Lead Data Engineer

Playroll; Gauteng; Hybrid; ZAR 700 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A forward-thinking technology company in South Africa is looking for a Lead Data Engineer to join its Engineering team. In this role, you'll drive data projects, build and scale data infrastructure, and foster a data-first culture. You should have experience in data architecture, cloud technologies, and tools like Spark and Python. The company offers competitive packages, a share incentive scheme, and a hybrid working environment, emphasizing continuous growth and improvement for both the team and its members.

Benefits

Competitive market salary

Share Incentive Scheme

Generous Vacation Policy

Team lunches and breakfasts

Unlimited Coffee, Drinks & Healthy Snacks

Qualifications

• Experience as a data engineer with proficiency in data architecture.
• Passion for data technology and solutions.
• Confidence explaining ideas to various audiences.
• Flexible approach to build the right solutions.

Responsibilities

• Build a data engineering strategy to achieve company goals.
• Scale and build the data platform capabilities.
• Deploy data infrastructure for various projects.
• Share your experience to establish data best practices.
• Seek ways to improve processes and culture.

Skills

Data architecture

Building data warehouses

Event-driven architectures

Data visualization toolkits

Integrating with 3rd party SaaS

Communication with stakeholders

Growth mindset

Tools

Python

Typescript

AWS

Spark

Glue

Airflow

DBT

Kinesis

Kafka

Event Bridge

Job description

Join to apply for theLead Data Engineerrole atPlayroll

About the Role

Playroll is looking for a hands‑on Lead Data Engineer to join the Engineering team to help deliver our strategic data projects and roadmap.

You will report to the CTO and work with team members across the business to drive adoption of our data platform and unlock insights to support our company goals.

You will have a strong background in data engineering and experience of building and scaling data infrastructure.

This role is an early hire into the platform team and you will work alongside our platform engineer and Head of Engineering.

You Will :

• Work with the CTO and other stakeholders to build a data engineering strategy that enables the company to meet its ambitious goals
• Scale and build out our data platform (data lake, ingestion pipelines, BI and reporting platform capabilities)
• Deploy data and the data infrastructure to support projects such as CRM, personalisation and Martech innovations
• Act as a technical authority, sharing your experience to establish data best practices in our engineering and wider team
• Support the further development of a data‑first culture at Playroll
• Continually seek out and share ways to improve our processes, platform, and culture

Skills & Experience

You have :

• Experience as a data engineer with proficiency in data architecture, having architected and built data warehouses, event driven architectures and event ingestion pipelines, BI, reporting and data visualization toolkits, integration with 3rd party SaaS platforms
• A passion for data technology and using it to engineer solutions that can empower a team and business to learn and grow
• A growth mindset, curiosity and the desire to grow with the business, the team, our customers and the users of our platform
• Confidence explaining and discussing ideas, solutions and approaches with both technical and non-technical audiences including senior and exco stakeholders
• A flexible approach and the ability to work with the team to build the right solutions for now and later.
• You apply your experience and knowledge of best practice at all times while maintaining curiosity and openness to work with the wider team to plan the best route to our goals
• Confidence challenging processes and ways of working, raising challenges and collaboratively seeking solutions to blockers and constraints

Preferred Skills

• Development : Python / Typescript
• Cloud : AWS – S3, Athena, DMS, Lambda, IAM, CDK
• Big data and ETL : Spark, Glue, Airflow, DBT
• Streaming and Events : Kinesis, Kafka, Event Bridge

What you'll get :

• Competitive packages : Earn a competitive market salary
• Share Incentive Scheme.
• We grow, you grow.
• Generous Vacation Policy : We think time off is essential... and we encourage it!
• Team lunches, breakfasts and Unlimited Coffee, Drinks & Healthy Snacks : Because we love spoiling our team!
• Hybrid Working : We offer you an autonomous environment to perform at your highest level; whether it's in-office or remote.

Our Values

Better Than Yesterday–We embrace challenges, question the status quo, and dedicate ourselves to continuous progress.

The ultimate goal is to be better today than yesterday, with a plan to become even better tomorrow.

One Playground–The Playground is our shared space to create, innovate and win, together.

We are a global team with a global vision, breaking down barriers to work to a common goal.

Impact Over Input– Making an impact is everyone's role.

Each of us are not just responsible for our actions but also for their outcomes.

Obsession For Excellence– Excellence is earned.

We aim to achieve the extraordinary, and in our pursuit, we are relentless.

We set ourselves high standards and deliver through accuracy, expertise and the highest standards of service.

We welcome applications from every background and believe diverse experiences and perspectives will make us stronger.

Application Process

• Introductory Call – meet our Talent team to discuss the opportunity and establish a great mutual fit for the role
• Meet the Hiring Manager – a more in-depth exploration of your relevant experience and the skills you'll bring to the challenge of the role
• Case Study – a chance to showcase your capabilities and how you like to work
• Value Fit Interview – a final discussion with your future colleagues to align on expectations and set you up to succeed

About Playroll

Playroll was built to accelerate a borderless economy to enable our clients and their people to thrive, enable human connection and break down borders.

We're working to find new and better ways to help businesses succeed, and we're looking for people to help shape tomorrow, today.

Since we opened our doors in

• the world of distributed work has evolved quickly, and so have we.

After enabling businesses of all sizes to hire talent, anywhere, as an Employer of Record solution – we saw businesses continue to struggle with disparate products and systems that don't seamlessly work together.

We are driven by a constant pursuit of innovation, expanding our product suite to create integrated HR solutions.

Our goal is to empower businesses to scale rapidly and effortlessly, embracing a truly borderless workforce.

From fledgling startups to sprawling enterprises, we proudly partner with companies of all sizes.

As our clients evolve, so do our solutions.

And that's where you come in!

We are seeking talented individuals who thrive in challenging and ever-changing environments.

If you're passionate about solving complex problems and embracing hyper‑growth, join our team and be a catalyst for meaningful change.

Together, let's unlock the limitless potential that lies ahead!

Seniority level : Mid‑Senior level

Employment type : Full‑time

Job function : Information Technology

Industries : Human Resources Services

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