25.72 Apprentice Data Engineer

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is undergoing an ambitious digital transformation to enhance how we deliver services to our customers. As part of this journey, we are expanding our high-performing digital team and are now offering an exciting opportunity for an Apprentice Junior Data Engineer.
You will use your technical skills to design, create, implement and maintain design specifications, data models (logical and physical for system of record, data marts) and system performance administration. You will develop and maintain Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards and visualisations that support the business to make data driven decisions.

You will develop a working understanding of the development life-cycle, creation and maintenance of the data warehouse service.

You will be part of a multi-disciplined digital team, working closely with the other data engineers, data architects and developers and the product owner to enhance and expand the capability of our Enterprise Data Warehouse product.

You’ll also:
Support the design, build, testing, and maintenance of data management systems
Support the development and maintenance of data models and ETL routines.
Help build and maintain BI dashboards and visualisations.
Work closely with stakeholders to understand data needs and deliver solutions.
Gain hands-on experience with tools such as SQL, Oracle OBIEE, AWS and Qlik.

Why Join Us?
This is a chance to build a career in data engineering with real-world impact. You’ll be supported by experienced professionals, gain a recognised qualification, and contribute to meaningful digital transformation in the public sector.
This role is ideal for individuals with the right foundational skills and a passion for data engineering who are looking to grow their career in a supportive and innovative environment. If you are successful at interview we will enrol you on a formal data engineering apprenticeship programme which will allow you to learn on the job, with 20% of your working week dedicated to apprenticeship learning and development.

What We’re Looking For:
We’re seeking enthusiastic, self-motivated individuals who:
Have some experience or strong interest in data analytics or engineering.
Are skilled in the design, build, test and maintenance of data management systems making sure they meet business and user needs
Are eager to learn in an established Data team and grow within a structured apprenticeship programme.
Can communicate technical concepts clearly to a range of audiences.
Is excited to be part of a team that values continuous improvement and agile delivery.

Job description

Operational Delivery

•    Contribute to the development and maintenance of the Common Logical Data Model and the physical data models for the System of Record, Data Marts under direction from the Senior Data Engineer and Data Architect.
•    To support with developing and maintaining the specifications for extract, transform and load (ETL) routines that enable data to be ingested into the System of Record or distributed across the data marts, to support wider analytics or BI dashboards and visualisations.
•    To support with developing and maintaining the BI applications (including dashboards, reports) that support the business requirements.
•    To support with the development of analytical insights that influence business efficiencies.
•    To be involved in testing the data warehouse front-end visualisation tools.
•    To support the Insight teams to ensure that all visualisations meet the business requirements and adhere to DBS BI standards.
•    Use appropriate agile techniques and tools, ensuring traceability of user needs to source, and adherence to business objectives.
•    Assist decision makers by gathering, summarising and presenting information to help them make informed decisions.
•    Influence stakeholders and manage relationships effectively by communicating and engaging frequently.
•    Understand and communicate the ‘big picture’, continually ensuring that product goals are adhered to.
•    Work at a detailed level during sprints and product iterations

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Technical
•    An understanding and knowledge of data analytics or engineering
•    An ability to write ETL scripts and code
•    Ability to handle data - Extract, Transform, Load using SQL
•    An understanding and knowledge of Oracle OBIEE/Discover (or similar)
•    Ability to use concepts such as, metadata, indexing, data modelling and master data management
•    An understanding and knowledge of data interrogation techniques

Non-technical
•    Able to work closely with stakeholders at all levels. Able to communicate technical concepts verbally and in writing to a wide variety of audiences.

Desirable Criteria

•    Experience of working in an agile culture of continuous delivery and improvement.
•    Experience of AWS, Redshift, Analytical / Visualisation tools such as Qlik etc.
•    Data Warehousing – development and maintenance.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,791, Disclosure & Barring Service contributes £10,078 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The DBS offers a number of excellent benefits for its employees. These can include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Excellent maternity, paternity and adoption schemes (after a qualifying period)
• Commitment to the health and wellbeing of our employees
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Flexible working opportunities
• Eyecare voucher scheme
• Occupational Health Service including referrals for counselling and physiotherapy
• 24/7 Counselling and Wellbeing Service
• A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

The DBS vision and purpose is to make people safer by being a visible, trusted and influential organisation, providing an outstanding quality of service to all our customers and partners, where our people understand the important safeguarding contributions they make and feel proud to work here. To do this, the DBS is committed to being an employer that is able to attract, develop, retain and engage diverse talent that is representative of the communities we serve, and to be an organisation providing outstanding service to all our existing and new customers, who are diverse and have a range of different needs. We want all our staff to be able to bring their ‘whole self’ to work.