Lead Database Developer

Job Introduction Lead Database Developer Salary £55,000 To £60,000 Depending On Experience Permanent Folkestone Hybrid As our new Lead Database Developer, you will be the senior technical specialist responsible for improving the performance, scalability, and engineering quality of Saga’s Customer Hub data solution. The Customer Hub is a critical strategic platform sitting at the very heart of Saga with over 10 million customer records and is constantly growing. As we continue to serve more customers and embark on new and exciting partnerships as part of our wider growth strategy, your role in sustaining this high-performing database is crucial to our success. This database supports customer data management, customer matching, partner integrations, data processing, and customer data distribution across Saga's technology landscape. This role helps ensure that data solutions are designed and optimised to support efficient, secure, and scalable customer data capabilities. You’ll act as a technical authority for Customer Hub data engineering and performance optimisation, driving best practice, supporting delivery teams, and ensuring the platform continues to support strategic business initiatives, partner integrations, and customer data quality objectives. We work in a hybrid way at Saga, both at home and in the office. This role requires you to be working from our Folkestone office at least once a week, allowing us to collaborate and share success as a business. Role Responsibility As our Lead Database Developer, you will provide expert guidance on database technologies, lead complex development initiatives, and ensure the reliability, performance, and continual improvement of our data platforms. Other accountabilities will include: Investigating performance bottlenecks across customer data processing and integration flows. Improving SQL code, stored procedures, and data-processing logic to support efficient delivery. Leading complex performance analysis activities and translate findings into practical engineering improvements. Supporting delivery teams in shaping efficient data models, data flows, and integration patterns. Helping ensure customer data services are engineered to meet performance, security, and quality expectations. Providing technical input into solution decisions that affect data quality, partner integrations, and strategic delivery. Identifying opportunities to improve the efficiency of customer data processing and storage usage. Supporting data lifecycle and retention requirements through well-designed engineering approaches. Assessing data growth trends and recommend design improvements to support future scalability. Developing and improving automated deployment and validation approaches for data changes. Supporting integration of data change delivery within CI/CD pipelines Implementing automation to improve delivery quality, repeatability, and engineering productivity. Supporting release planning by assessing the performance and data impact of proposed changes. Helping define validation criteria for data changes, integration flows, and performance-sensitive releases. Working with delivery teams to confirm that changes are engineered to meet performance and quality expectations. Contributing to post-release learning by identifying opportunities to improve future delivery outcomes. Providing technical guidance on data design, SQL development, performance, and scalability. Supporting code reviews and engineering improvements for data-related changes. The Ideal Candidate The successful candidate will bring a strong track record of improving data solution performance, increasing engineering quality, automating delivery processes, and ensuring customer data capabilities continue to support partner integrations, strategic initiatives, and business growth objectives. This includes experience performing activities such as API performance analysis, query optimisation, code tuning, delivery automation, release validation, data model improvement, and proactive scalability planning. You will need to demonstrate the following skills; Expert knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server development, data engineering, and performance optimisation. Extensive experience analysing query behaviour, execution plans, indexing approaches, and performance diagnostics. Strong experience designing and improving high-volume transactional data solutions and business-critical applications. Advanced Transact-SQL development and optimisation skills. Experience improving large-scale customer data processing systems. Experience analysing and improving integration and data-processing performance. Experience implementing CI/CD pipelines for data-related delivery. Strong PowerShell and automation scripting capabilities. Experience using Azure DevOps, GitHub, or similar delivery platforms. Knowledge of deployment automation practices and repeatable engineering controls. Strong analytical, problem-solving, and root-cause analysis skills. Experience improving performance and resilience within business-critical systems. Ability to manage multiple priorities within a fast-paced Agile delivery environment. Strong communication and stakeholder management capabilities. Saga Values: Make it Happen, Do the Right Thing, Customer First, Excellence Every Day, Our People Make Us Special Package Description At Saga we recognise that our people make us special. We believe our colleagues deserve rewards for the excellence they demonstrate every single day, that's why we have put together an amazing benefits package for all colleagues.  BENEFITS AVAILABLE FOR THIS ROLE: 25 days holiday + bank holidaysOption to purchase additional leave - 5 extra daysPension scheme matched up to 10%Company performance related annual bonus - Up to 5%Life assurance policy on joining us, 4 x salaryWellbeing programmeColleague discounts including family discounts on cruises, holidays and insuranceRange of reductions and offers from leading retailers, travel groups and entertainment companiesEnhanced maternity and paternity leaveGrandparents leaveIncome protectionAccess to Saga Academy, our bespoke learning platform About The Company Over the past 75 years we have become the UK's specialist provider of products and services to people aged over 50 in the UK. We’re the most trusted brand amongst UK consumers in this demographic, recognised for high-quality products and exceptional standards of service. Our product portfolio includes cruises, holidays, insurance, personal finance products and our Saga Magazine. Our focus on delivering exceptional products and service empowers our colleagues to create moments that are personal and special for our customers and for each other and our values underpin our approach and help guide us to deliver our purpose. We’re committed to making sure that colleagues can be their best, be themselves and make a difference – more than anywhere else. We have done this by creating a truly inclusive culture, where all colleagues can bring their full and authentic selves to work and be treated with dignity and respect in an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. Thanks to our people, Saga was awarded with a Gold for Best Customer Centric Culture in 2025. This is testament to the great culture we’ve built together. This award belongs to all our colleagues who collectively make Saga a fantastic place to work. We are champions of age inclusivity and signatories of the Age-Friendly Employer Pledge, we are proud of our multigenerational teams we have in place. We’re also a committed Disability Confident employer and ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. Your application will have fair consideration, and you’ll receive personal communication throughout your applicant journey when you apply to join Saga. Saga does not accept agency CVs unless specifically engaged on the role by the Talent Acquisition Team. Please do not forward CVs to our recruiters, employees or any other company location. Saga will not be responsible for any fees related to CVs received in this unsolicited manner. Saga Group