Data Engineer

About the job

Key information

• Fixed term position for 2 years.
• Hybrid working – County Hall, Taunton
• 30 days annual leave, plus Bank Holidays.
• Secondments considered for internal applicants, please discuss with your Line Manager before applying.

Are you passionate about working in a data led organisation?

Do you enjoy working in a team that can make a difference?

Somerset Council is looking for a Data Engineer who is passionate about providing insights. We care about passion and creativity. You do not need prior experience with every tool we use; we offer training and guidance to help you be the best you can be.

We cannot offer sponsorship for this role. You must already have the right to work in the UK without needing visa sponsorship.

What will I be doing?

We’re working to improve the lives of people in Somerset – and you’ll be a key part of that. Your day-to-day work will involve:

• Building and running reliable data pipelines on Microsoft Fabric You will design and operate repeatable ingestion patterns from our core business systems and trusted external sources. You will implement incremental loads, manage schema change, and orchestrate flows into OneLake across bronze, silver and gold style layers. You will write clean and well documented code, keep data moving on schedule, and resolve issues quickly so colleagues across the organisation can depend on timely data.
• Shaping high quality data models and products You will model entities and relationships, publish curated tables and views that are easy to discover and reuse. You will build semantic models for Power BI with standardised definitions and measures so analysts and service teams can answer questions without rebuilding logic each time.
• Embedding governance security and data quality from the start You will implement validation rules for completeness accuracy and timeliness, also monitor data quality. You will apply role based access control, manage secrets with Key Vault, and follow information governance and GDPR requirements so sensitive data stays protected and useful.
• Working closely with analysts service leads and system owners to deliver outcomes You will turn goals into technical work, iterate in small steps, and communicate progress clearly. You will collaborate across ICT analytics and operational services, contribute to shared engineering standards and reviews, and produce run books and handovers that help colleagues support and extend what you build.
• Modernising and improving the platform continuously You will help migrate legacy data flows and reports into Fabric, simplify overlapping pathways, and improve performance reliability and cost efficiency. You will automate testing and release through CI/CD methods and stay current with modern data practices.

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need?

This post is ideal for candidates who are keen to grow their skills in modern data engineering and cloud technologies.

We offer ongoing support, training for our staff but it will really help if you:

• Have experience building and maintaining data pipelines using Python, SQL, and JSON.
• Understand cloud platforms (we use Microsoft Fabric), lakehouses, and medallion architecture.
• Have and understanding of privacy regulations (GDPR), and secure-by-design principles.
• Can convert business requirements into scalable, high-impact technical solutions while collaborating across diverse engineering and product teams.
• Hold relevant experience OR a degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field – and ideally a cloud data engineering certification.

What is in it for me?

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more

DBS check

This role requires a criminal background (DBS) check via the Disclosure procedure.

Supporting documents and information

For an informal chat about the role, you can contact Josh Pimm, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, josh.pimm@somerset.gov.uk

When completing your application/CV please provide your full employment history and ensure that any gaps in employment are explained. Please start with your current or most recent employment.

If you are internal and applying as a secondment opportunity, please discuss with your line manager before applying.

Due to the importance of the role, we recommend applying as soon as possible. Depending on the level of response, we anticipate conducting interviews ahead the closing date.

If you have all the information you need, just hit the apply button – we can’t wait to hear from you.

The salary for this role is £37,280 – £41,771 per annum.

We cannot offer sponsorship for this role. You must already have the right to work in the UK without needing visa sponsorship.

Apply on the Somerset Council website

Apply now