Lead Data Engineer (Hybrid, Manchester, UK)

Tuesday, August 4, 2026 3:30 PM

Summary

Lead Data Engineer

Hybrid (2 days per week in the office)

Permanent

About CAVU

For airports, for partners, for people. We are Cavu.

At Cavu, our purpose is to find new and better ways to make airport travel seamless and enjoyable for everybody — from the smallest ideas to the biggest transformations. Every day is an opportunity to create better travel experiences.

From our revenue-accelerating single-platform technology, Propel, through to our world-class hospitality venues including 1903 and Escape Lounges, our solutions make travel smoother for passengers and more profitable for our clients and partners.

We know that to bring your best ideas, you need the space to think, the support to grow, and the freedom to be your authentic self. Whether you're working from our offices, from home, in our lounges, or on the road, we provide an environment where you can create, innovate, and help transform airport travel.

Together, we can reach new heights. Together, we are Cavu.

The role

We're looking for an experienced Lead Data Engineer to play a critical role in shaping and evolving CAVU's data platform, enabling data-driven decision-making across our products and business.

Reporting to the Head of Data Engineering, you'll lead a team of Data Engineers while remaining hands-on in the design, development and optimisation of our modern data ecosystem. You'll help define technical strategy, drive engineering best practice and build the data foundations that power analytics, machine learning and operational decision making.

Working closely with Data Scientists, BI Developers, Analysts and stakeholders across Technology and the wider business, you'll deliver scalable cloud-based data solutions that unlock value from a wide range of data assets. From enhancing our data lakehouse and supporting event-driven architectures to enabling advanced forecasting and customer insight capabilities, you'll play a key role in turning data into commercial value.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing team building a globally unique platform using modern technologies, where you'll have genuine influence over technical direction and help solve complex customer and business challenges.

Key Responsiblities

Lead, mentor and develop a team of Data Engineers, fostering a collaborative, high-performing engineering culture.
Create development plans, provide technical coaching and support career progression across the team.
Partner with the Head of Data Engineering to define and deliver impactful data strategies and initiatives.
Design, build and maintain scalable data pipelines, ETL processes and data integration solutions.
Collaborate with Data Scientists, BI Developers, Analysts and business stakeholders to translate business requirements into robust technical solutions.
Drive data quality through the implementation of validation, integrity and monitoring processes.
Optimise the performance of databases, data warehouses, data lakes, lakehouses and streaming data platforms.
Support the development of event-driven and real-time data architectures that enable advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities.
Evaluate and implement modern data technologies, tools and frameworks to enhance analytics and data processing capabilities.
Define and promote best practice in data governance, privacy, security and engineering standards.
Work closely with Infrastructure and Operations teams to deploy, manage and support cloud-based data platforms.
Provide technical leadership when troubleshooting complex data-related issues and drive continuous improvement across the data engineering function.
Stay current with emerging trends and technologies, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, scalability and business value.

What we need from you

Proven experience (5+ years) working as a Data Engineer, with strong experience designing and implementing data pipelines, ETL processes and data warehouse solutions.
Previous experience leading engineering projects, mentoring colleagues or managing data engineering teams.
Strong Python and SQL skills, with experience working with large-scale datasets and distributed data processing environments.
Experience with technologies such as Apache Spark and modern data engineering frameworks.
Experience with cloud platforms and data services, ideally AWS, including technologies such as Redshift and S3.
Experience working with relational and NoSQL databases, alongside strong data modelling and database design skills.
Experience building scalable data platforms, including data lakes, lakehouses and streaming architectures.
Understanding of CI/CD best practices, with exposure to Infrastructure as Code methodologies desirable.
Strong understanding of data governance, data quality and data security principles.
Excellent stakeholder management, communication and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate business needs into technical solutions.
A collaborative mindset with a passion for coaching others, continuous improvement and modern data engineering practices.

Desirable

Experience with Databricks or other unified data processing and analytics platforms.
Experience working with machine learning, forecasting or advanced analytics environments.
Experience supporting real-time or event-driven data architectures.

What is in it for you

25 days holiday, increasing with service (up to 28)
Option to buy up to 10 extra days + 4 flexible bank holidays
10% company pension
Annual bonus scheme
On-site gym
MediCash scheme
A range of flexible benefits and discounts, including up to 50% off Cavu products such as Escape Lounges and Airport Parking
Rail and retail discounts
2 paid volunteering days per year
Access to health & wellbeing events, ID&E activities and learning opportunities
Formal and informal development options, including mentoring programmes and learning grants
Enhanced parental leave (T&Cs apply)

Equal Opportunties and Reasonable Adjustments

We're building something brilliant at Cavu: a diverse team of people who reflect the global customer base we serve. We're proudly part of MAG, and together we're on a mission to be number one in our industries — and that takes talent in all its forms.

Whether this is your first role or your next big step, we want to hear from you, even if you don't think you tick every box. What matters most is what you bring.

We're proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you need any adjustments to support your application or interview, just let us know — we're committed to helping you perform at your best.Our Colleague Communities play a big part in that journey, including Women's Network, Embrace (Race & Ethnicity), Fly with Pride (LGBTQIA+), Mind Matters (Mental Health), PACT (Parents & Carers), RespectABILITY (Disability & Neurodiversity), and the Cavu Global ID&E Affinity Group

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