Junior Data Engineer

AES Global; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

AES Global in Cape Town seeks a Junior Data Engineer to help build and maintain data pipelines and a data warehouse for retail operations. You’ll work across ETL/ELT, data ingestion and warehousing, learning from an experienced team while taking ownership of clean, reliable data.

You’ll design, develop and maintain ETL/ELT processes using SQL and SSIS, ingest data from ERP, POS and APIs, and support Power BI reporting, while adhering to POPIA data governance and security standards.

Qualifications

• 1–2 years’ experience with Microsoft SQL Server (T-SQL, SSMS)
• Understanding of data-warehousing concepts (star and snowflake schemas)
• Basic experience with ETL/ELT tools and processes (SSIS preferred)
• Familiarity with version control (Git/GitHub)
• Positive, problem-solving mindset and eagerness to learn

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain scalable ETL/ELT processes using SQL and SSIS
• Build data-ingestion pipelines from ERP, POS and vendor APIs into the data warehouse
• Monitor data movements, troubleshoot pipeline failures and resolve discrepancies
• Contribute to the enterprise data warehouse with star and snowflake schemas
• Prepare trusted datasets for Power BI and SSRS reporting
• Support and optimize Microsoft SQL Server environments (SSMS, SSDT)
• Adhere to POPIA-compliant data governance, security and quality standards
• Manage source code with Git/GitHub and participate in Jira-driven delivery and CI/CD

Skills

MS SQL Server

T-SQL

Data warehousing

ETL/ELT tools

Git

Problem solving

SSIS

SSMS

SSDT

GitHub

Jira

Power BI

Databricks

REST APIs

JSON/XML

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

SSIS

SSMS

SSDT

GitHub

Jira

Power BI

Databricks

REST APIs

JSON/XML

Job description

We’re working with an established retail business, and they’re looking for a Junior Data Engineer to help build and maintain the data pipelines and warehouse behind its operations.

You’ll work across ETL/ELT processes, data ingestion and warehousing, learning from an experienced team while taking real ownership of clean, reliable data.

What you’ll do

• Help design, develop and maintain scalable ETL/ELT processes using SQL and SSIS
• Build data-ingestion pipelines from operational systems (ERP, POS, vendor APIs) into the data warehouse
• Monitor daily data movements, troubleshoot pipeline failures and resolve data discrepancies
• Contribute to the enterprise data warehouse — building star and snowflake schema tables
• Prepare trusted, structured datasets for Power BI and SSRS reporting
• Support and optimise Microsoft SQL Server environments (SSMS, SSDT)
• Adhere to POPIA-compliant data governance, security and quality standards
• Manage source code with Git/GitHub and take part in Jira-driven delivery and CI/CD

What you’ll bring

• 1–2 years’ experience, or a strong academic background, in Microsoft SQL Server (T-SQL, SSMS)
• An understanding of data-warehousing concepts (star and snowflake schema modelling)
• Basic experience with ETL/ELT tools and processes (SSIS preferred)
• Familiarity with version control (Git/GitHub)
• A positive, problem-solving mindset and eagerness to learn

Advantageous

• Exposure to cloud and modern platforms (Microsoft Fabric, AWS, GCP or Databricks)
• Consuming REST APIs and processing JSON/XML
• Power BI or SSRS reporting, CI/CD and agile delivery (Jira)
• Awareness of data governance (POPIA, RBAC, data lineage)

Working model

Hybrid, based in Cape Town, with some in-office days.