Data Manager (Microsoft Fabric - 2 days on site)

About the Role:

We are seeking an experienced Data Manager to lead our data team and oversee the delivery and operation of our Microsoft Fabric data platform. This is a hands-on leadership role, responsible for people management, technical direction, and ensuring high-quality, incremental delivery of data solutions to the business.

The successful candidate will combine strong technical expertise with effective team leadership and delivery ownership. While supported by data architecture and engineering roles, the Data Manager must be capable of guiding, challenging, and, where required, contributing hands-on in a small, agile team environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own engagement with business stakeholders, shaping data demand, setting delivery expectations, and ensuring data outcomes align with organisational priorities.
• Lead and line-manage the data team, providing clear direction, prioritisation, and support.
• Own delivery outcomes, ensuring work is progressed and completed using Agile practices.
• Drive incremental delivery of data products and improvements to the business.
• Provide technical leadership across the Microsoft Fabric platform, including pipelines, lakehouse/warehouse, and semantic models.
• Establish and enforce data engineering best practices (CI/CD, source control, naming conventions, documentation).
• Support and mature data governance practices, including use of Microsoft Purview.
• Act as a senior technical and delivery voice in architecture and design discussions.

Qualifications:

• Proven experience managing a data or analytics team.
• Strong technical background in modern data platforms, ideally Microsoft Fabric.
• Solid understanding of data engineering best practices, CI/CD, and source control.
• Experience working in Agile delivery environments (Kanban and/or sprints).
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Proven experience with Power BI and enterprise reporting environments.

Nice To Have:

• Experience with Microsoft Purview and data governance frameworks.
• Background in data architecture or senior data engineering roles.