Data Engineer

Data Engineer (Snowflake \& Data Pipelines)

Company: Prize Placements

Location: Hertfordshire / Remote / Hybrid

Type: Permanent

Reports to: Head of Data / Engineering Manager

About The Company Prize Placements is recruiting for a permanent Data Engineer to support the development and operation of reliable data infrastructure. This opportunity is suited to an engineer who enjoys building practical backend solutions and taking ownership of the systems they create. The role offers flexible working arrangements, with the opportunity to work remotely for up to three days per week.

About The Role We are looking for a hands-on Data Engineer to develop and maintain backend data pipelines. You will ingest information from a wide range of sources, load it into Snowflake and help ensure that data is reliable, up to date, monitored and trustworthy. You will work closely with analysts and business intelligence colleagues who use the data downstream. However, dashboard development and reporting are not the focus of this position.

This role is ideal for someone who combines strong SQL and Python skills with a practical approach to automation, troubleshooting and operational reliability. You will contribute to engineering decisions and may help inform the future evolution of the backend platform towards Azure or Microsoft Fabric.

Qualifications You will bring hands-on experience building or supporting production data pipelines, together with advanced SQL skills and strong Python capability. Practical experience with Snowflake is essential, as is the ability to develop ingestion processes, work with APIs and automate ETL tasks. You should also have experience with an ETL or ELT platform such as Fivetran, Meltano, Singer or a comparable tool.

Experience integrating REST APIs, databases, CSV files, JSON data and third-party platforms is important. You will be comfortable using Git for everyday version control and have working knowledge of Bash or shell scripting. Familiarity with monitoring, logging, error handling and data freshness or health checks is also required.

Experience with dbt, Azure or Microsoft Fabric would be beneficial. Basic Power BI knowledge is useful for understanding downstream data consumers, but this is not a Data Analyst or BI Developer role. We are also looking for strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, clear communication and an ownership mindset. You should be able to explain technical issues to non-technical stakeholders and favour maintainable code and thoughtful automation.

Responsibilities Design, build and maintain robust ETL and ELT pipelines that bring data into Snowflake from APIs, databases, flat files and third-party platforms. Develop Python-based ingestion, integration, automation and ETL scripts, including scheduled jobs. Configure and manage managed or open-source connectors, using tools such as Fivetran or Meltano/Singer where appropriate.

Write and optimise advanced Snowflake SQL for transformations, data modelling and performance. Build and maintain pipeline monitoring, logging, alerting, error handling and data freshness checks. Investigate failures and data quality issues, perform root-cause analysis and implement improvements that increase reliability. Use Git and sound practices for branching, code reviews and documentation, and apply Bash or shell scripting to operational tasks where useful. Contribute to backend architecture discussions and take responsibility for the pipelines you build.

Benefits The permanent position offers a salary of £65,000, plus a 20% bonus opportunity of £13,000. Benefits include an excellent pension scheme, private medical cover and 25 days of annual leave, increasing to 28 days after three years. Flexible working is available, including up to three days working from home per week.

To apply, please send your CV and a short covering note to Lee Smith at Prize Placements.

Equal Opportunity

Prize Placements is committed to a fair and inclusive recruitment process. Applications will be considered on the basis of relevant skills, experience and suitability for the role. We welcome applications from qualified candidates of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics.