The Opportunity

We are working on a unique search for a Private Markets Investment Firm in London looking to appoint an experienced Lead Data Engineer to take ownership of its enterprise data platform in a completely new greenfield build out.

This is a high impact opportunity to play a central role in the development of a modern, cloud based data infrastructure within a specialised investment environment.

The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, building and managing a Snowflake-based data platform that brings together investment, portfolio, financial and operational data into a single, trusted source of information.

Working closely with senior technology and business stakeholders, you will combine hands-on engineering with architectural ownership, helping establish the foundations for advanced analytics, investment reporting, automation and AI-driven capabilities.

This role would suit a technically strong Data Engineer who enjoys building platforms, solving complex integration challenges and taking genuine ownership of the technology they deliver.

Key Responsibilities

Data Platform Architecture & Engineering

1. Lead the design, development and ongoing management of a Snowflake-based enterprise data platform.
2. Develop scalable data architectures using modern data modelling principles, including medallion architecture (bronze, silver and gold layers).
3. Build and maintain robust ingestion pipelines integrating multiple internal applications, external data providers and third-party administrators.
4. Establish data governance, quality, security and lineage frameworks to ensure the integrity and reliability of investment data.
5. Implement infrastructure as code, automated deployment processes and CI/CD best practices.

Data Integration & Investment Data Management

1. Lead the integration of portfolio management, fund administration, market data and financial reporting systems.
2. Design and maintain security master and reference data models covering financial instruments, issuers and counterparties.
3. Develop data reconciliation, validation and exception management processes across multiple data sources.
4. Build governed datasets supporting investment positions, exposures, cash flows, liquidity, counterparties and fund accounting.
5. Work closely with investment, finance, risk and technology teams to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions.

Platform Ownership & Innovation

1. Take end-to-end responsibility for platform performance, reliability, security and cost optimisation.
2. Develop data models and semantic layers supporting Power BI, management reporting and investment analytics.
3. Support the adoption of AI and automation by making high-quality, governed data accessible to emerging applications and intelligent workflows.
4. Establish best practices around data engineering, documentation, monitoring and operational resilience.
5. Collaborate with external technology partners while maintaining internal ownership of architecture and technical decisions.

Skills & Experience

Essential

1. Extensive hands-on experience designing, implementing and managing Snowflake data platforms in production environments.
2. Strong SQL and Python skills, with experience developing complex data pipelines and transformation frameworks.
3. Proven experience in financial services, ideally within investment management, asset management, private markets or fund administration.
4. Strong understanding of financial datasets, including positions, transactions, cash flows, valuations and reference data.
5. Expertise in data modelling, data warehousing, master data management and modern cloud-based architectures.
6. Experience with Azure cloud technologies and associated data engineering services.
7. Strong understanding of APIs, data ingestion, third-party integrations and data reconciliation.
8. Experience with Git, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, automated testing and platform monitoring.
9. Ability to engage confidently with senior stakeholders and independently own technical architecture and delivery.

Desirable

1. Experience within private credit, direct lending, alternative investments or broader private markets.
2. Familiarity with loan administration, portfolio accounting or investment management platforms.
3. Exposure to market data providers such as ICE, Bloomberg or equivalent.
4. Experience with Power BI, dbt and data catalogue or lineage tools.
5. Knowledge of Snowflake Cortex, AI/LLM data integration or advanced analytics use cases.
6. Understanding of financial services regulatory requirements, including DORA and GDPR.
7. Previous experience building a data platform from the ground up or leading a significant data transformation programme.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

1. Significant ownership: Take responsibility for a strategically important enterprise data platform, from architecture through to delivery and ongoing development.
2. Modern technology stack: Work extensively with Snowflake, Azure, Python and modern data engineering tools.
3. Direct senior exposure: Collaborate closely with technology leadership and key investment, finance and risk stakeholders.
4. Greenfield engineering: Shape the technical standards, architecture and engineering practices rather than simply maintaining an established environment.
5. Private markets exposure: Work with complex investment datasets in a specialist financial services environment.
6. AI and automation: Contribute to the development of a data foundation supporting next-generation investment analytics and intelligent automation.

The Ideal Candidate

We are particularly interested in speaking with experienced Senior/Lead Data Engineers who have delivered Snowflake platforms within financial services.

You will be equally comfortable defining architecture, writing production-quality code, integrating complex data sources and engaging with senior business stakeholders.

A background in investment management or private markets would be highly advantageous, particularly where you have worked with portfolio, fund accounting or loan administration data.

Above all, this opportunity requires someone who enjoys building, takes accountability for delivery and wants to play a meaningful role in shaping a modern investment technology environment.