Senior Data Engineer - Data Governance

National Rugby League; Sydney; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

National Rugby League in Sydney seeks a Senior Data Engineer – Data Governance to shape data strategy in a fast-paced, purpose-led sport organisation.

You will build scalable pipelines with Databricks and Fivetran, set governance policies, ensure privacy compliance, mentor junior engineers and drive data quality across millions of fan interactions and billions of data points.

Qualifications

• 3+ years hands-on data engineering experience.
• 2+ years in a data governance role.
• Proficient in Python and SQL.
• Experience with enterprise data governance.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain scalable data pipelines.
• Establish data governance policies and standards.
• Ensure privacy and security compliance.
• Lead data governance committees and drive policy adoption.
• Mentor Data Engineers and guide junior team members.

Skills

Python

SQL

Databricks

Data governance

Data pipelines

Cloud platforms

Stakeholder engagement

Mentoring

Privacy & compliance

Tools

Databricks

Fivetran

Unity Catalog

Delta Lake

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

Rugby League is Australia’s most entertaining and community driven sport. Rugby League broadcasts have grown to be the most watched programs on Australian television. The NRL Telstra Premiership is the closest elite sporting competition in the country and the State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland is Australian sport’s greatest rivalry.

We’re looking for a Senior Data Engineer – Data Governance to join our Technology Team and help shape the future of Rugby League. If you’re ready to make an impact in a fast-paced, purpose-led organisation, we want to hear from you.

About the role:

This role sits at the intersection of data engineering and governance, ensuring NRL's data assets are both high-performing and trustworthy. You'll build pipelines that process millions of fan interactions and 6.9 billion data points while establishing governance frameworks that keep this data secure, compliant, and reliable. You'll also mentor junior engineers, helping to shape the next generation of data talent at NRL.

In the role you will:

• Build and maintain robust data pipelines using Databricks and Fivetran, processing fan interactions, match data, and business metrics at scale
• Establish and maintain data governance policies and standards covering data quality, privacy, security, and compliance
• Ensure compliance with privacy regulations, including Australian Privacy Principles, GDPR, and industry-specific requirements
• Implement data validation rules, quality checks, and metadata management through Databricks Unity Catalogue
• Lead data governance committees and working groups, driving stakeholder engagement and policy adoption
• Provide technical mentoring and guidance to Data Engineers, supporting their professional development.

Ideally you will have:

• 3+ years hands-on data engineering experience and 2+ years in a data governance role, with strong proficiency in Python and SQL
• 2+ years experience with Databricks platform including Delta Lake, job scheduling, and cluster management
• Proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native data architectures
• Extensive experience implementing data governance frameworks in enterprise environments
• Knowledge of privacy regulations (Australian Privacy Principles, GDPR) and industry standards (DAMA-DMBOK, ISO 27001)
• Strong communication skills with ability to translate technical concepts for business stakeholders

Whilst we look for experience, we also look for people who share the same beliefs as our organisation – we are UNITED, POSITIVE, INCLUSIVE & DISCIPLINED. Should you meet most of the criteria and share our beliefs.

The NRL is a child-safe organisation committed to providing a safe place for all children to learn and have fun. We have strong recruitment procedures to make sure the safest and most suitable people work with us and require all applicants to undergo an extensive screening process prior to appointment, a process that will include, but is not limited to comprehensive reference checks, an identity check, “Working with Children” checks and/or national criminal history checks.