Senior Data Engineer (Contract - 3 days per week)

VCCP is the global challenger network for challenger brands. With more than 1,500 people across 13 offices in North America, EMEA and APAC, we challenge convention to deliver value for the world’s most ambitious organisations.

We believe transformation happens when everything works together. That’s why we bring specialists from every discipline - strategy, AI, data, media, digital, experience, branding, creativity, production, PR, CX, CRM, employee engagement and beyond - into one fully integrated network.

We were founded on the principles of simplicity, collaboration and un-preciousness, and we’ve grown by staying true to them. Today, our clients include some of the world’s most recognisable and progressive brands, such as Virgin Media O2, Barclays, Cadbury, Compare the Market, Domino’s, White Claw, easyJet, Primark and Co-op.

VCCP has topped the AAR’s annual new business ranking in 13 of the last 14 years and holds multiple Agency of the Year titles. Across every company and every capability, we share the same ambition: to challenge ourselves, challenge our clients and challenge the industry for the better.

ABOUT THE ROLE

VCCP is looking for an exceptionally sharp, hands-on Senior Data Engineer to join us on a contract basis to help architect and build our core data platform capabilities. The successful candidate must be able to start immediately.

This is a senior, execution-focused role requiring a candidate who can hit the ground running immediately. You will take ownership of building robust, scalable data infrastructure using Microsoft Fabric, driving high engineering standards across data ingestion, transformation, CI/CD, and dev process automation.

This role is a job share with another Senior Data Engineer who works 2 days per week, therefore this role is part time = 3 days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Data Platform Architecture & Build: Architect, build, and optimise scalable data pipelines and platform components within Microsoft Fabric.

• Ingestion & Integration: Design and implement robust data ingestion pipelines across a wide variety of sources, including REST APIs, database connectors, event streams, and batch feeds.

• Engineering & CI/CD: Establish and maintain modern development processes, including Git workflows, automated testing, and CI/CD deployment pipelines for data artifacts.

• Performance & Optimization: Write clean, modular, and optimized production code in Python and SQL to handle complex data processing tasks efficiently.

• Best Practices & Standards: Enforce high code quality, data modeling standards, monitoring, alert setups, and documentation across the data lifecycle.

CORE REQUIREMENTS AND TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Microsoft Fabric: Deep, practical experience building production-grade solutions within the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem (OneLake, Lakehouses, Warehouses, Pipelines, Data Factory, Dataflows).

• Python & SQL Expertise: Advanced, expert-level proficiency in Python (PySpark, Pandas, API orchestration) and complex analytical SQL.

• API & Ingestion Methods: Extensive experience ingesting data from varied source systems via REST/GraphQL APIs, webhooks, databases, and flat files.

• Dev Process & CI/CD: Hands-on experience setting up CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or similar), automated testing frameworks, and version control best practices for data teams.

• Platform Building Mindset: Proven track record of designing data platforms from early stage through to production delivery.

NICE TO HAVE SKILLS:

• Google Cloud Platform (GCP): Prior experience with GCP data tools (BigQuery, Cloud Storage, Dataflow) is advantageous, though not mandatory.

• Agency/Media Experience: Previous exposure to marketing, advertising, or media agency data ecosystems.

VCCP DE&I STATEMENT

We believe that DE&I is about creating a strong culture of inclusion within our agency, where everyone can thrive and be their authentic self. VCCP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or ethnicity. If you require any adjustments during the application or interview process, please let us know via joinus@vccp.com.

CRIMINAL RECORDS INFORMATION

As part of our onboarding process, you will be required to complete a Criminal Records Declaration regarding any unspent convictions. For roles in finance, HR, Legal, IT or senior management, we may be required to verify your declaration with a basic DBS check, as well as an Adverse Finance and ID check.