Data Engineer

Location

Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

Capabilities

Digital and Data

Office Setup

Hybrid

Job ID

#41082

Market

Water

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

Your impact

This is a great time to join our Data & Digital team as we continue to scale our data platform and AI capabilities across critical infrastructure sectors. You’ll be working at the forefront of modern data engineering, helping design and deliver high-impact solutions that transform how organisations operate and make decisions. It’s an opportunity to work on complex, large-scale challenges, building production-grade data systems and AI-enabling platforms that deliver measurable outcomes across industries such as water, transport, and energy.

With the opportunity to shape how data and AI power essential infrastructure worldwide, why wouldn’t you want to make an impact?

Day to Day

Design and build robust, scalable data platforms and pipelines on Azure and Databricks (batch and streaming)

Develop high-quality data products using Python, SQL, Spark, and Delta Lake within modern lakehouse architectures

Create AI-enabling foundations including feature stores, ML-ready datasets, and automated model-serving workflows

Implement best practices in testing, observability, and monitoring (metrics, logging, lineage) to ensure platform reliability

Optimise cost, performance, and scalability across large-scale data workloads

Apply security-by-design principles, leveraging tools such as Unity Catalog for governance and access control

Automate engineering workflows using Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform/Bicep) and CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps/GitHub Actions)

Collaborate with clients to translate business challenges into technical solutions, facilitating workshops and aligning stakeholders

Continuously deliver value through iterative development, frequent releases, and outcome-driven delivery

Evaluate and implement modern data tooling and architectural patterns to improve platform capability

Contribute to reusable frameworks, templates, and scalable engineering practices

Communicate trade-offs, risks, and technical decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences

What’s In It For You

Work on large-scale, high-impact data and AI solutions across critical infrastructure industries

Build modern data platforms using cutting-edge technologies across Azure and Databricks

Be part of an engineering-led culture with strong investment in platforms, tooling, and innovation

Collaborate with highly skilled engineers, architects, and data professionals

Gain exposure to complex, real-world data challenges at scale

Develop deep expertise in cloud data engineering, AI enablement, and modern architecture patterns

Shape technical solutions that directly influence business outcomes

Opportunities to grow into principal engineering, architecture, or technical leadership paths

Benefits

A global network of expertise and opportunity

A culture founded on safety, integrity, inclusion, and belonging

Flexible working arrangements that support your well-being and potential

Investment in your development, including certifications, learning time, and access to mentors

Opportunities to contribute to communities of practice and internal technical initiatives

Exposure to diverse projects across multiple industries and regions

Competitive benefits package including pension, holiday allowance, and additional perks

#LI-JW8 #Digital&Data

Here's what you'll need

Azure (Cloud Platform): Experience building and scaling data solutions using services like ADLS Gen2, Data Factory or Synapse, and Event Hubs, with a strong understanding of security, networking, and enterprise-grade architecture

Databricks (Data Processing & Analytics): Hands-on experience delivering end-to-end pipelines in Databricks, using Spark and Delta Lake, with exposure to governance through Unity Catalog and ML workflows such as MLflow

Python & SQL (Core Engineering Skills): Strong capability in Python (PySpark) and SQL to develop, optimise, and maintain scalable, high-performing data pipelines and transformations

Modern Data Architecture (Lakehouse): Experience designing and working within lakehouse environments, applying data modelling approaches to create flexible, reusable, and high-performance data layers

CI/CD & DevOps Practices: Familiarity with Git, automated deployment pipelines using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions, and Infrastructure-as-Code tools such as Terraform or Bicep to enable reliable, production-ready delivery

Data Quality, Observability & Governance: Experience implementing testing, monitoring, logging, and governance practices to ensure data is accurate, secure, and trusted across platforms

AI & Machine Learning Enablement: Exposure to supporting AI and machine learning use cases, including preparing feature datasets, enabling experimentation, and contributing to model deployment and lifecycle management

Joining Jacobs not only connects you locally but globally. Our values stand on a foundation of safety, integrity, inclusion and belonging. We put people at the heart of our business, and we truly believe that by supporting one another through our culture of caring, we all succeed. We value positive mental health and a sense of belonging for all employees.

With safety and flexibility always top of mind, we’ve gone beyond traditional ways of working so you have the support, means and space to maximize your potential. You’ll uncover flexible working arrangements, benefits, and opportunities, from well-being benefits to our global giving and volunteering program, to exploring new and inventive ways to help our clients make the world a better place. No matter what drives you, you’ll discover how you can cultivate, nurture, and achieve your goals – all at a single global company. Find out more about life at Jacobs .

We aim to embed inclusion and belonging in everything we do. We know that if we are inclusive, we’re more connected and creative. We accept people for who they are, and we champion the richness of different perspectives, lived experiences and backgrounds in the workplace, as a source of learning and innovation. We are committed to building vibrant communities within Jacobs, including through our Jacobs Employee Networks, Communities of Practice and our Find Your Community initiatives, allowing every employee to find connection, purpose, and belonging. Find out more about our Jacobs Employee Networks here .

Jacobs partners with VERCIDA to help us attract and retain talent from a wide range of backgrounds. For greater online accessibility please visit https://www.vercida.com/uk/employers/jacobs to view and access our roles.

As a disability confident employer, we will interview disabled candidates who best meet the criteria. We welcome applications from candidates who are seeking flexible working and from those who may not meet all the listed requirements for a role.

We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.

Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support .