Geospatial Data Engineer

About this role

Salary:£50000 - £60000 per annum
Employment type: Permanent
Hours per week:37
Reporting into:Head of Data Product Development
Department:Analysis Insights and Performance
Click here to read the full job description and view our excellent benefits here
Unfortunately we cannot sponsor a skilled worker visa for this role.
This role operates primarily on a remote working arrangement that will require little to no travel. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.
About Arden University:
We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education, by leading the thoughtful integration of AI into teaching and learning and equipping our students to thrive in an AI-enabled world.
There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines, forge worldwide partnerships, and expand our locations.
About our Department:
The Analysis, Insights & Performance team plays a key role in shaping how Arden University uses data to make smarter decisions, improve performance and deliver better outcomes for our students. As the University continues to grow and expand globally, the team is at the forefront of turning data into meaningful insight and driving positive change across the organisation.
We're also embarking on an ambitious AI transformation, creating exciting opportunities to develop new data capabilities, unlock greater value from our information, and support innovative ways of working.
Joining the team means being part of a forward-thinking environment where data, technology and innovation come together to shape the future of Arden University.
About the Opportunity:
As a Geospatial Data Engineer within Arden University’s Data Practice, you’ll play a key role in designing, developing and delivering high-quality geospatial data pipelines and features that support evidence-based decision-making across the University.
Working closely with the Data Product Lead and Lead Engineer, you’ll take technical ownership of geospatial data curation and GIS-based analysis, developing reliable and scalable solutions that enable geospatial data to be efficiently managed, integrated and made accessible for analytical and decision-making purposes.
You’ll collaborate with data engineers, data scientists, analysts and business teams to ensure geospatial data flows effectively through our data environment and supports the development of valuable data products. You’ll have the opportunity to apply your technical expertise to large-scale datasets and help shape how geospatial information is used across the University.
While geospatial data engineering will be your primary focus, you’ll also contribute to wider data engineering priorities where required, including data governance, data quality and operational support. This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing data practice and help develop robust, data-driven solutions that have a meaningful impact across Arden University.
About You:
Essential requirements:

• Relevant degree or qualification, or equivalent professional experience, with strong competencies in geospatial data engineering and analysis.

• Extensive relevant professional experience demonstrating broad and/or specialist knowledge of geospatial engineering and analysis.

• Proven experience processing, cleansing and preparing geospatial data to ensure it is suitable for GIS production and analytical use.

• Demonstrable experience using ArcGIS, QGIS or other GIS software, with a strong understanding of core GIS concepts including coordinate systems, projections, spatial joins, catchment analysis and network analysis.

• Demonstrable experience using geospatial data and analytics to create business value and contribute to the development of data products.

• Ability to communicate geospatial insights clearly and effectively to non-technical stakeholders.

• Familiarity with big data technologies and data platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Databricks and Snowflake.

• Experience programming with Python, R and/or SQL.

• Good understanding of modern data engineering principles, practices and patterns.

• Experience with version control (Git), code reviews, testing, CI/CD and deployment practices.

Desirable requirements:

• Experience in the use of data and analytics tooling within Microsoft Fabric.

• Experience with agile project management processes such as Scrum.

• Experience in location planning methodologies including network location planning and catchment creation and analysis.

• Knowledge of data science methodologies within geospatial fields e.g. gravity modelling, catchment prediction.

Why Arden:
At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!

• A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%

• SimplyHealth plan option

• Private Medical Insurance coverage (applies to certain job roles)

• Access to Perkbox benefits

• Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends

• Plus, other excellent benefits

• Our ‘Golden Ticket’ which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education

Our Values:
Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness, reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you…