The main challenges were within the data team after the change in management. The working environment became more restrictive, and the flexibility that initially existed was reduced significantly. For example, attending a doctor’s appointment was treated in a way that required taking annual leave, which felt out of step with a modern hybrid workplace.
The management style also became a major issue. In my experience, there was a lack of clear direction, frequent shifting priorities, and limited role ownership across the team. This was made harder by management not having the technical depth needed to properly guide data engineering, BI, analytics, governance, or strategy-based work.
There was also a strong sense of micromanagement, with too much focus on task tracking and short-term delivery rather than quality outcomes, sustainable processes, or long-term capability building.
I would suggest caution to anyone considering joining this specific data team. Several team members resigned recently, including newer data engineers leaving within only a few months. The roles may look appealing from the outside, but based on my experience, the team environment was difficult.