Data Engineer (Databricks / Snowflake)

Alpha FMC

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (Alpha) is a leading global consultancy to the financial services industry. We are a boutique management consulting firm that offers the world’s top industry players a competitive edge through our expertise and industry insight. Our team is of a uniquely high calibre and works across regulated financial markets, bringing deep expertise in insurance, alternative asset markets — including private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate — and other specialised financial sectors. This focus enables us to bring relevant, hands-on experience to our clients’ most important challenges.  We have our headquarters located the United Kingdom, as well as offices in major global financial centres across the United States, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Asia. ABOUT THE ROLE Our senior data engineers are hands-on leaders of consultants and client teams, building data platforms for clients in regulated financial services – private equity, real estate, fund administration, and specialist insurance. You'll work directly with client stakeholders, from engineering leads to CTOs, delivering production pipelines on Databricks or Snowflake (strong experience in one is sufficient). This is a hands-on build role with client exposure. You'll write code, review architecture decisions, lead junior engineers and explain trade-offs to people who aren't engineers. WHAT YOU'LL DO * Lead and mentor junior engineers on your delivery workstream, reviewing their code and data model decisions * Build reliable ingestion pipelines that move client data from source systems into the platform efficiently and securely * Design data models – Data Vault 2.0, Kimball Dimensional etc. that survive audit and give the business one trusted version of the numbers * Build pipelines to agreed SLAs and own their reliability in production * Work with domain SMEs to translate business logic into pipeline logic that produces correct numbers * Bring LLM-based processing into pipelines where it fits, document parsing, entity extraction, unstructured data classification, alongside deterministic logic * Build AI-powered business solutions on the platform, agents, search, and applied use cases on Mosaic AI or Cortex, that solve a client problem with trusted data rather than demo a capability * Support pre-sales by sizing effort and cost for prospective engagements, contribute to delivery plans, and present technical approach to prospective clients WHAT YOU'LL BRING * 4+ years in data engineering, with at least 2 years on Databricks or Snowflake in production (one platform is sufficient) * Strong SQL and Python; comfort with PySpark or Snowpark * Strong experience with at least one cloud vendor, Azure, AWS, or GCP, including core services beyond the data platform itself (networking, IAM, storage) * Working knowledge of dimensional modelling (Kimball) and/or Data Vault 2.0 * Comfortable presenting technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders * Track record of setting engineering standards and reviewing others' code for quality, not just correctness * Comfortable leading or mentoring junior engineers on a delivery team, and taking ownership of technical decisions ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE WE’D VALUE * Snowflake or Databricks certifications * Familiarity with private markets data (fund administration, private equity/real estate, secondaries) or London Market insurance * Experience with supporting tooling such as IaC; Transformation (dbt); DevOps; Data Quality; Data Modelling; Data Glossary/Governance; iPaaS/ELT, Orchestration * Some exposure to regulated environments – financial services, insurance, or similarly audited sectors – and awareness of relevant regulatory frameworks including FCA SYSC, DORA, and MiFID II WHAT THE ENGAGEMENT LOOKS LIKE You'll work closely with client teams, alongside their internal engineers and Alpha consultants in a regulated environment where change control, data lineage and documentation matter. You'll write code, typically tackling the most complex challenges, review code and data model decisions across the team, and take responsibility for a delivery workstream – planning it, running it, and leading the junior engineers working on it. WHAT WE OFFER * Competitive base salary  * Annual performance bonus tied to individual and company outcomes. * Comprehensive benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance, and income protection. * Hybrid working model with flexible arrangements to support work-life balance. * Generous pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions. * Continuous learning budget and access to industry conferences, certifications, and training programmes. * 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with option to buy additional days. * Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support.

