Etio
Data Lead
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About The Role
Job Description
Job Title
Data Lead
Team
Technology & Digital
Business Unit
Etio
Salary
£75,000 - £82,000
Location
Remote (based in the United Kingdom)
Travel Requirements
As required; occasional travel for team and stakeholder meetings
Overview Of The Role
The Data Lead is a senior, multi-skilled data professional responsible for designing, building, and owning Etio's end-to-end data and reporting capability, from ingestion through to insight. This role brings together data engineering, platform ownership, and business intelligence to deliver scalable, secure, and high-quality solutions that underpin operational delivery and strategic decision-making across the organisation. It is a senior individual-contributor role: the postholder owns platform-wide standards and decisions but does not manage a team, and is expected to remain hands-on, building and fixing things directly as well as thinking about the best way to do them.
Operating as the primary in-house data expert, the postholder owns both legacy and emerging data architecture, managing existing services (Power BI, Azure SQL, SQL Server, SSRS, ADF, SSIS) while leading Etio's move to a modern data platform built on Microsoft Fabric and OneLake. The role owns Etio's database standards, data integrity, and data security across the organisation, and carries significant autonomy: the postholder is expected to work independently and with urgency, taking responsibility for high-quality, high-impact outputs with minimal supervision.
Etio's overall data and technology strategy, and the final decision on direction, is owned by the Director of Technology & Digital. This role leads the legwork: researching options, drafting recommendations, and bringing forward a data and insights roadmap for the Director's review and sign-off. It provides the technical judgement, hands-on delivery, and day-to-day ownership that turns that strategy into a resilient, working platform, stabilising current practices while helping the business mature into a modern, data-enabled organisation that can rely on its data to inform decisions.
Key Responsibilities
Your core responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Manage, maintain, and optimise Etio's existing ETL pipeline (ADF, SSIS), ensuring reliable, well-monitored data flows across the estate.
- Own database standards, ensuring builds and configurations across the estate (Azure SQL, SQL Server, and the ~20-database elastic pool) consistently meet Etio's conventions.
- Support the integration of data pipelines into the wider range of tools used across the organisation.
- Lead the onboarding of new programmes into Etio's data architecture as new contracts are won, ensuring each programme's data needs are integrated cleanly into existing pipelines, database standards, and reporting.
- Own and manage Etio's Microsoft Fabric capacity and estate, balancing performance, cost, and future growth.
- Build new Fabric artifacts (Lakehouses, pipelines, OneLake assets) to ingest, process, and store data in support of Etio's programmes.
- Own data integrity across the organisation, and ensure data processes are fit for purpose and consistently applied org-wide as the estate evolves.
- Own data segregation and access security, ensuring only users with a genuine business need have access to sensitive data.
- Develop and maintain engaging, user-focused dashboards using Power BI to meet a range of operational and strategic needs.
- Manage legacy SSRS reports under limited change control, ensuring continuity of service without over-investing in a platform being phased out.
- Own the development of data schemas to support Etio's evolving data and reporting needs.
- Support the development of Etio's data and reporting strategy (ingestion, processing, reporting), leading the development of options and recommendations for Etio's data and insights roadmap, for review and sign-off by the Director of Technology & Digital.
- Work with data resources (e.g. programme-embedded data analysts) on technical direction and quality, without formal line management.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to internal teams, and provide clear direction and quality oversight to contractors or support providers when needed.
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Expected Behaviours and Working Style
- Make every day count – You take full ownership of Etio's data and reporting capability, delivering core engineering, platform, and security work autonomously and to a high standard. You understand that speed of delivery matters here and balance pace against your own workload realistically rather than over-committing, resolving blockers and risks without waiting to be directed.
- Lead the way – As Etio's primary in-house data expert, you bring deep technical judgement to how Etio's data platform is built and run, working within the strategy set by the Director of Technology & Digital. Priorities shift and the Fabric transition is still taking shape, so you're comfortable dealing with ambiguity and making sensible calls without waiting for everything to be fully defined, applying innovation to how things get built and fixed.
