Principal Data Engineer

Curious about what’s next? So are we. Join Compare the Market and help to make financial decision making a breeze for millions.

Function:
Data / Technology

Location:

London / Peterborough

At Compare the Market, we’re a purpose-driven business powered by tech and AI. We’re building high-performing, results-driven teams with the skills, mindset, and ambition to deliver outcomes ry role here plays a part in driving our mission forward, and we create an environment where you can bring your authentic self, grow a truly characterful career, and see the direct impact of your work on the lives of our customers.

We’ve carved a meerkat-shaped niche and we’re looking for ambitious, curious thinkers who thrive in a fast-moving, high-impact environment. If you love accountability, embrace challenge, and want to make a real difference, you’ll fit right in.

• Own the Data Platform architecture and strategy, defining the long-term target state and setting clear standards and guardrails to ensure scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency.
• Set the engineering bar by establishing best practices across data ingestion, streaming, transformation, modelling, CI/CD, orchestration, testing, observability, and governance.
• Act as the senior technical authority across data engineering, influencing architecture decisions and leading the Data Engineering Community of Practice to raise capability across the organisation.
• Champion “data as a product”, ensuring datasets and platform services are reliable, discoverable, reusable, and governed with clear ownership and service expectations.
• Drive strategic technical direction while remaining hands‑on where it matters—reviewing designs, validating patterns, and guiding complex problem‑solving without becoming a delivery bottleneck.

• Extensive experience in Data Engineering within modern, cloud-based data platforms.
• Deep expertise in streaming‑first architectures, with strong knowledge of batch processing approaches.
• Strong experience across AWS data ecosystems, Databricks, dbt, CI/CD practices, and orchestration frameworks.
• Proven track record of defining and implementing large-scale platform architecture and engineering standards.
• Strong understanding of data modelling, ingestion patterns, performance optimisation, observability, governance, and security.
• Experience influencing senior engineers and stakeholders across multiple teams without formal authority.
• Experience leading engineering communities of practice and raising technical standards at organisational scale.
• Ability to operate independently in complex, high‑impact environments.

We’re a business built for pace and performance. Here, you’ll be encouraged to think differently, act boldly, and deliver brilliantly in a culture that values results and rewards progress. We believe diverse teams make better decisions, and we’re committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels empowered to grow, contribute, and thrive. If you’re ready to stretch yourself, raise the bar, and grow with a team that’s serious about performance, innovation, and purpose, we’d love to hear from you.