efficient to query and business-ready.
• Monitor, troubleshoot and optimise pipeline performance and system reliability, investigating root causes and putting preventative measures in place.
• Collaborate with data analysts, data scientists and business stakeholders to gather requirements and deliver business value through iterative agile delivery.
• Apply data classification, security standards, and governance procedures to manage access controls, maintain metadata and ensure regulatory compliance.

We are committed to supporting professional development and will provide opportunities for learning, mentoring and skills development throughout the appointment.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that desirable skills will only be used in the event of tied candidates:

Essential requirements:

• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL to manipulate, transform and optimise datasets.
• Proven experience designing, building and maintaining scalable ETL/ELT pipelines in modern cloud environment platforms.
• Experience working independently within agile, multidisciplinary teams to plan, prioritise and translate business requirements into technical deliverables.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to investigate and resolve pipeline failures, performance bottlenecks and data quality issues.
• Ability to explain technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Desirable skills:

• Experience with modern data stack tooling for orchestration, testing and transformations such as Github Actions.
• Experience conducting code reviews.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Kashim Bin Subhan, and will take place on:

• Wednesday 10th November 2026 at 15:00pm

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.

Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to [email removed]

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Communicating between the technical and non-technical
• Programming and build
• Coding Exercise
• Technical Discussion
• Technical statement describing the steps you would take to ensure data is appropriately stored, documented and accessed when onboarding new data on a data platform - This will be assessed against Data Engineering at SEO level (Level 2).

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• Technical statement describing the steps you would take to ensure data is appropriately stored, documented and accessed when onboarding new data on a data platform - This will be assessed against Data Engineering at SEO level (Level 2).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,065, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £12,475 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home

• 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years’ service

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice

• 3 days of paid volunteering leave

• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave

• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year

• Occupational sick pay

• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice

• Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks

• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work

• Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more!

Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a use