Lead Data Engineer (Contract, Full-Time) [HR208] (UK)

About Smart Working At Smart Working, we believe your job should not only look right on paper but also feel right every day. This isn’t just another remote opportunity - it’s about finding where you truly belong, no matter where you are. From day one, you’re welcomed into a genuine community that values your growth and well-being. Our mission is simple: to break down geographic barriers and connect skilled professionals with outstanding global teams and products for full-time, long-term roles. We help you discover meaningful work with teams that invest in your success, where you’re empowered to grow personally and professionally. Join one of the highest-rated workplaces on Glassdoor and experience what it means to thrive in a truly remote-first world. About the Role As a Lead Data Engineer, you will build and lead the data infrastructure powering an intelligent AI assistant that automates operational workloads for property managers, letting agents and build-to-rent teams. The platform handles communications, compliance, maintenance coordination and scheduling, helping property businesses operate with the efficiency of modern digital platforms. You will architect and scale the data systems behind the AI products, covering real-time data pipelines, analytics infrastructure, vector databases and machine learning data workflows. Working closely with AI engineers, backend engineers, product teams, founders and product leadership, you will ensure the platform can process large volumes of operational data reliably, efficiently and intelligently. As the first senior data hire, you will play a key role in defining the data architecture, technology stack, engineering standards and ways of working. You will also help shape the data team, establishing its culture and hiring bar as the function grows.