Distinguished Engineer - Data Engineering

Distinguished Engineers are Director-level individual contributors (IC) who strive to be diverse in thought so we visualise the problem space. You will work alongside our talented team of developers, machine learning experts, product managers and people leaders. Our Distinguished Engineers are leading experts in their domains, helping devise practical and reusable solutions to complex problems. You will drive innovation at multiple levels, helping optimise business outcomes while driving towards strong technology solutions.

Distinguished Engineers are expected to lead through technical contribution. You will operate as a trusted advisor for our key technologies, platforms and capability domains, creating clear and concise communications, code samples, blog posts and other material to share knowledge both inside and outside the organisation. You will specialise in a particular subject area, but your input and impact will be sought and expected throughout the organisation.

Distinguished Engineers are:

• Deep technical experts and thought leaders that help accelerate adoption of the very best engineering practices, while maintaining knowledge on industry innovations, trends and practices
• Visionaries, collaborating on Capital One’s toughest issues, to deliver on business needs that directly impact the lives of our customers and associates
• Evangelists, both internally and externally, helping to elevate the Distinguished Engineering community and establish themselves as a go-to resource on given technologies and technology-enabled capabilities
• Communicators, working across technology and business teams, bringing together the right senior stakeholders and fostering collaboration to drive decision making that helps solve some of our most complex technical challenges 
• Role models and mentors, helping to coach and strengthen the technical expertise and know-how of our engineering and product community

About the team:

It’s an exciting time at Capital One UK!

We’re on a mission to create our next generation, cloud-based data ecosystem, to unlock the power of data, increase financial inclusion and deliver transformative, real-time, intelligent experiences to our customers.

Capital One’s Data team is responsible for the data ecosystem, which covers the holistic data lifecycle, from the capture of high-quality customer data in real-time, the structuring, storage and processing of that data for insight, to the usage of the data in event driven applications and ML driven models that help our customers.

As a Distinguished Data Engineer you will be a highly experienced technical leader, accountable for driving innovation and engineering excellence through data solutions across the Data team and wider Engineering organisation. With core accountability for the technical vision of our data ecosystem, servicing an organisation of over 400+ Engineers and ~200 Analysts (including Data Scientists, Data Analysts and Business Analysts), the role requires deep Data Technology experience, including working experience of ML and GenAI.

You will also play a wider role as one of the most senior leaders in our vibrant Technology organisation, fostering a culture of curiosity and innovation. Come and help us shape the future of financial services in the Cloud.

You are…

• Recognised as a leading expert in Data Technology, including ML and AI, with deep understanding of industry trends and how they can be leveraged by the business to inform our strategic direction
• A technology expert with deep expertise in Streaming Data, Event Driven Architectures, Data LakeHouse (inc. Data Products, ELT, Distributed Data Processing, Snowflake), Data Governance, Python, Spark, Java, AWS Cloud technologies (e.g. Serverless, DynamoDB etc…) and working experience of ML and GenAI
• Proficient in software development principles, patterns, and practices. Able to drive the adoption of modern software engineering methodologies and tools, ensuring consistency and quality across teams
• An effortless communicator across tech, architecture, product and other senior stakeholders, both within the UK and across the wider Enterprise
• An inspirational leader, coach and mentor for a broad engineering group
• Able to set and deliver a strategy for the data ecosystem in partnership with our product team
• Experienced in the full life cycle of software delivery, including operational ownership (SRE)
• Able to shape the adoption of modern Data Technology and support the evolution of a Data driven culture, across a scaled, cross functional organisation

What you’ll do:

