Lead Fabric Data Engineer
Outside IR35
Location: Cheshire (Hybrid - 2 days per week on-site)
Duration: 7-8 months
Lead Fabric Data Engineer contract required to accelerate the migration of priority on-premises SQL Server data workloads into Microsoft Fabric, establish a secure and well-governed platform, and build reusable foundations for reporting, analytics, and commercial data.
Our client requires an experienced, hands-on Lead Fabric Data Engineer/Architect contractor to work alongside their Central Data Team and external delivery partners. This role is strictly deliverable-focused, combining migration, engineering, governance, and knowledge transfer. The successful contractor will replace Legacy patterns with scalable Fabric and dbt-based solutions, rather than simply performing a "lift and shift" of existing processes.
Scope of Work & Key Deliverables
- Workload Assessment: Evaluate databases, stored procedures, SSIS/ETL processes, file feeds, reports, and dependencies within the priority on-premises SQL Server estate.
- Migration Planning: Create a sequenced migration backlog, source-to-target mappings, validation approaches, and a clear cutover plan.
- Ingestion Patterns: Build secure, reusable ingestion patterns from on-premises SQL Server and other agreed sources into Microsoft Fabric.
- Medallion Architecture: Establish governed Bronze, Silver, and Gold data layers in OneLake using Delta tables and agreed engineering standards.
- Data Transformation: Utilize dbt Core to create modular transformation models, tests, documentation, and lineage, fully integrated into the deployment process.
- Governance & Operations: Implement access controls, data quality rules, reconciliation, monitoring, alerting, and operational support procedures.
- Analytics Delivery: Create trusted Gold datasets and semantic models for Power BI and agreed commercial use cases.
- Upskilling & Handover: Mentor the internal team through peer-to-peer coding, code reviews, and shared learning. Deliver technical documentation, runbooks, and walkthroughs to enable independent delivery and support post-contract.
Essential Contractor Experience
- Microsoft Fabric Ecosystem: Production experience with Microsoft Fabric, OneLake, Lakehouse/Warehouse, Fabric Data Factory, pipelines, and notebooks.
- dbt Core Expertise: Strong, hands-on dbt Core experience, including modular models, testing, documentation, lineage, and CI/CD deployment.
- SQL Server Migration: Proven track record migrating from on-premises MS SQL Server to Fabric or Azure, including Legacy stored procedures, SSIS/ETL, reporting dependencies, and phased cutovers.
- Data Engineering Fundamentals: Advanced SQL and strong Python/PySpark capability, with practical experience implementing Delta and medallion architectures.
- Data Reconciliation: Experience validating and reconciling migrated data and business logic against Legacy SQL Server outputs before formal cutover.
- Power BI & Semantic Modelling: Hands-on experience with Power BI, semantic modelling, and Direct Lake connectivity.
- Security & Governance: Practical knowledge of Entra ID, RBAC, Microsoft Purview, data quality framework, data lineage, and sensitive-data controls.
- DevOps Practices: Solid experience with GitHub, automated testing, and CI/CD deployment pipelines across Dev, Test, and Prod environments.
If interested in this Lead Fabric Data Engineer contract role - please forward latest CV clearly showing suitability and location due to travel to client site in Manchester.
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