Temporary Senior Data Engineer; Grade E3

Temporary Senior Data Engineer (Grade E3)

Final date to receive applications: 22 February 2026

Department: Corporate Services

Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time

Location: Edinburgh - Hybrid

Reporting To: Head of Data Engineering

Compensation: Grade E3 from £48,249 to £56,166 salary per annum. Civil Service Pension. Flexible Working Hours. Hybrid Working. Up to £5K Recruitment and Retention Allowance.

At Scottish Funding Council, we’re embarking on an exciting digital transformation to redefine how we use data to drive innovation and deliver exceptional value to our customers. Central to this journey is the creation of the Azure-based data ecosystem, enabling us to unlock the full potential of our data through transformative and intelligent solutions.

Our Data Engineering team plays a pivotal role in this mission. We manage the entire data lifecycle—from integrating diverse data sources and optimizing storage and processing pipelines to delivering actionable insights—while ensuring compliance with company standards and data protection regulations.

As a Senior Data Engineer, you will be a technical leader within this dynamic team, driving innovation and engineering excellence. You’ll work closely with teams across the organisation, including Analytics and Cloud Engineering, to cultivate a data-driven culture and lead initiatives that turn data into a powerful tool for transformation.

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of post-16 education in Scotland. By delivering innovative, data-driven solutions, you will enable institutions, and policymakers to make informed decisions, enhance learning outcomes, and create opportunities that empower students to thrive in an increasingly data-centric world.

We expect that this role will end in February 2027.

• Translate business requirements into technical specifications, roadmaps and deliverable data solutions, including data streams, integrations, transformations, databases, data warehouses, and business intelligence, reporting and analytical platforms.
• Define the data architecture framework, standards and principles, including modelling, metadata, security and data virtualisation.
• Support the Head of Data Engineering to develop and enhance standards and policies/guidelines whilst driving adoption of standards.
• Define data flows and data lineage, visualising which parts of the organization generate data, which require data to function, how data flows are managed, and how data changes in transition.
• Provide technical guidance and advice to help in the design and development of data solutions for data modelling and warehousing, data integration, and analytics.
• Provide direction and support to a team of data engineers and provide technical guidance on the data products.
• Develop roadmaps for both product related DE work as well as overall data maturity roadmap.
• Drive the design, building, and launching of new data models and data pipelines in production.
• Perform peer reviews, audits, standards compliance checks and due diligence as required.
• Report delivery progress and status to both internal and external stakeholders.

It is important through your CV / Cover Letter that you give evidence of proven experience of each of the following essential criteria:

Essential

• Proven track record of designing, developing and delivering enterprise-scale data products and solutions within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem.
• Advanced proficiency in SQL and modern data processing frameworks, coupled with strong programming skills in at least one language (Python preferred).
• Comprehensive expertise in data architecture, including dimensional modelling, data warehouse design patterns, and business intelligence solution architecture.
• Deep hands‑on technical knowledge acquired through extensive practical implementation experience.
• Exceptional analytical capabilities with proven ability to conduct comprehensive data profiling, source system analysis, and deliver actionable insights that drive business value.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, compelling narratives for diverse stakeholder…