Alpha FMC

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (Alpha) is a leading global consultancy to the financial services industry. We are a boutique management consulting firm that offers the world’s top industry players a competitive edge through our expertise and industry insight. Our team is of a uniquely high calibre and works across regulated financial markets, bringing deep expertise in insurance, alternative asset markets — including private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate — and other specialised financial sectors. This focus enables us to bring relevant, hands-on experience to our clients’ most important challenges.  We have our headquarters located the United Kingdom, as well as offices in major global financial centres across the United States, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Asia. ABOUT THE ROLE   We're looking for a Consultant to deliver data integration, migration, and general development work for our clients, primarily in the UK financial services and alternative assets sectors. You'll work hands-on across the delivery lifecycle — from scoping and design through to build, test, and deployment — with growing ownership of workstreams and increasing client-facing responsibility. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES * Design, build, and test data integration and migration pipelines, primarily on the Azure platform. * Contribute to solution design and technical documentation, translating client requirements into working deliverables. * Perform data mapping, transformation, validation, and reconciliation across source and target systems. * Develop and maintain application and integration code following good engineering practices (version control, code review, testing). * Support deployment and environment management, including Infrastructure as Code where applicable. * Troubleshoot and resolve data quality, performance, and pipeline issues. * Work directly with client stakeholders to gather requirements and demonstrate progress. * Support Senior Consultants and Managers on estimation, planning, and risk identification. ESSENTIAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE * Typically 2–4 years' experience in data engineering, integration, or software development (adjust to your banding). * Strong hands-on experience with the Microsoft Azure data stack (e.g. Data Factory, Synapse, Azure SQL, Storage, Functions). * Proficiency in SQL and at least one general-purpose language (Python, C#, or similar). * Solid understanding of ETL/ELT patterns, data modelling, and data migration methodologies. * Experience with source control (Git) and CI/CD workflows. * Ability to work in client-facing delivery environments and communicate clearly with technical and non-technical audiences. DESIRABLE / NICE TO HAVE * Experience with Databricks and/or Snowflake. * Cloud development experience, particularly Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Bicep, ARM). * Exposure to data orchestration tools, APIs, and event-driven integration. * Financial services, private equity, or alternative assets domain experience. * Relevant certifications (e.g. Azure Data Engineer Associate, Azure Fundamentals). WHAT WE OFFER * Competitive base salary  * Annual performance bonus tied to individual and company outcomes. * Comprehensive benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance, and income protection. * Hybrid working model with flexible arrangements to support work-life balance. * Generous pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions. * Continuous learning budget and access to industry conferences, certifications, and training programmes. * 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with option to buy additional days. * Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support.

