David Nelson
Lead Data Engineer @Department for Education
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WORK HISTORY
Lead Data Engineer @Department for Education
Coventry, GB
Led the multi-disciplinary Strategic Modelling team, consisting of 15 permanent and managed service staff- Led the end-to-end delivery of the Further Education (FE) Data Lakehouse service in Azure Databricks as Service Owner, leveraging the medallion architecture and creation of a meta-data driven lookup and rules engine- Team nominated in the DfE Awards 2025 for their work building the FE Data Lakehouse service, finishing runner-up in the Best Use of Data, Science and Technology Award category- Led the team through the migration of data products from Microsoft SQL Server to Azure Databricks, including data models around financial data for academies and a pupil-level School Census model, removing the reliance on legacy services, including the FE Data Warehouse- Successfully delivered through others the data modelling required for key FE statistical and provider-facing data products, including Qualification Achievement Rates- Joined up with other Enterprise Data teams in DfE at a leadership level, ensuring the reusability of data assets. I advocated for the implementation of common data assets across the department which senior leadership supported, with my team leading the roll out of standardised Age, Date and Postcode Geography dimensions- Set the long-term strategic road map for the team’s data modelling portfolio, collaborating with stakeholders across the department- Collaborated with Analytics and Data Engineering teams across government, highlighting the best engineering practices while talking about DfE’s data transformation at UK public sector conferences- Contributed to senior leadership meetings, playing a role in the direction that the Enterprise Data divisions and engineering professions take- Mentored the team, providing advice and peer reviewed solutions, ensuring that the team delivered solutions to the highest quality- Led the end-to-end recruitment for Analytics and Data Engineers within the team at all seniority levels.
EDUCATION
Coventry University
Bachelor’s Degree, Computing
SKILLS
ABOUT DAVID NELSON
I am an Analytics and Data Engineering professional, with an expertise in designing user centred data services and leading multi-disciplinary teams. I have significant experience in SQL and Data Warehousing, more recently expanding to cover Azure Databricks and the medallion architecture.Outside of the public sector, I have a strong broadcasting focus, analysing data sets while running the Motorsport Broadcasting website. I actively promote diversity and inclusion within the workplace, and am a Community Champion for Racing Pride, volunteering with the organisation throughout the year.
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