Data Engineer

Data Engineer – Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

Salary: £43,065–£56,789 per year
Location: Manchester or London, UK
Contract: Fixed-term, loan or secondment
Duration: 2 years
Working pattern: Full-time; flexible working and job-share options are listed, subject to availability
Job grade: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
Vacancies: 1
Reference: 487134
Closing date: 16 November 2026, 11:55 pm
Visa sponsorship: Not stated in the job advert. Applicants requiring sponsorship should confirm eligibility and sponsorship arrangements with the recruitment team.

About the Department and Role

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is recruiting a Data Engineer to join its Digital, Data and Technology team.

The department is investing in modern technology, digital services and data systems to improve how it operates and delivers government priorities.

In this role, you will help design, develop and maintain data pipelines and systems using Databricks. You will support the secure and reliable use of data, making it accessible for analysis and informed decision-making.

This is an opportunity for an experienced data professional to contribute to a multidisciplinary team while developing their technical skills.

Key Responsibilities

As a Data Engineer, you will:

• Write clean, reusable, efficient and tested code using appropriate development practices, version control and CI/CD automation.
• Design, build and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines connecting operational systems with analytics and business intelligence platforms.
• Use Databricks to support data engineering and pipeline development.
• Develop and maintain structured data models that make data reliable, efficient to query and suitable for business use.
• Monitor and troubleshoot pipelines, investigate failures and improve system performance and reliability.
• Work with data analysts, data scientists and business stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver technical solutions.
• Apply data classification, security, governance and access-control procedures.
• Maintain metadata and support regulatory compliance.

Essential Requirements

Applicants should demonstrate:

• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL for manipulating, transforming and optimising datasets.
• Proven experience designing, building and maintaining scalable ETL/ELT pipelines in modern cloud environments.
• The ability to work independently within agile, multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience translating business requirements into technical deliverables.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including resolving pipeline failures, performance bottlenecks and data-quality issues.
• The ability to explain technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

Desirable Skills

The following skills may be considered if candidates are tied:

• Experience with modern data-stack tools for orchestration, testing and transformations, such as GitHub Actions.
• Experience conducting code reviews.

Technical Assessment

The recruitment process will assess technical skills, experience and strengths.

The technical skills include:

• Communicating between technical and non-technical audiences.
• Programming and build.
• A coding exercise.
• A technical discussion.

Applicants must also submit a technical statement of up to 250 words explaining how they would ensure that new data is appropriately stored, documented and accessed when onboarding it onto a data platform. This will be assessed against the Data Engineering capability framework at SEO Level 2.

Candidates invited to interview will complete a coding exercise using datasets provided in advance, working with Python and SQL. They will also discuss their previous data engineering or data pipeline experience.

Interviews will take place remotely via Microsoft Teams.

Training and Professional Development

DCMS states that it will provide opportunities for professional development, learning, mentoring and skills development throughout the appointment.

Salary and Benefits

The advertised salary bands are:

• National: £43,065–£52,108 per year.
• London: £46,252–£56,789 per year.

Additional benefits include:

• Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• 26.5 days of annual leave on entry, rising to 31.5 days after five years of service.
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements.
• Three days of paid volunteering leave.
• Maternity, paternity and adoption leave benefits.
• Occupational sick pay.
• Employee Assistance Programme with confidential support.
• Employee discounts through the Edenred benefits system.
• Season ticket loans and a cycle-to-work scheme.
• Staff recognition and reward programmes.
• Access to staff networks and learning opportunities.

New entrants are normally appointed at the minimum of the relevant pay band.

Information Session

Prospective applicants are invited to an information session hosted by Kashim Bin-Subhan.

Advertised date: Wednesday 10 November 2026 at 3:00 pm.

The session will provide an opportunity to learn more about the role, team and directorate and ask questions.

Register your interest using the official registration form. Invitations will be sent after the registration deadline. The session will not be recorded and will not cover the recruitment process.

Application Requirements

Applications must be submitted through the Civil Service Jobs portal by 16 November 2026 at 11:55 pm.

You will need to provide:

• CV: Maximum three A4 pages, outlining your career history, relevant responsibilities and achievements. Explain any employment gaps within the last two years.
• Statement of Suitability: Maximum 500 words, explaining how your skills, qualities and experience meet the essential requirements. You may also address the desirable skills.
• Technical Statement: Maximum 250 words, explaining how you would ensure data is appropriately stored, documented and accessed when onboarding new data onto a data platform.

The CV must be entered in the Job History section of the application form.

Shortlisting will focus on the evidence provided. If there are many applicants, an initial sift may be based on the technical statement.

Eligibility and Security Checks

The advert lists nationality and right-to-work categories for Civil Service applicants, including eligible UK and Irish nationals, certain Commonwealth nationals with the right to work in the UK, and specified other groups. Applicants must meet the applicable nationality requirements.

Successful candidates must undergo a basic criminal record check and meet the required security standards, including Security Check (SC) clearance where applicable. Pre-employment screening also includes an Internal Fraud Database check.

The advert does not confirm visa sponsorship. Applicants who require sponsorship should contact the recruitment team to establish whether their circumstances can be accommodated.

How to Apply

Review the full requirements and submit your application through the official Civil Service Jobs advert:

Job reference: 487134
Closing date: 16 November 2026 at 11:55 pm

For role-specific enquiries, contact Kashim Bin-Subhan at kashim.bin-subhan@dcms.gov.uk.

For recruitment enquiries, contact dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.