Data Engineering Graduate Scheme 2025

Data Engineering Graduate Scheme 2025

 

Contract type: Permanent

Scheme Start Date: September 2025

Location: Hatfield (Blended working - 2-3 days in the office)

Working hours per week: 40 hours

Level: Entry Level - Graduate

Application Opening Date: Monday 28th October

Application Closing Date: Sunday 17th November

To read more about Ocado Retail and our Graduate schemes, visit our Careers Page!

About Us

Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value. 

We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading, joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket ocado.com. Not only is Ocado.com the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service. 

Data Engineering at Ocado Retail

Any online business generates an enormous quantity of raw data, and we’re no different. The difference is made in what you do with it. Intelligent use of data and information is at the heart of how Ocado Retail does what it does. Every significant decision is backed up with data-driven evidence. Every change is trialed and analysed to understand how we can be even better.

The Data Team is the engine room behind it all. We make sure that data flows seamlessly from where it’s made to where it needs to get to for a decision to be made, and we ensure that it’s delivered in the way that is easiest for the decision-makers to use and understand.

We use Google Cloud Platform (GCP) tools to automate bringing data into our cloud environment, processing it, and storing it in our analytical database. We have machine learning tools watching the data we land to ensure no errors or other quality issues creep in undetected. Once in the analytical database, we help our Insights team understand it and use it to inform business decisions or we automate data feeds onwards into other systems that need to use it. We create interactive dashboards for less technical business users to allow them to explore data and serve as many of their information needs themselves as possible. We are also responsible for some of the cloud infrastructure that allows all this to happen.

There’s a certain satisfaction to using the huge power of cloud computing to automate tasks that would be impossible for people to do alone. The skills we learn can be applied to any area of the business - from personalisation of the customer experience to help our suppliers understand how selling products online is different from their decades of knowledge selling in shops, to saving our Finance teams the job of manipulating data so they can focus their energy where it matters most.

What you’ll do

This scheme will initially be all about programming. You start by learning SQL and Python, then spend the first couple of placements in our Data Engineering and Reporting teams, using those skills to improve the code base that our entire data ecosystem is built on. There will then be opportunities to rotate into other areas of the business and explore more of the lifecycle of Data, expanding your experience in areas such as IT, Governance and Analytics.

The Data Engineering team is responsible for much of the automation of our data. They take data from a huge number of systems and combine it into a clearly labelled data warehouse for the rest of the business to use. They work closely with analysts and other data users to explore and add new data to keep pace with our constantly evolving business. They need to really get under the skin of the business and understand all the nuances of how its systems work to simplify it for all other data users.

The Reporting Team writes automated processes that transform the data in the data warehouse into business metrics that power a huge variety of reports, from simple emails and spreadsheets to vast interactive dashboards that allow a user to explore a topic in depth. They work with just about every area of the business and do all they can to understand how other people do their jobs. They aim to make sure everyone else needs to spend as little time as possible manipulating and understanding data, so that they are freed up to use what they’ve learned from it to drive the business forward.

Placements in other teams will be aimed at broadening your awareness of what goes into making our data work. They may involve:

• Understanding the technology infrastructure we build everything on with our IT operations team. 
• Experiencing how new technologies are introduced and how change projects are managed with our IT transformation team.
• Exploring how we protect our data, business and customers with Data Governance
• Putting yourself in the seat of the users of our data by taking on a placement in our Insights team, who use it to answer questions and recommend how to improve what we do.

Throughout every placement you will be expected to be smart with your use of data - Using your programming skills to do as much as possible, as efficiently as possible. You will quickly become an expert in how to manipulate, explore and summarise data, and how it’s used to help make decisions in a large company.

Who you are

• Have a curious mind. Ideally you feel a quick skim often isn’t enough, you want to fully understand what you’re working on.
• Have a methodical approach to explore every angle of a problem to be certain it’s completely solved.
• Have a good eye for detail to spot unusual patterns or occurrences that may cause problems.
• Have strong logical reasoning to unpick sometimes complex code to find the source of an issue.
• Experience with any programming language would be beneficial
• Experience working with large quantities of data would be beneficial
• Experience visualising and explaining data for different audiences would be beneficial. Particularly with software such as Tableau, PowerBI, Excel etc.

Expectations During and After the Scheme

You will receive the support, training and experience needed to apply for an Engineer level, or equivalent, position in one of our Data or IT teams at the end of the scheme. 

This includes:

• Becoming proficient with SQL and Python languages.
• Experience working in a continuous improvement (CI/CD) environment, and using DevOps software like Gitlab.
• Becoming proficient business intelligence and data visualisation tools such as Tableau, Excel and Google Sheets, including automation via scripting (Google App Script/VBA).
• Broad exposure to data and data users across the whole business, which will help understand the full extent of what is needed to keep the business running.
• An understanding of the data architecture principles behind designing, building and running a data warehouse.
• Experience playing a key role in change projects, including project management skills.

What You Need To Apply

• Your CV and Cover Letter - Why Ocado Retail? Why this scheme? What do you hope to achieve/gain?
• A good degree in a STEM field or field with significant data usage
• You feel the traits and experience in the “Who you are” section describe you
• Graduate from an accredited UK University
• The legal right to work in the United Kingdom upon scheme commencement and duration of the scheme

When will you hear from us?

We love that we get loads of amazing applications for our graduate schemes. To recognise that, we aim to keep you informed throughout the process.

To start with, we’ll take a look through each application and whether successful or not, we’ll let you know. Applications will close on Sunday 17th November 2024. Our aim to be in touch with anyone who’s applied within 2 weeks of that date.

After that, we’ll keep you informed between each stage. Given how many great applications we get, it can take some time, so please bear with us in between updates.

We treat all applications respectfully and fairly so unfortunately, if you miss the closing date we won't be able to make exceptions to extend stages. This wouldn't be fair to those candidates who have completed them!

How will we contact you?

Email, so make sure you’ve added careers@ocadoretail.com to your safe senders.

Our Learning & Development Promise

There are great opportunities to grow careers within our high-performing and innovative business. These range from deepening your experience and expertise to potentially taking on management responsibility or even pivoting your career to do something completely different. 

Our career management principles exist to help the realisation of career ambitions, whatever they might be.

Driven by you

You are in the driving seat of your career. We all have a responsibility to do the things that can help move our careers forward. That could mean completing some learning, using our career stories to understand how your colleagues have got to where they are today, or applying for a new role.

Supported by your manager

You should feel that you can have open and productive conversations with your manager about your career and development. They are there to coach you, act as a mentor, signpost opportunities and be an advocate for you within the business.

Backed by ORL

We are committed to ensuring that the right tools are there for you. Our learning system ‘Walnut’ is your one-stop shop for all your learning needs. 

What’s in it for you

By joining Ocado Retail you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail. 

If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal. Here’s a taste of what we offer:

Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with the option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market-leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more. 

Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.  

Never miss the moments that matter: Blended/Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy an extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities. 

Everyone’s welcome

We’re an equal opportunities employer. That means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.