Senior Data Engineer

Nansen.ai; South Africa; Remote; ZAR 600 000 - 1 000 000; Full time

Job summary

Nansen.ai is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to architect and optimize data systems for our analytics platform. This role offers a clear path to management within 12-18 months, working in a collaborative environment to tackle large-scale data challenges in the crypto ecosystem. Join us to influence product direction and help shape the future of crypto intelligence.

Benefits

Competitive compensation package

Remote-first work environment

Qualifications

• Proven track record of building and scaling high-performance data systems.
• Deep expertise in SQL and Python.
• Experience leading and managing projects in smaller teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and scale performant data pipelines and infrastructure.
• Collaborate with crypto researchers and product managers.
• Mentor junior data engineers.

Skills

SQL

Python

Data Quality

Streaming Data Architectures

Tools

ClickHouse

BigQuery

dbt

Job description

Nansen is a blockchain analytics platform that enriches on-chain data with millions of wallets labels. Crypto investors use Nansen to discover opportunities, perform due diligence and defend their portfolios with our real-time dashboards and alerts.

The Opportunity:

As we scale our data infrastructure to meet the growing complexity and volume of the crypto ecosystem, we’re hiring a Senior Data Engineer to architect, build and optimize systems that power our customer-facing analytics product.

This role is a unique opportunity to dive deep in the technical space while preparing for a future manager role. You’ll start as an individual contributor, but with a clear path to becoming an Engineering Manager within 12–18 months.

You'll work with a collaborative, pragmatic team of data engineers and ML engineers to solve hard technical problems with real-world impact — powering tools used daily by thousands of crypto investors, builders, and institutions.

What You'll Do:

• Design, build, and scale performant data pipelines and infrastructure, primarily using ClickHouse, BigQuery, Python, and dbt.
• Tackle large-scale data challenges, processing terabytes of streaming and batch data daily.
• Collaborate closely with crypto researchers, backend engineers, and product managers to shape how data is modeled, surfaced, and productized.
• Ensure high standards for data quality, reliability, and observability across all systems.
• Mentor junior data engineers and help foster a culture of technical excellence and knowledge sharing.
• Bring fresh thinking to the table — staying current with best practices and evolving your toolkit over time.
• Use AI tools and Agents such as Cursor, MCPs and LLMs to accelerate development, automate repetitive work, and boost quality.
  
  

What We're Looking For:

• A proven track record of building and scaling high-performance data systems in production.
• Deep expertise in SQL and Python, with hands-on experience using dbt, ClickHouse, and BigQuery.
• Strong grasp of streaming data architectures and experience handling large-scale data volumes.
• Comfortable working full-stack with data — from ingestion and transformation to storage, modeling, and serving.
• Experience using AI-powered tools in day-to-day development and a natural curiosity to push boundaries with them.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; you’re confident working in a remote-first, async team.
• Experience leading and managing projects in smaller teams
• A pragmatic, execution-oriented mindset. You value fast feedback loops, clean architecture, and scalable design.
• Experience with — or strong interest in — blockchain data structures, crypto, and Web3 technologies.

How We Work:

• We’re remote-first, with async communication as the default and thoughtful, purposeful use of video calls.
• We work across time zones, but EMEA working hours are required for collaboration overlap.
• We use Slack, Notion, and structured documentation to keep everyone aligned and empowered.
• You'll join a high-autonomy team where engineers are trusted to take initiative, propose ideas, and ship great work.

Why Join Nansen?

At Nansen, you’ll help shape the future of crypto intelligence. We’re on a mission to surface the signal for the on-chain investor — turning noisy blockchain data into actionable insights that empower our users to make better trading decisions.

We’re building the world’s best blockchain analytics platform, and data is at the heart of everything we do. You'll:

• Work on massive-scale data challenges in one of the fastest-growing industries
• Influence product and technical direction from day one
• Build systems that power the decision-making of crypto investors around the world
• Join a team that values autonomy, impact, and execution above all.

We also offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, tailored to a remote-first environment.

If you’re excited about building data infrastructure for the future of finance, and want to work with a sharp, mission-driven team — we’d love to hear from you.

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