Data Engineer (early career)
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 1, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 28, 2026. Optima Partners scores A on the Alion truth index.
Who we are
Optima Partners is a VC-backed, scaling AI and data consultancy headquartered in Edinburgh. We bring together expertise in strategy, design, data science and engineering to help leading brands solve real business challenges.
We turn data into better customer experiences, smarter decisions and lasting business value.
Our clients include Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide, Aviva, Eon Next, OVO and GSK. We work alongside their teams to deliver practical solutions and share the skills to build on them.
Within our Advanced Data practice, you’ll work in mixed-capability pods alongside data engineers, analysts, data scientists and ML/AI engineers, learning across disciplines and turning data into practical solutions, clear insights and better customer experiences.
The opportunity
As a Data Engineer reporting to a Technical Lead Leader, you will help design, build test and maintain reliable data pipelines and solutions for clients across diverse sectors, working in multi-disciplinary teams with experienced engineers. This early-career role suits someone with up to two years commercial experience or equivalent project experience who wants to develop their technical and consulting skills.
You will learn alongside engineers, data scientists, architects and product specialists, with mentoring, knowledge sharing and support to develop your skills in modern data platforms and progress your career.
What you will be doing
Help build, test and maintain data pipelines using tools such as Databricks.
Support data warehouse and data lake development with guidance from experienced engineers.
Develop ETL/ELT workflows that make reliable, high-quality data accessible.
Collaborate with colleagues and clients to understand requirements and deliver practical data solutions.
Analyse data and create dashboards and visualisations using tools such as Power BI, Looker and QlikView.
Turn analysis into clear insights and compelling data stories that help clients make informed decisions.
Help improve system performance, reliability and cost efficiency through troubleshooting and automation, and keep documentation clear.
What skills we would like you to have
Working knowledge of Python, SQL or similar data processing languages.
Some exposure to Spark or Databricks through work, study, training or projects.
Awareness of Delta Lake, notebooks and workflows; production experience is not essential.
Familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure or GCP is desirable.
Basic understanding of relational databases and SQL queries.
Awareness of tools such as Airflow, Apache NiFi or Talend is helpful.
Foundations in data warehousing, modelling and schema design, with an interest in building dashboards using Power BI, QlikView and Looker to analyse and visualise data and communicate insights to clients.
Familiarity with Git and an interest in automated testing, CI/CD and collaborative development.
Up to one year’s relevant commercial experience, or experience through internships, placements, graduate schemes, bootcamps or strong projects.
Team, client-facing or collaborative project experience is desirable.
Awareness of Agile or Scrum is beneficial
What you will bring
Strong problem-solving and analytical thinking abilities.
An inquisitive mindset, with curiosity about data engineering and a willingness to learn.
Good communication skills, with the ability to ask clear questions, share progress and explain technical ideas in an accessible way.
A team-oriented mindset with adaptability and a willingness to learn from feedback.
As technology partners with leading companies such as AWS and Databricks, we’ll invest in your training and development, alongside hands-on project experience with some of the UK’s leading organisations.
What we offer
Competitive base salary.
Inclusion in our annual discretionary bonus plan with an on-target performance bonus of up to 15%.
Up to 37 days holiday inclusive of personal and public allocations. Seven are fixed days for Christmas and New Year, and 30 are floating days taken at your discretion, subject to client scheduling and line manager approval.
Private medical insurance, single cover.
Group life and income protection insurance.
Salary sacrifice pension scheme after three months’ employment.
Access to over 1,000 perks and discounts via an employee discount portal.
Dedicated development time plus tools and funding to support personal and professional development.