Job Introduction
Junior Data Engineer
📍 Birmingham, UK | Hybrid
At Compass Group UK&I, we’re more than just the UK’s leading contract catering company — we’re driving digital transformation across the business. Our Digital & Technology team is at the heart of this journey, creating cutting-edge solutions that improve efficiency, elevate customer experiences, and deliver real business impact.
We're looking for a Junior Data Engineer to join our data engineering team and start building real skills on a modern, cloud-first data platform — contributing to analytics and decision-making that impacts the UK's largest catering business.
This is not a graduate scheme. This is a real engineering role, with real pipelines, real stakeholders, and real impact. You'll be supported by experienced engineers who are invested in your growth — but you'll be expected to show up curious, take feedback seriously, and care about the quality of what you build.
If you're early in your career and want to learn data engineering properly, this is a great place to do it.
What You'll Be Responsible For
- Building and maintaining data pipelines using PySpark, Spark SQL, and Python on the Databricks Lakehouse platform
- Supporting the development of batch pipelines that feed our Discovery Analytics platform, powered by Power BI
- Writing clean, well-documented code and contributing to code reviews as you grow
- Writing unit tests and following version control practices using Git
- Contributing to documentation and team knowledge sharing
- Participating in Agile ceremonies and working collaboratively across engineering and business teams
What We're Looking For
- A foundation in Python and SQL — you don't need to know everything, but you need to be genuinely comfortable with the basics
- Strong problem-solving instincts and an attention to detail that shows in your work
- Someone who actively seeks feedback, acts on it, and keeps improving
- An interest in data, analytics, and cloud technology — and a real desire to build expertise in this field
- Familiarity with Git or version control concepts, or a clear willingness to pick it up fast
- Good communication skills and the ability to work well in a team
- A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Maths, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience
- Any exposure to cloud platforms or Databricks is a bonus, but far from essential
Why Join Us?
You'll be learning on a modern, production-grade Databricks platform — not toy projects or internal tools nobody uses.
You'll be surrounded by engineers who take their craft seriously and who want to help you grow. We're building something at real scale, and there's plenty of meaningful work for someone who's ready to put in the effort.
If you want to start your data engineering career somewhere that will genuinely invest in you, we'd love to hear from you.
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