- Deliver with empathy – You understand that the data and reports you build are used by real people to make real decisions. You communicate proactively with stakeholders across the business, working with programme-embedded data analysts without formal line management, keeping people informed rather than leaving them to chase for updates, and act as a trusted advisor rather than a gatekeeper.
Role Deliverables
- A resilient, high-performance data platform and reporting infrastructure across Etio, including a well-managed Microsoft Fabric estate.
- Power BI dashboards and SSRS reports that are timely, accurate, and valued by users.
- A trusted data environment with clear standards, strong data integrity, and appropriate access security across the organisation.
- Strategic documentation outlining data architecture, reporting standards, and solution roadmaps.
- Continuous improvement in automation, delivery speed, insight quality, and user satisfaction.
KPIs / Targets
- Deliverable/Target / KPI
- Microsoft Fabric / OneLake migration - Migration roadmap agreed and key milestones delivered to plan
- Data pipeline and platform reliability - ADF/SSIS pipelines and Power BI/SSRS reporting meet agreed uptime and availability targets, with issues resolved within SLA
- Data security and access - Quarterly access and segregation review completed with no unresolved high-risk findings
- Data and insights roadmap - Options and recommendations presented to the Director of Technology & Digital for sign-off on an agreed quarterly cadence
- Stakeholder satisfaction - Positive feedback from programme-embedded data analysts and business stakeholders on responsiveness and quality of outputs
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Skills, Experience, and Qualifications
Essential
- Degree or equivalent experience in Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouses, pipelines, OneLake) or equivalent modern Azure data platform experience, with the ability to build toward full platform ownership.
- Advanced Power BI skills, including data modelling, DAX, and publishing/sharing workflows.
- Strong SQL development and optimisation expertise.
- Proficiency with Azure SQL, SQL Server, ADF, SSIS, and managing structured/unstructured data in data lakes.
- Comfortable working with Python (e.g. PySpark within Fabric notebooks) for data transformation, automation, and pipeline scripting.
- Practical experience owning database standards, data integrity, or data security/access controls across an organisation.
- Proven experience delivering end-to-end data and analytics solutions in complex environments.
- Strong analytical mindset with attention to accuracy and completeness.
- Excellent communication skills, able to work with both technical and non-technical teams.
- Comfortable managing delivery autonomously and balancing short-term delivery with long-term vision.
Desirable
- Have led an end-to-end Microsoft Fabric migration or platform build previously (top-of-range marker for this role).
- Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate (DP-600), Azure Data Engineer Associate, or Power BI Data Analyst Associate.
- Other analytics, governance, or reporting qualifications.
- Familiarity with enterprise data platforms, Azure Synapse, or Azure Data Lake Gen2.
- Experience with Agile planning, user story refinement, and working in cross-functional delivery teams.
- Track record leading data strategy or roadmapping work in a small or mid-sized organisation.
- Experience in the public sector, education, or compliance-sensitive industries.
Etio are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from all groups, particularly those underrepresented in the workforce.
Note to all applicants - Etio reserve the right to close an advertisement to applications ahead of the advertised closure date. For this reason, shortlisting may take place prior to the closing date on some occasions. Therefore, please do not hesitate to apply early.
Who We Are
📌 Etio is a mission-driven organisation providing expertise to improve education systems and outcomes.
📌 We work in partnership with the Department for Education and sector leaders to deliver high-quality national programmes that raise standards and strengthen the profession.
Benefits
We know our people are our greatest strength. That’s why we offer a flexible, supportive culture and benefits that let you do your best work – and take care of your wellbeing too.
- 25 days annual leave + bank holidays (with the option to buy more)
- Flexible working culture
- Private Medical Insurance & Healthcare Cash Plan
- Enhanced family-friendly policies
- "Work from anywhere" globally (up to 8 weeks)
- Paid volunteer day
- Cycle to Work & Electric Car Scheme
- 3% employer pension contribution
Accessibility and Adjustments
We’re committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need us to make adjustments so you can show your
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