Lead Data Engineer

Location: London, United Kingdom

Department: Technology & Data

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.com.

WPP Media is WPP’s global media collective. In 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 wppmedia.com

About WPP Media Data, Technology and Analytics (DTA): A Leading WPP Media Brand

DTA is WPP’s global data products and technology arm. We’re 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.

We’re endlessly curious. Our team of thinkers, builders, creators and problem solvers are over 1,000 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 Media’s 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 Media's 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. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s 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 at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP 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 Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular 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 we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve 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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