Client Solutions Database Engineer

Kennedys is looking for a Client Solutions Database Engineer to join our IT team, based in Manchester. The successful candidate will work as part of the Client Solutions sub‑team, collaborating closely with wider IT and Business Services teams to design, optimise and maintain high‑performance database systems that support our core SaaS platform, reporting environments and client billing solutions.

This is a hybrid role combining architectural leadership with hands‑on engineering. You will act as the technical authority for our database ecosystem-setting standards, driving best practice, and solving complex challenges-while also writing advanced SQL, building prototypes and guiding junior engineers.

Team

Kennedys' IT team is responsible for delivering a responsive, effective and timely IT service to the firm's employees and clients. The team designs and implements operational processes to ensure our systems remain reliable, secure and highly available. You will join a collaborative group committed to continuous improvement and supporting the firm's global technology needs.

Key responsibilities 

• Lead the design and optimisation of scalable, high‑performance database architectures across our SaaS platform, reporting environments and client billing systems.
• Govern and enhance the stored procedure estate, reusable scripts and development standards across the engineering team.
• Produce clear, accessible documentation for data models, data dictionaries and architectural decisions.
• Drive technical projects with strong momentum, providing proactive updates and ensuring timely delivery.
• Mentor and upskill junior team members, fostering a collaborative, learning‑focused engineering culture.

Required experience

• Extensive experience with modern Azure SQL services and designing complex, high‑performance relational databases.
• Strong data modelling skills across both OLTP (SaaS) and OLAP (reporting/analytics) environments.
• Proven expertise in performance tuning, scaling, security and cost optimisation.
• Hands‑on experience with backups, integrity checks, index maintenance and troubleshooting using blocking, caching and wait statistics.
• Advanced proficiency in T‑SQL, stored procedures, functions and custom integrations.
• Experience designing and orchestrating ETL/ELT pipelines using tools such as dbt or Azure Data Factory.
• Strong background in technical code reviews and mentoring junior engineers.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work autonomously and document technical decisions clearly.
• Experience designing Power BI‑optimised data models and writing performant DAX.
• Strong understanding of how database architecture impacts BI performance and reporting pipelines.

*where a level of experience is indicated, this is a guideline only and represents the amount of time we would usually expect a candidate to accumulate the requisite level of experience. This does not preclude applications from candidates with more or less experience.

Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to be made in order to submit your application to Kennedys.

About Kennedys

Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 3,000 people in 45 offices across 18 countries around the world we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.

Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services, for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.

We're a fresh-thinking firm, and we're not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.

What do we have to offer?

We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.

Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive, distinctive and ambitious. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.

The Firm recognises the value of investing in our people's development and believes our culture and values contribute to the quality of our work and of our client relationships. With a culture of on-the-job and experiential learning, peer to peer learning, mentoring, resources and tools that enable you to drive your career, we can support your development in your current and future roles.  A variety of other opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices.

We strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work.  We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust, where diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority.  We recognise that many of our people want to work for an employer that is aligned to their values, which is why we are building an inclusive culture, decarbonising our operations and supporting our people to thrive at work.  Our people are the key to driving this change and helping us to make a difference to our clients, our people and the communities in which we live and work.

Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to Information Security, Data Protection and Quality Management, refer any breach promptly to Risk & Compliance and to complete all mandatory training when requested.