Lead Data Engineer

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the worlds leading brands. With exceptional talent trusted data and intelligence and world-class partnerships all united by ourpioneeringagentic marketing platform WPP Open we help clients navigate change capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth.

WPP Media is WPPs AI-driven media operating unit bringing together media data and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence clients see exactly where how and why their media investment is working.

For more information visit .

231 - Lead Data Engineer WPP Media Data Technology and Analytics (DTA)

About WPP Media

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people planet clients and communities. For more information visit .

WPP Media is WPPs global media a world where media is everywhere and in everything we bring the best platform people and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information visit

AboutWPP MediaData Technology and Analytics(DTA):A LeadingWPP MediaBrand

DTA is WPPs global data products and technology arm. Were on a mission to transform marketing by building the fastest most connected data platform that bridges marketing strategy to scaled activation.

We work with agencies and clients to transform the value of data by bringing together technology data and analytics capabilities. We deliver this through the Open Media Studio an AI-enabled media and data platform for the next era of advertising.

Were endlessly curious. Our team of thinkers builders creators and problem solvers are over 1000 strong across 20 markets around the world.

Role Summary and Impact

As a Lead Data Engineer based within our Wavemaker team you will serve as the technical figurehead for the data engineering practice across WPP Medias broader Business Intelligence & Data Engineering agency teams. You will be instrumental in defining driving and implementing best-in-market data engineering strategies and solutions with a particular focus on the Measure data platform. You will work directly on Wavemaker clients and collaborate closely with the Wavemaker BI team ensuring their data needs are met with cutting-edge solutions.

This is an influential role that combines deep hands-on technical expertise with strategic leadership. You will be responsible for setting technical standards fostering a community of practice among all our engineers across the agencies and ensuring the delivery of cutting-edge commercially viable data solutions that empower data-driven decision-making for our clients and internal teams. While you will directly manage one individual you will act as the most senior engineer in the wider team providing technical direction and mentorship. You will also represent our data engineering capabilities in client pitches and external forums demonstrating our leadership in the BI space.

In this role you will:

• Lead Data Engineering Strategy:Define and drive the overarching data engineering strategy and architecture for WPP Media ensuring scalability reliability and innovation across diverse client needs and platforms.
• Technical Figurehead & Community Leader:Act as the senior technical authority and figurehead for data engineering across WPP Medias BI & Data Engineering teams. You will cultivate and lead a thriving community of practice among Director-level engineers fostering knowledge sharing standardisation and technical excellence.
• Measure Platform Expertise & Customisation:Leverage expert-level understanding of the Measure data platform (including Adverity Google Cloud Platform BigQuery dbt and PowerBI) to design develop and implement bespoke complex data ingestion transformation and storage solutions that meet advanced BI specifications.
• Cloud Architecture & Development:Lead the architecture development and optimisation of robust scalable data pipelines and infrastructure across various cloud environments with deep expertise in Google Cloud Platform (GCP e.g. BigQuery Cloud Storage Cloud Functions Composer) and AWS.
• Hands-on Delivery & Mentorship:Be actively involved in hands-on development of critical data solutions while providing technical guidance coaching and mentorship to engineers within the Wavemaker team and across broader WPP Media agencies. You will directly manage one individual guiding their professional development.
• Drive Innovation & Best Practices:Continuously identify evaluate and integrate emerging trends technologies and best practices (e.g. data mesh advanced CI/CD IaC using Terraform/Terragrunt) into our data engineering workflows. Champion standard ways of working naming conventions and data governance.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Pitches:Collaborate closely with BI Leads Analytics teams planning teams and clients to translate complex business requirements into clear commercially viable technical designs. Represent our data engineering capabilities effectively in client pitches and strategic discussions.
• Data Quality & Governance:Establish and enforce rigorous data quality standards validation processes and governance policies to ensure the accuracy completeness and consistency of all data assets.
• Commercial Impact:Work with BI leadership to identify opportunities to drive revenue through the adoption and enhancement of our BI product suite ensuring our data solutions provide maximum commercial value.

Skills and Experience

At WPP Media we believe in the power of our culture and our people. Its what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Medias shared core values:

Essential:

• Progressive experience in data engineering analytics engineering or a related field with demonstrated leadership responsibilities.
• Proven experience leading technical practices and fostering a community of technical experts across multiple teams or business units.
• Deep hands-on expertise in designing implementing and managing data solutions on both Google Cloud Platform (GCP) (e.g. BigQuery Cloud Storage Dataflow Composer Cloud Functions) and AWS.
• Expert-level proficiency in SQL and experience with modern data transformation tools like dbt (Data Build Tool).
• Comprehensive understanding and practical experience with the architecture and components of a unified data platform (including Adverity for data ingestion).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) & CI/CD:Experience with IaC tools like Terraform or Terragrunt and a strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines (e.g. GitLab CI/CD GitHub Actions) for automated deployment and testing.
• Expertise in designing and implementing robust data models (e.g. star schema data vault) for analytical and reporting purposes.
• Strong understanding of leading BI and visualisation tools (e.g. Power BI Tableau Looker Studio)
• Exceptional communication presentation and interpersonal skills with a proven ability to engage influence and translate complex technical concepts for both highly technical and non-technical senior stakeholders and clients.

Desirable:

• Understanding of digital advertising media campaign data ad serving technologies and web analytics.
• Proficiency in one statistical programming language (e.g. Python or R) for data manipulation automation and advanced analytics.
• Experience with data mesh principles and implementation strategies.
• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum development methodologies.
• Experience with project management tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Prior experience acting as an external thought leader or presenter in the data engineering or BI space.

Life atWPP Media& Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work and were just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media Mediaemployees can tap into the globalWPP Media& WPP networks to pursue their passions grow their networks and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in-office events showcasing team wins sharing thought leadership and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our benefits include competitive medical group retirement plans vision and dental insurance significant paid time off preferential partner discounts and employee mental health awareness days.

WPP Mediais an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard toparticular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

We believe the best work happens when were together fostering creativity collaboration and connection. Thats why weve adopted a hybrid approach with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location

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