Lead Data Engineer - MLOps

Lead Data Engineer - MLOps

We are looking for a Lead Data Engineer to join our eCommerce Data team at NEXT, based at the Head Office in Leicestershire. The role offers a competitive salary of £64,000–£79,000 along with a comprehensive benefits package.

Senior level:
Mid‑Senior level.

Employment type:

Full‑time. Job function:
Information Technology. Industry: Retail.

As an ML Ops Data Engineer within the eCommerce Data team, your responsibilities include building and maintaining robust data pipelines, and deploying machine learning models into production. You will collaborate closely with data scientists, software engineers, and IT teams to ensure seamless integration and ongoing operation of data and ML systems.

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines and ETL processes.
• Ensure data quality, integrity, and security across all platforms.
• Collaborate with data scientists to understand and satisfy data requirements.
• Manage and optimise databases and data warehouses for performance and scalability.
• Develop algorithms and models to solve specific problems, and train/fine‑tune models using large datasets.
• Implement machine learning pipelines and workflows, and optimise models for performance and scalability.
• Translate prototypes into production‑ready solutions, and monitor and maintain deployed models.
• Adopt best practices in CI/CD for machine learning.

• Strong knowledge of Python, Spark, and SQL; experience with relational and No
  
  SQL databases.
• Knowledge of data preprocessing and feature engineering.
• Advanced expertise in Spark for scaling data science models efficiently.
• Experience with ML frameworks such as MLFlow, Tensor Flow, PyTorch, or Scikit‑learn.
• Understanding of CI/CD tools and practices for machine learning.
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and attention to detail.
• Effective communication skills and ability to translate business needs into technical solutions.

• Competitive salary band £64,000–£79,000.
• Flexible working.
• Annual company performance‑based bonus.
• Sharesave scheme.
• Annual Pay Reward.
• Pension 3% Employer / 5% Employee.
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (buy/sell up to 3 days).
• 25% staff discount and free next‑day delivery to desk for online purchases.
• Gympass and subsidised restaurant and bar.
• Staff shops in Yorkshire and Leicestershire.
• Juice bar and coffee shop.
• Free company bus service to/from Leicester city centre.
• Onsite nursery (salary sacrifice scheme).
• Digital GP healthcare service.
• And more.

Next is a FTSE‑100 retail company employing over 35,000 people across the UK and Ireland, and is the UK’s second‑largest fashion retailer. We operate more than 500 stores and a global online presence.

We aim to support all candidates during the application process and can provide workplace adjustments when necessary. If you need support due to a disability or long‑term condition, contact  (include “Workplace Adjustments” in the subject) or call .