📍 London, UK | 📧 jean [dot] boutros [at] gmail [dot] com | 🪪 LinkedIn | 📝 Medium Blog | 💾 Github
Data engineering leader with 18 years of experience building scalable data systems and high-performing teams. Over the past 5 years, I've specialized in leading data engineering teams of 3-25 engineers, delivering data platforms, analytics solutions, and customer-facing applications.
I bridge technical implementation with business needs, translating requirements into solutions that drive measurable value. Currently seeking Head of Data or Head of Engineering opportunities where I can build data platforms that fuel business growth.
- Team Building & Management: Built teams from 3 to 25+ engineers; established governance frameworks and reduced bench time by 30%
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product, Business, and Design to shape roadmaps and drive delivery
- Coaching & Development: Mentored engineers across all levels; created training roadmaps and communities of practice
- Hiring & Retention: Recruited and retained high-performing engineers; built career progression frameworks
- Data Platform Engineering: Built data platforms, analytics solutions, and reporting systems that drive business decisions
- Cloud Architecture: Cloud-native systems, data pipelines, dimensional models, microservices, real-time streaming (Kafka)
- Infrastructure & DevOps: Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Terragrunt), CI/CD with GitHub Actions, containerization
- Delivery Excellence: Kanban-based delivery with iterative shipping and continuous improvement
- Core Languages: Python, PySpark, SQL, Bash, Java, Kotlin
- Cloud & Infrastructure: Azure (Data Factory, Functions, Data Lake, Event Hub), Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, Terragrunt
- Data Platforms: Databricks, Snowflake, Palantir Foundry, Unity Catalog
- Data Tools: Kafka, Airflow, DuckDB
- Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, ClickHouse, MongoDB, SQLite
- DevOps & Integration: GitHub Actions, CI/CD, REST APIs, GraphQL, Spring Boot, Microservices, Databricks Asset Bundles, Hatch
- Analytics & BI: Power BI, Tableau, Python (polars, pandas, delta lake, matplotlib, seaborn)
Data Architect and Engineering Manager | Bauer Media Outdoor Europe | Aug 2024 - Present | London, UK
Leading engineering practice managing 3 direct reports + 12 indirect across data architecture and cloud engineering. Balance hands-on technical leadership with strategic planning and team development.
- Defined and implemented data architecture framework serving BI and analytics customers across the organisation
- Collaborate with product and business stakeholders to translate requirements into scalable technical solutions
- Deploy incremental improvements while maintaining uptime
- Established principles and standards for data quality and processing, reducing incidents by 80%
- Engineered automated CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, increasing deployment frequency and reducing incidents
- Implemented Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform/Terragrunt for version-controlled, repeatable Azure infrastructure
- Standardised data governance, access control, and security using Databricks and Unity Catalog
- Led the development of data processing applications in Databricks with PySpark and Python to enable a new view into ads management and performance and reduce cost by approximately 50%. Critically, this enabled the business to identify revenue spillage points to take action and maximise revenue.
- Mentor and coach 3 junior data engineers and 2 senior data engineers, developing a plan for their technical and non-technical growth, helping them to navigate the corporate environment, and preparing them for future leadership roles
- Redesigned hiring process with coffee chats, practical design pattern discussions, and gamified coding assessments focused on real work scenarios rather than theoretical interviews
- Created 3-year technical development plan where each engineer owns specific areas (CI/CD, metadata-driven development, unit testing) to build expertise and accountability
- Conduct performance reviews, career planning, and skill development initiatives
- Established development standards: code contribution guidelines, PR processes, commit message conventions, application design requirements (IaC, service principles, networking), data flow standards, and naming conventions
- Designed 3-year team roadmap focused on sustainable growth, cross-skilling, and wellbeing through empathetic, incremental transformation
Led data transformation programs across Insurance and Transport sectors, architecting solutions using Databricks, Snowflake, and Azure services.
