Job Specifications
Curious About Data. Engineering Solutions. Enabling Data-driven Impact
Senior BI Data Engineer
£60,000 - £62,000 (+ Benefits)
Grade: P3MP
Reports to: Lead BI Data Engineer
Contract: 12 month fixed-term contract starting January 2026
Hours: Full time 35 hours per week
Location: Stratford, London . Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)
Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.
Closing date: 02 December 2025 23:55
This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact as soon as possible.
Recruitment process: Two competency-based interviews with a technical exercise
Interview date: From the week commencing 08 December 2025
How do I apply? We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won't be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.
At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.
We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That's why we're looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.
Cancer Research UK has an ambitious Engineering Strategy and modern Tech Stack with a complex hybrid (on-premise & multi-cloud) infrastructure supporting an extensive technical estate. Data and Business Intelligence (BI) are at the heart of our strategy, underpinning four of Cancer Research UK's strategic pillars (Discover, Engage, Translate, and Sustain).
As a Senior BI Data Engineer, you will play an impactful role in shaping our capability by delivering projects that enable the future of Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics, reporting, and marketing campaign selections and personalisation. Depending on your expertise, you'll focus on either transforming and maturing our existing BI platforms (such as Microsoft SQL Server) or our Snowflake data warehouse platform to enable data products in support of an organisational transformation programme to modernise our CRM and associated technologies as part of our Engage Strategy (go live in 2026/27).
You'll work closely with engineering teams and business stakeholders to evolve and enhance our BI data platform and data products. Your responsibilities will include delivering robust BI integrations, maintaining star-schema data models, and managing priorities and new requests, whilst ensuring exceptional service quality. In addition, you'll play a senior role in shaping design patterns and transformation strategies that align with user needs and business objectives. As a mentor and guide, you'll help the team build expertise, resilience, and best practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
By the end of your contract, your legacy will be to have helped modernise our BI data platform, improved engineering standards, and delivered data solutions that empower smarter decisions and accelerate our mission towards beating cancer. If you're an experienced BI Data Engineer with a track record of designing and transforming data platforms in large, complex organisations, we would love for you to join our mission.
What will I be doing?
Delivering BI data engineering initiatives according to the priorities set by the Data Enabler initiative.
These will be assigned based on the successful candidate's skillset, with a predominant focus on either supporting business-as-usual (BAU) work to build and maintain our BI platform or helping to deliver our data platform capability in support of our Siebel to Salesforce migration.
Collaborating closely with the requirements owner to identify end-user needs.
Producing and reviewing designs following the Cancer Research UK architecture models and agreed design patterns in collaboration with the BI Solutions Architect.
Developing new and enhanced solutions in line with IT strategy, making recommendations for prioritisation, and identifying opportunities for increased stability, efficiency, and improvements.
Collaborating with Quality Assurance to ensure that test plans and cases are targeted effectively, as well as providing iterative builds for testing against prioritised requirements.
Collaborating with cross-functional teams to plan releases from development to production environments, ensuring stability and minimal disruption.
Provide 3rd line support for production services.
Supporting the Lead BI Data Engineer in fostering team growth through learning initiatives, develo