Location: Reading (hybrid working)
Duration: 5 month contract
Rate: £87.10ph UMB (Inside IR35)
Role details:
Our client, a leading defence and aerospace company, are looking for experienced Data Engineers who hold active SC clearance. The role is supporting on an exciting aerospace programme so we are looking for candidates who have experience working with aerospace‑related engineering or operational data - such as aircraft platform data, sensor output, test datasets, or other high‑volume technical data sources.
You will play a key role in shaping secure, scalable pipelines and modern data services from the ground up, so a can‑do attitude, adaptability, and willingness to innovate are essential. This is a hybrid role, but you must be able to work from the Reading office when required to support secure engineering activities and stakeholder engagements. Active SC clearance is mandatory.
Responsibilities not limited to:
- Design, build, and maintain secure, scalable data solutions across the full lifecycle: acquisition, integration, storage, processing, and analysis.
- Develop tools, automation, and analytical capabilities that support data‑driven insights.
- Research, evaluate, and adopt emerging data technologies suitable for aerospace and defence environments.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to define data, tooling, and workflow requirements.
- Work with cloud platforms and diverse operating systems in secure, mission‑focused environments.
- Support the development and deployment of machine‑learning models and data‑science workflows.
- Collaborate with DevOps Engineers, Data Scientists, Analysts, and Cyber specialists.
- Leverage big‑data technologies and orchestration tools to support complex datasets.
- Lead small work packages and provide technical guidance to junior engineers.
- Contribute to design decisions and ensure high‑quality engineering outputs.
What we are looking for in you:
- Proven experience as a Data Engineer, comfortable taking ownership of deliverables.
- Strong Python and SQL skills, with experience building and optimising data pipelines.
- Strong understanding of both SQL and NoSQL database architectures.
- Ability to lead small work packages and mentor junior engineers.
- Experience contributing to design decisions and maintaining high output quality.
- Strong problem‑solving mindset and ability to work collaboratively across teams.
- Excellent communication skills for stakeholder engagement and technical explanation.
- Ownership of deliverables and engineering quality.
- Leadership of small work packages.
- Mentoring and knowledge sharing.
- Proven experience in data engineering (preferably including aerospace or sensor data).
- Strong Python and SQL skills.
- Understanding of SQL/NoSQL database architectures.
- Experience with ETL flows, pipelines, and orchestration technologies.
- Experience with cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Exposure to Docker and working with APIs.
- Strong critical‑thinking and problem‑solving skills.
Desirable skills:
- Degree in a STEM, Data, AI, or Programming‑related discipline.
- Experience influencing technical design decisions and growing capability within teams.
- Experience with CI/CD practices.
- Familiarity with big‑data ecosystems (Spark, Hadoop, NiFi).
- Exposure to infrastructure scaling (Kubernetes desirable).
- Experience with Ansible, Terraform, or infrastructure‑as‑code tooling.
- Understanding of ML algorithms and deployment patterns.
Interested? Apply today via the link provided.