- Built a 25-engineer data capability from the ground up — established governance, staffing frameworks, and reduced bench by 30%
- Led team modernization: recruited engineers, defined training roadmaps, shifted from quick solutions (Alteryx, Excel, Power BI) to scalable cloud architectures using Databricks and Data Factory
- Consulted on all data transformation projects across various sectors; supported client designs, pitches, and internal peer reviews; chaired steering group
- Coached engineers across consulting lines on technical growth and delivery excellence
- Architected and built data ingestion pipelines and platforms meeting complex business requirements
- Delivered scalable solutions balancing customer needs, technical debt, and time-to-market
- Developed reusable data engineering and DevOps assets for practitioners across the organization
- Engaged directly with clients to understand requirements and shape technical roadmaps
- Grew the team from 0 to 25 engineers
- Established community of practice with 50+ active members
- Delivered 5+ client engagements across diverse industries
Built analytics applications and call center tools for humanitarian operations across the country.
- Designed and shipped custom analytics applications and call center tools to gather data from refugee communities
- Streamlined reporting workflows and customized outputs, increasing data accessibility for leadership and external partners
- Increased call center case processing from 5 cases per week to hundreds per day, including life-threatening emergencies
- Doubled call center funding through improved data transparency and impact reporting
- Built automated dashboards and visualizations using Python, Tableau, and Power BI to accelerate decision-making
- Performed advanced analysis of multi-channel data using statistical modeling and machine learning techniques
- Delivered an end-to-end data solution for collecting, analysing, actioning and reporting humanitarian emergencies
- Reduced report generation time from days to hours
- Enabled faster response to natural disasters and crises through real-time data insights
- Improved donor transparency, contributing to increased funding
- Designed and built financial solutions like digital wallets, payment gateways, and transaction systems using Java, Kotlin and Spring Boot with reactive microservices architecture
- Created secure SaaS experiences bridging front-end apps with back-end systems using API gateways and authorization services
- Collaborated with partners in software, banking, and mobile spheres to prototype and deliver integrated products
- Orchestrated software collaboration across vendors like Mastercard and Visa, banking gateways, internal services, and mobile teams
Founded a multimedia production company creating video and photographic assets for clientele.
Migrated legacy systems into SOA frameworks using Oracle middleware, assisted in process analysis and redesign, and developed integration solutions using microservices and service buses.
HR Information Systems Analyst/Developer | Saint-Joseph University | Sep 2009 - Aug 2011 | Beirut, Lebanon
Designed and developed HR applications for personnel management, leave tracking, and payroll processing. Produced reports, analysis, and visualizations for quality control and auditing.
Worked as full-stack web developer with PHP and MySQL. Used jQuery, JSON, REST APIs, and databases including PostgreSQL and Oracle DB.
Master of Business Administration (MBA) | 2022-2023
Augment Business School, UK
Focus: Business Strategy, Marketing, Leadership, Innovation
MA in Data, Culture and Society | 2020-2021
University of Westminster, UK
Focus: Data & Society, Research Methods, Database Design, Data Visualisation
PGCert in Data Science, Innovation and Technology | 2019-2020
The University of Edinburgh, UK
Focus: Data Science, Machine Learning, Data Visualisation
BSc in Management Computer Information Systems | 2008-2011
Saint Joseph University of Beirut
Focus: Software Design, Business Management, Human-Machine Interaction
English: Fluent | French: Fluent | Mandarin Chinese: Pre-Intermediate
I'm interested in Head of Data, Head of Engineering, or Engineering Manager roles where I can:
- Lead engineering teams building data platforms, analytics solutions, or customer-facing products
- Partner with product and business departments to shape roadmaps and technical strategy
- Build and mentor teams that deliver reliable solutions quickly
- Architect scalable systems that solve real data problems for the business and customers
📧 jean [dot] boutros [at] gmail [dot] com | 🔗 LinkedIn | 📝 Medium | 💾 Github