Data Team Lead
Manchester (Hybrid: 3 days office / 2 days remote)
Salary: up to £65,000 + benefits + 10% bonus
The Opportunity
We’re partnering with a fast-moving, modern organisation in central Manchester who are looking for a Data Team Lead with a structured pathway into formal management.
This role is perfect for someone who has experience leading or managing technical teams, whether in data engineering, analytics, or software development, and wants to step into a leadership position. You’ll start by guiding the team on technical design and delivery, then progressively take on people management responsibilities with dedicated leadership support and training.
This is a rare chance to shape engineering culture, standards, and team direction without leaving technical influence behind.
We want someone who has managed or led technical teams (formally or informally) and is ready to step into a broader leadership role. You may not have been hands-on in every part of data engineering, but you understand the technology landscape, can guide engineers, and make strategic decisions for delivery and team growth.
What’s in it for you?
- Up to £65,000 salary
- 10% individual performance bonus
- Comprehensive benefits package with a focus on wellbeing and career development
- Structured leadership development and clear progression into management
- Collaborative, ambitious, and people-focused culture with regular social and recognition events
What you’ll be doing
Phase 1: Senior Technical Leadership
- Lead solution design and delivery across data platforms, applications, and automation capabilities
- Provide technical guidance and set engineering standards, architecture patterns, and best practices
- Support Azure-based platforms, pipelines, and services while translating business requirements into technical solutions
- Collaborate with product, analytics, and architecture teams to shape technical strategy
Phase 2: Management & Team Leadership (Progression)
- Line manage and develop a team of data engineers and software developers
- Own delivery planning, prioritisation, resourcing, and performance management
- Mentor, coach, and develop engineering talent
- Partner with stakeholders to define the team’s roadmap and strategy
Platform & DevOps Oversight
- Oversee CI/CD pipelines, DevOps processes, and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) practices
- Ensure deployments and delivery meet security, compliance, and architectural standards
Data Platform & Engineering
- Provide oversight of Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Data Factory/Fabric pipelines, and storage services
- Promote modern data engineering practices and support the team in adopting Microsoft Fabric
- Ensure high-quality data pipelines for analytics, operational platforms, and automation
AI & Future-State Enablement
- Support early AI/ML integration into business processes
- Ensure engineering platforms are ready for AI workloads and scalable deployment
Low-Code & Automation
- Oversee Power Platform solutions and provide guidance on governance and integration with engineering platforms
Who we’re looking for
Essential experience:
- Experience leading or managing technical teams (data engineers, analytics, or software developers)
- Strong understanding of data engineering concepts (pipelines, ETL/ELT, data modelling)
- Azure cloud experience (Azure DevOps, Data Factory, Azure SQL, Functions, Logic Apps)
- Experience translating business requirements into technical solutions
- Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Strong mentoring, coaching, and team development skills
Nice to have:
- Hands-on experience in Python, .NET, TypeScript, or API-first design
- Familiarity with Microsoft Fabric
- Exposure to AI/LLM concepts (RAG, embeddings, vector databases)
- Experience integrating Power Platform solutions in enterprise environments