• Serve as an authoritative engineering expert across functional and non-functional requirements, and a problem solver to our engineering teams across Data Engineering
• Be a role model for engineers at all levels looking to grow in the Individual Contributor career track
• Articulate and evangelise a bold technical vision, develop and execute our Data, ML and AI technology strategy
• Be an advocate for modern technologies and patterns, sharing customer and engineering benefits to gain buy-in (working closely with leaders, other SMEs, and engineers)
• Champion a culture of engineering excellence, continuous improvement, and being well managed, using opportunities to reuse and innersource solutions where possible
• Strike the right balance between lending expertise and providing an inclusive environment where others’ ideas can be heard and championed; leverage expertise to grow skills in the broader Capital One team
• Part of your role can be actively hands-on, building POC’s, investing in key data capabilities, or pairing/teaching other engineers, decomposing complex problems into practical and operational solutions
• As a naturally curious leader, stay abreast of advances in Data, ML and AI technologies
• Lead the way in creating next-generation talent for Tech, mentoring internal talent and actively recruiting external talent to bolster Capital One’s Tech talent
• Operate as a trusted advisor across Data Engineering, helping to shape use cases and implementation in an unified manner
• Build strong relationships across the UK and into the Enterprise to influence and drive adoption of best practices
• Ensure the data ecosystem remains scalable, resilient, and delivers a best-in-class customer experience
• Exhibit a deep understanding of security best practices, compliance requirements, and emerging threats. Ensures the development and operation of secure and compliant systems, influencing security standards and practices across multiple teams
• Design and implement comprehensive observability solutions across the data ecosystem that provide deep insight into the behaviour, performance, and health of complex distributed systems

Basic Qualifications:

We do not have a checklist of qualifications you must have, but this is a senior role and we are seeking applicants with significant experience in software development / architecture / Data / ML and AI, with specific experience in platform focused data ecosystems

Where and how you'll work

This is a permanent position based in either our Nottingham or London offices.  

We have a hybrid working model which gives you flexibility to work from our offices and from home. 

We’re big on collaboration and connection, so you’ll be based in our Nottingham or London office 3 days a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

What’s in it for you

• Bring us all this - and you’ll be well rewarded with a role contributing to the roadmap of an organisation committed to transformation
• We offer high performers strong and diverse career progression, investing heavily in developing great people through our Capital One University training programmes (and appropriate external providers)
• Immediate access to our core benefits including pension scheme, bonus, generous holiday entitlement and private medical insurance – with flexible benefits available including season-ticket loans, cycle to work scheme and enhanced parental leave
• Open-plan workspaces and accessible facilities designed to inspire and support you. Our Nottingham head-office has a fully-serviced gym, subsidised restaurant, mindfulness and music rooms. In London, you can heighten your mood with a run on our rooftop running track or an espresso at the Workshop Coffee café

What you should know about how we recruit

We pride ourselves on hiring the best people, not the same people. Building diverse and inclusive teams is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. We want to work with top talent: whoever you are, whatever you look like, wherever you come from. We know it’s about what you do, not just what you say. That’s why we make our recruitment process fair and accessible. And we offer benefits that attract people at all ages and stages.

We also partner with organisations including the Women in Finance and Race At Work Charters, Stonewall and upReach to find people from every walk of life and help them thrive with us. We have a whole host of internal networks and support groups you could be involved in, to name a few:

• REACH – Race Equality and Culture Heritage group focuses on representation, retention and engagement for associates from minority ethnic groups and allies
• OutFront – to provide LGBTQ+ support for all associates
• Mind Your Mind – signposting support and promoting positive mental wellbeing for all
• Women in Tech – promoting an inclusive environment in tech
• EmpowHER - network of female associates and allies focusing on developing future leaders, particularly for female talent in our industry
• Enabled - focused on supporting associates with disabilities and neurodiversity

Capital One is committed to diversity in the workplace.

Who We Are

At Capital One, we're building a leading information-based technology company. Still founder-led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank, Capital One is on a mission to help our customers succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity, and humanity to banking. We measure our efforts by the success our customers enjoy and the advocacy they exhibit. We are succeeding because they are succeeding.

Guided by our shared values, we thrive in an environment where collaboration and openness are valued. We believe that innovation is powered by perspective and that teamwork and respect for each other lead to superior results. We elevate each other and obsess about doing the right thing. Our associates serve with humility and a deep respect for their responsibility in helping our customers achieve their goals and realize their dreams. Together, we are on a quest to change banking for good.