Senior Data Engineer
- Parktown, Johannesburg
- Permanent
- Full-time
To lead the design, development, and governance of the company's enterprise data infrastructure, transitioning
from the current SSIS-based ETL environment to a modern, scalable, Azure-based cloud data warehouse.
This role is strategic and collaborative, requiring close engagement with business leaders, BI developers,
analysts, and IT teams to ensure data solutions are business-aligned, governance-compliant, and ready for
advanced analytics. As a senior member of the team, the role will mentor junior data engineers, influence architectural decisions, and champion best practices across the organisation.EDUCATION
Mandatory:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or related field.
- Master's degree in Data Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
- Business Management or Project Management certification to support stakeholder engagement and
- Azure Data Engineer Associate or equivalent cloud certification.
- Data governance certification (DAMA, DCAM, or equivalent).
- Mandatory:
o Strong hands-on experience with SSIS for ETL processes.
o Proven expertise in Azure Data Platform components (Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure SQL Database, Data Lake Storage).
o Strong SQL skills (T-SQL preferred).
o Experience implementing data governance principles, including data quality frameworks, security/access controls, and metadata management.
o Experience with data modeling (Kimball/Star Schema/Snowflake).
o Proficient in performance tuning and troubleshooting data processes.
- Preferred:
o Knowledge of Azure Purview or other data catalogue solutions.
o Knowledge of Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines for data solutions.
o Power BI integration experience with Azure datasets.Key Performance Areas (Core, essential responsibilities -outputs of the position)
1. Data Warehouse Architecture & Leadership
- Lead the architectural design and implementation of the new Azure-based data warehouse.
- Oversee the optimisation of the existing SSIS-based ETL environment during the transition phase.
- Establish long-term data platform strategy in collaboration with BI and IT leadership.
- Own the data governance framework, ensuring standards for data quality, security, lineage, and
- Partner with compliance and legal teams to meet regulatory requirements for data storage and
- Champion the use of data cataloguing and metadata management tools.
- Work directly with senior stakeholders across business units to translate needs into actionable technical
- Serve as the primary point of contact between the BI team, engineering, and external vendors for data
- Facilitate workshops, architectural reviews, and cross-team solution design sessions.
- Lead the build, testing, and deployment of robust ETL/ELT pipelines for multi-source integration.
- Ensure smooth migration of historical and real-time data to the new warehouse with minimal downtime.
- Mentor and support junior and mid-level engineers in technical best practices and solution delivery.
- Implement platform monitoring solutions to track and optimise performance.
- Drive continuous improvement in architecture, tooling, and governance processes.
- Ability to design and optimise complex ETL/ELT workflows.
- Strong understanding of data governance frameworks and compliance requirements.
- Proficient in working with large-scale data sets and high-volume data pipelines.
- Strong problem-solving skills with a focus on automation and efficiency.
- Proficient in version control tools (e.g., Git).
- Expertise in optimising data platforms for scale and performance.
- Ability to manage competing priorities across multiple projects.