Alpha FMC

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (Alpha) is a leading global consultancy to the financial services industry. We are a boutique management consulting firm that offers the world’s top industry players a competitive edge through our expertise and industry insight. Our team is of a uniquely high calibre and by focusing across the General Insurance & Specialty value chain, we build deep knowledge and experience within our industry. We have our headquarters located the United Kingdom, as well as offices in major global financial centres across the United States, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Asia. The Insurance team works with industry leading carriers, brokers, market bodies, ancillary businesses, and technology providers to position our clients for future success. We have a fast growing team of dedicated consultants with deep experience from working both within the industry and consulting. Successful candidates should expect a diverse range of complex and strategic engagements across the market. As we continue to expand our client base and expertise, we are looking for individuals to join our team to support our growth journey. Please see below an outline of the responsibilities of the role as well as the requirements. ROLE OVERVIEW   We are seeking an exceptional Application & Software Engineering Lead with deep Insurance domain expertise to drive the design, delivery, and evolution of our core technology platforms. This is a high-impact leadership role sitting at the intersection of engineering excellence and insurance business capability, responsible for leading cross-functional engineering teams to deliver scalable, resilient, and compliant software solutions. You will act as a trusted technology partner to the world’s largest insurance firms, translating complex insurance workflows — spanning policy administration, underwriting, claims, and regulatory compliance — into robust, modern application architectures. You will set the technical vision, champion engineering best practices, and cultivate a high-performing team culture.   KEY RESPONSIBILITIES   ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP * Lead, mentor, and grow a team of software engineers, architects, and analysts across multiple squads. * Define and uphold engineering standards, coding practices, and quality frameworks across the function. * Drive a culture of continuous improvement, psychological safety, and technical craftsmanship. * Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations with direct reports. * Collaborate with Engineering Managers, Product Owners, and Delivery Leads to ensure aligned, outcome-driven delivery. APPLICATION STRATEGY & ARCHITECTURE * Own the application roadmap for core insurance platforms, including policy management, claims, underwriting, and distribution systems. * Design and govern scalable, event-driven, cloud-native architectures appropriate for the insurance technology landscape. * Lead technical design reviews, architecture decision records (ADRs), and proof-of-concept evaluations. * Assess and manage technical debt; prioritise remediation in balance with feature delivery. * Evaluate and recommend third-party insurance software (e.g. Guidewire, Duck Creek, Majesco) and integration patterns. INSURANCE DOMAIN DELIVERY * Apply specialist knowledge of insurance business processes to shape technical solutions that meet regulatory and operational requirements. * Oversee delivery of insurance-specific capabilities: policy lifecycle management, claims handling, bordereaux processing, reinsurance ceding, and premium calculation engines. * Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations including Solvency II, FCA requirements, market standards, and GDPR. * Act as a subject matter expert (SME) bridging business stakeholders and engineering teams on insurance domain requirements. DELIVERY & EXECUTION * Own end-to-end software delivery for one or more product areas; accountable for quality, timeliness, and technical integrity. * Champion Agile and DevSecOps practices; contribute to sprint planning, backlog refinement, and release governance. * Define and track engineering KPIs including lead time, deployment frequency, MTTR, and defect escape rate. * Manage stakeholder expectations and provide transparent reporting on engineering progress and risk. STAKEHOLDER & VENDOR ENGAGEMENT * Partner with Product, Actuarial, Risk, Compliance, and Operations teams to understand and shape business requirements. * Manage relationships with technology vendors and insurance software providers; lead procurement and contract negotiations where required. * Represent the engineering function in senior leadership forums, architecture boards, and client-facing engagements.   SKILLS & EXPERIENCE   ESSENTIAL * Significant experience (7+ years) in software engineering. * Demonstrable insurance domain expertise across one or more of: Specialty, London Market / Lloyds, or Reinsurance. * Strong command of modern application development: microservices, API-first design, event-driven architecture, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP). * Proven ability to lead distributed engineering teams delivering in an Agile/SAFe environment. * Deep understanding of insurance data models, regulatory frameworks (FCA, PRA, Solvency II), and compliance requirements. * Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage technical and non-technical audiences, including C-suite stakeholders. HIGHLY DESIRABLE * Consulting experience. * Background in data engineering or analytics within an insurance context (e.g. actuarial data platforms, claims analytics). * Experience delivering large-scale digital transformation or legacy modernisation programmes in insurance. * Relevant certifications: AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Solutions Architect, TOGAF, or equivalent. * Exposure to AI/ML applications in insurance (e.g. fraud detection, underwriting automation, NLP for claims). TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES * Languages & Frameworks: Java, Python, .NET, or similar enterprise-grade stack; REST and GraphQL APIs. * Cloud & Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins). * Data & Integration: Kafka / event streaming, enterprise integration patterns, EDI/ACORD XML or JSON standards. * Security & Compliance: OWASP practices, data privacy engineering, secure SDLC.   WHAT WE OFFER   * Competitive base salary benchmarked to senior tech consulting market rates. * Annual performance bonus tied to individual and company outcomes. * Comprehensive benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance, and income protection. * Hybrid working model with flexible arrangements to support work-life balance. * Generous pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions. * Continuous learning budget and access to industry conferences, certifications, and training programmes. * 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with option to buy additional days. * Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support.