
Big Data Data Engineer
- Johannesburg, Gauteng
- Permanent
- Part-time
- Design, build, and maintain robust data pipelines to ingest raw JSON data from source systems into the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS).
- Transform and enrich unstructured data into structured formats (e.g., Parquet, ORC) for the Published Layer using tools like PySpark, Hive, or Spark SQL.
- Develop workflows to further process and organize data into Functional Layers optimized for business reporting and analytics.
- Implement data validation, cleansing, schema enforcement, and deduplication as part of the transformation process.
- Collaborate with Data Analysts, BI Developers, and Business Users to understand data requirements and ensure datasets are production-ready.
- Optimize ETL/ELT processes for performance and reliability in a large-scale distributed environment.
- Maintain metadata, lineage, and documentation for transparency and governance.
- Monitor pipeline performance and implement error handling and alerting mechanisms.
- 3+ years of experience in data engineering or ETL development within a big data environment.
- Strong experience with Hadoop ecosystem tools: HDFS, Hive, Spark, YARN, and Sqoop.
- Proficiency in PySpark, Spark SQL, and HQL (Hive Query Language).
- Experience working with unstructured JSON data and transforming it into structured formats.
- Solid understanding of data lake architectures: Raw, Published, and Functional layers.
- Familiarity with workflow orchestration tools like Airflow, Oozie, or NiFi.
- Experience with schema design, data modeling, and partitioning strategies.
- Comfortable with version control tools (e.g., Git) and CI/CD processes.
- Experience with data cataloging and governance tools (e.g., Apache Atlas, Alation).
- Exposure to cloud-based Hadoop platforms like AWS EMR, Azure HDInsight, or GCP Dataproc.
- Experience with containerization (e.g., Docker) and/or Kubernetes for pipeline deployment.
- Familiarity with data quality frameworks (e.g., Deequ, Great Expectations).
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
- Relevant certifications (e.g., Cloudera, Databricks, AWS Big Data) are a plus.
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