Looker Developer / BI Analyst

Norfolk St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2JE, UK

Job Description

Job Title: Looker Developer (BI Analyst)

Department: Data & Insights

Location: Sheffield or London

Working Pattern: Hybrid, includes 3 days each week in the office

Contract Type: Full time, permanent

Salary: Up to £50,000 per annum

Role overview

As a Looker Developer at Tes, you will play a key role in our data transformation journey, helping scale and mature our analytics capabilities through Looker. You will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining LookML models and delivering high-quality, governed data experiences across the business.

Working closely with the wider Data & Insights team and business stakeholders, you will ensure that data is modelled effectively, accessible, and trusted-empowering teams to make data-driven decisions that positively impact the education sector.

This role sits within the Data & Insights department.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a subject matter expert for Looker, advocating best practices in semantic modelling, governance, and self-service analytics
• Design, develop, and maintain LookML models, including views, explores, and dashboards
• Build scalable and reusable semantic layers to ensure consistency and trust in business metrics
• Partner with Sales, Marketing, Product, and Finance teams to understand reporting needs and translate them into robust Looker solutions
• Develop and maintain data pipelines and transformations (in collaboration with analytics engineering teams) to support Looker models
• Optimise Looker performance through efficient modelling, caching strategies, and query design
• Enable and promote self-service analytics by creating intuitive dashboards and curated explores
• Enforce data governance standards, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and proper documentation of metrics
• Analyse datasets to identify trends, patterns, and insights, clearly communicating findings to stakeholders
• Support business users in adopting Looker, including training, documentation, and best practice guidance
• Collaborate cross-functionally to align on KPIs, definitions, and data strategy
• Contribute to continuous improvement of the data platform, tooling, and processes

What will you need to succeed?

• Strong experience with Looker and LookML development
• Advanced SQL skills with several years of hands-on experience
• Experience building scalable semantic layers in a BI tool (Looker preferred)
• Solid understanding of data modelling principles (e.g., star schema, dimensional modelling)
• Experience with ETL/ELT tools (e.g., dbt, Fivetran or similar)
• Knowledge of data governance and metric standardisation practices
• Experience delivering high-quality dashboards and data visualisations
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to influence decision-making
• A curious mindset with a passion for continuous learning

It's beneficial if you have experience/knowledge in:

• Advanced Looker capabilities, such as extensions, API usage, or embedded analytics
• Cloud data platforms (e.g., AWS Redshift, Snowflake, BigQuery)
• Analytics engineering practices and tools (e.g., dbt testing, CI/CD for LookML)
• Programming languages such as Python or R
• Working on data transformation or modern data stack implementations
• Supporting or driving organisation-wide BI adoption initiatives

What do you get in return?

• 25 days annual leave rising to 30
• State of the art offices
• Access to a range of benefits via My Benefits World
• Free eye care cover
• Life Assurance
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• EAP (Employee assistance programme)
• Quarterly Tes Socials
• Access to an extensive Learning and Development menu