Principal - Technical Business Analyst, Data Products & Platforms

Simple Machines; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Simple Machines in Sydney, Australia offers a senior, technically credible analyst-advocate role focused on data platform engagements. You will act as the customer's proxy inside delivery and ensure data moves, structures, and business meanings are correctly understood, documented, and validated.

This consulting role blends data platform, data product and governance, requiring hands-on data exploration, modeling review, and collaboration with the tech lead to shape outcomes and value for

Qualifications

• Data-focused technical BA, engagement analyst or consultant background.
• Deep data understanding: movement, structure, sources, business meaning.
• SQL fluency essential: explore, profile, validate data independently.
• Reads data models and source-to-target mappings; familiar with cloud stacks and ETL/ELT.
• Strong requirements craft: elicitation, workshops, acceptance criteria, backlog.

Responsibilities

• Act as the customer's proxy inside delivery, shaping the solution with the tech lead.
• Turn client problems into actionable requirements and documentation.
• Explore and verify data to ensure credible engagements and outcomes.
• Balance data platform, data product and governance initiatives across engagements.

Skills

SQL fluency

Data modelling

Data platforms

Requirements elicitation

Stakeholder proxy

Data governance

Databricks

Snowflake

BigQuery

dbt

Azure / AWS / GCP

Jira / Confluence

Executive communication

Education

Data-focused BA/Consultant background

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

BigQuery

dbt

Jira

Confluence

Job description

We are looking for a senior, technically credible analyst-advocate on data platform and data product engagements, acting as the customer's proxy inside delivery. This is a data specialist, not a software or process BA: the person understands how data moves, how it is structured, where it comes from and what it means in business terms, reads data models and source-to-target mappings, and gets into the data to verify it. SQL fluency is essential. You will understand the client's problem more deeply than anyone in the room, form and defend a clear point of view, shape the solution alongside the tech lead, and turn that into the requirements and documentation that keep engagements moving. Because this is a consulting role, you can also step beyond requirements into a data product lens, thinking in outcomes, prioritisation and value when an engagement calls for it. It flexes across data platform, data product and governance initiatives.

We are looking for a senior, technically credible analyst-advocate on data platform and data product engagements, acting as the customer's proxy inside delivery. This is a data specialist, not a software or process BA: the person understands how data moves, how it is structured, where it comes from and what it means in business terms, reads data models and source-to-target mappings, and gets into the data to verify it. SQL fluency is essential. You will understand the client's problem more deeply than anyone in the room, form and defend a clear point of view, shape the solution alongside the tech lead, and turn that into the requirements and documentation that keep engagements moving. Because this is a consulting role, you can also step beyond requirements into a data product lens, thinking in outcomes, prioritisation and value when an engagement calls for it. It flexes across data platform, data product and governance initiatives.

Requirements

Required background:

• A data-focused technical BA, engagement analyst or consultant, or an engineer / analyst who moved into the analyst seat, or wants to
• Deep data understanding: how data moves, is structured, where it
• comes from and what it means in business terms
• SQL-fluent (must-have): explores, profiles and validates data independently
• Reads and reasons about data models and source-to-target mappings; knows a modern cloud data stack and ETL / ELT
• Strong requirements craft: elicitation, workshops, acceptance criteria, backlog, RAID
• Not a software, process or ERP BA; user-story-only BAs without SQL are not a fit

Core capabilities:

• Data fluency: how data moves, is structured, sourced, and what it means in business terms
• Requirements elicitation, analysis and prioritisation
• Customer advocacy and stakeholder proxy
• Critical thinking, problem solving and logical reasoning
• Translation between business intent and technical delivery
• Workshop facilitation, acceptance criteria, validation and UAT

Technologies and ecosystems, exposure to - not mandatory:

• SQL (must-have, fluent: explore, profile, validate)
• Data modelling and source-to-target mapping
• Modern stack: Databricks / Snowflake / BigQuery, dbt, Azure / AWS / GCP
• Pipelines and ETL / ELT; Jira / Confluence
• Written and communication capabilities:
• Strong, structured written craft: status reports, proposals, specs
• Clear executive communication; produces high-quality material independently

About Simple Machines

Simple Machines is a global, independent technology consultancy operating across Sydney, New Zealand, London, Poland and San Francisco. We design and build modern data platforms, intelligent systems, and bespoke software at the intersection ofData Engineering, Software EngineeringandAI.

We help enterprises, scale-ups, and government turn complex, high-value data into products, platforms, and decisions that drive real impact.

We don't do generic. We build things that matter — We engineer data to life™.