Job Description:

Senior Data Engineer / Architect (Legal Tech)

Location: London / Remote
Position Type: Full-time, Permanent
About Our Client
Our client is a globally operational professional services organisation dedicated to delivering top-tier strategic, advisory, and technological solutions to a prestigious international clientele. As they continue to modernise their global data infrastructure, they are seeking a visionary and execution-focused Senior Data Engineer / Architect with a specialised background in the legal sector to drive their enterprise data strategy.

Position Overview

In this pivotal role, you will bridge the gap between enterprise data architecture and legal tech execution. You will be responsible for designing, building, and optimising a scalable global data estate that integrates critical legal practice management systems with cutting-edge analytics platforms.
The ideal candidate possesses deep expertise in Aderant (expert-level understanding of its underlying data structures and schemas) and a proven track record of architecting modern, cloud-native data solutions using Microsoft Fabric.

Key Responsibilities

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  Enterprise Data Architecture: Architect, build, and maintain the global data infrastructure, transitioning legacy data warehouses into a modern, unified data lakehouse environment using MS Fabric.
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  Legal Tech Integration: Serve as the subject matter expert for Aderant data structures. Design and implement robust ETL/ELT pipelines to extract, transform, and load data from Aderant Expert/Sierra and other legal tech systems (e.g., iManage, Intapp) into the central data ecosystem.
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  Data Modelling & Governance: Design high-performance relational and dimensional data models tailored for legal metrics (e.g., lockup, realisation rates, WIP, billable hours, and utilisation). Ensure strict data governance, security, and compliance across global jurisdictions.
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  Analytics Enabler: Partner with Business Intelligence (BI) teams to deliver clean, curated, and near-real-time data products, enabling advanced reporting and AI-driven insights via Power BI.
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  Stakeholder Collaboration: Act as a technical liaison between global legal operations, finance teams, and IT leadership to translate complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions.

Required Experience & Qualifications

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  Industry Experience: Minimum of 5+ years of data engineering or architecture experience specifically within the legal sector (top-tier law firms or legal professional services firms).
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  Aderant Expertise: Deep, hands-on experience navigating and querying the Aderant database schema. You must thoroughly understand how legal financial data, timekeeping, and billing workflows map to the back-end tables.
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  Microsoft Fabric Mastery: Proven experience working within the MS Fabric ecosystem (OneLake, Data Factory, Synapse Data Engineering/Data Science, and Real-Time Analytics).
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  Core Data Stack: High proficiency in advanced SQL, Python/PySpark, and data lakehouse architectures (Delta Lake).
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  Cloud Infrastructure: Strong understanding of Microsoft Azure data services (Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse, Azure SQL, Key Vault) as they relate to Fabric integrations.
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  Legal Data Domain Knowledge: Strong familiarity with legal operations terminology and financial metrics (KPIs for partners, practice groups, and matter management).

Preferred Qualifications

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  Certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate or Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate.
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  Experience migrating on-premise Aderant environments to cloud-based setups (Aderant Expert Sierra).
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  Familiarity with international data privacy laws (GDPR, UK DPA 2018) within a legal framework.

What We Offer

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  Exposure to cutting-edge AI and data analytics tools within the Microsoft ecosystem.
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  Highly competitive compensation package, flexible working arrangements (Hybrid/Remote), and clear paths for executive-level career progression.