Job Description

Ref Number

B01-05206

Professional Expertise

IT and Digital

Department

Vice-President (Operations) (B01)

Location

London

Working Pattern

Full time

Salary

68,284-76,244

Contract Type

Permanent

Working Type

Hybrid

Available for Secondment

No

Closing Date

01-Jan-2026

About us

------------


Information Services Division (ISD) is the primary provider of IT services to UCL. We support and enhance learning, teaching, research and administrative processes by providing information- and technology-related services to over 50,000 staff and students of UCL and associated institutions.



Our goal is to be the leading IT services group in the HE sector and we are growing our team's capability in experience/UX, agile development, security, cloud, service management and partnering. We are modernising our technology foundations, digitising the processes of the university to transform experience for students and staff, and partnering across the university to drive differentiation in UCL education and research.

About the role

------------------


The Senior Technical Lead provides

advanced technical leadership

for architecting, building and scaling UCL's enterprise data platform.



This includes modern data engineering, cloud data lakehouse development, distributed compute, data modelling, metadata/lineage services, self-service analytics enablement, and AI-driven data automation.



The postholder will:


Align with data platform strategy and lead delivery of complex technical solutions across the Data Platform. Lead technical delivery, standards, patterns and quality across engineering teams. Ensure the data AI platform is secure, scalable, well-governed and reliable. Create and build rapid prototypes using advanced solution like Fabric copilot, AI/ ML Azure services. Mentor and upskill Data AI Engineers, building long-term sustainability.

The role offers strong challenges across all areas of the project lifecyle and exciting opportunities for career progression.

About you

-------------

Key experience to this role cover:

Extensive expertise in modern cloud data platforms (Azure preferred). Strong experience designing and building enterprise-grade Data Lakes / Lakehouses, ETL/ELT, streaming, and distributed compute. Expertise in SQL, Python, data modelling, metadata management, data cataloguing and lineage. Strong understanding of governance, security, compliance and data quality frameworks. Experience designing scalable architectures (batch, near-real-time, streaming). Ability to lead technical delivery in Agile and hybrid environments. Ability to lead and mentor technical teams, set engineering standards and influence direction. Experience with ITIL processes and release/change management. Experience building or scaling data platforms that support enterprise reporting, regulatory submissions and advanced analytics/AI.

Desirable

Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Purview, Data Quality solutions, Lakehouse governance. Experience embedding AI into data engineering workflows (e.g., Copilot, agentic automation). Experience with architectural design documentation (HLD/LLD). Experience working in higher education or large public-sector organisations. Experience supporting or developing Data Marketplace, data sharing or Data Mesh capabilities.

What we offer

-----------------

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:


41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan Immigration loan Relocation scheme for certain posts On-Site nursery On-site gym Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

-------------------------------------------------------


As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.



We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce.



These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.