Principal Data Engineer

Placements24; East London; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health insurance

Flexible working hours

Professional development & training

Remote work environment

Conferences & training

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a highly experienced Principal Data Engineer to design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and data warehousing solutions. This fully remote SA role offers opportunities to lead data initiatives, mentor engineers, and drive best practices in data architecture and governance.

You will work with AWS/Azure/GCP, Spark, Hadoop, Hive, and Kafka to deliver robust data platforms that empower critical decision-making across the organization.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in data engineering or a related role.
• Proven experience designing and implementing large-scale data architectures.
• Proficiency in SQL and experience with various database technologies.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Scala, or Java.
• Extensive experience with cloud data services (AWS Redshift, S3, EMR; Azure Data Lake; GCP BigQuery).
• Experience with data modeling and warehousing concepts.
• Strong understanding of data governance & security principles.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimize scalable data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes.
• Develop and maintain data warehousing solutions and data lake architectures.
• Ensure data quality, integrity, and reliability across all data systems.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to data engineering teams.
• Architect and implement data solutions on cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Work with Spark, Hadoop, and Kafka to handle big data workloads.
• Develop and enforce data governance policies and standards.
• Collaborate with data scientists and analysts to meet data needs.
• Automate data infrastructure operations and monitoring.
• Stay abreast of emerging data engineering technologies and best practices.

Skills

SQL

Python

Scala

Java

Leadership

Education

Master's or Ph.D. in CS/Engineering

Tools

Apache Spark

Hadoop

Kafka

Hive

S3

Redshift

BigQuery

Azure Data Lake

Job description

Our client, a leading global data analytics firm, is seeking a highly experienced and strategic Principal Data Engineer to join their fully remote team. This is a permanent, full-time position offering the ultimate flexibility to work from anywhere within South Africa . As a Principal Data Engineer, you will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining scalable and robust data pipelines and infrastructure that support the organization's big data initiatives. You will provide technical leadership, mentor other engineers, and drive best practices in data architecture, ETL processes, and data warehousing. This role demands a deep understanding of data modeling, distributed systems, and cloud-based data platforms. The ideal candidate is a seasoned professional with a proven track of architecting and implementing complex data solutions. You will collaborate closely with data scientists, analysts, and business stakeholders to ensure data availability, quality, and accessibility for critical decision-making. This is an exceptional opportunity to shape the data landscape of a major organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimize scalable data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes.
• Develop and maintain data warehousing solutions and data lake architectures.
• Ensure data quality, integrity, and reliability across all data systems.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to data engineering teams.
• Architect and implement data solutions on cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Work with big data technologies such as Spark, Hadoop, and Kafka.
• Develop and enforce data governance policies and standards.
• Collaborate with data scientists and analysts to meet their data needs.
• Automate data infrastructure operations and monitoring.
• Stay abreast of emerging data engineering technologies and best practices.

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• 8+ years of experience in data engineering or a related role.
• Proven experience designing and implementing large-scale data architectures.
• Expertise in SQL and experience with various database technologies (relational and NoSQL).
• Proficiency with big data technologies such as Apache Spark, Hadoop, Hive, or Kafka.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Scala, or Java.
• Extensive experience with cloud data services (e.g., AWS Redshift, S3, EMR; Azure Data Lake; GCP BigQuery).
• Experience with data modeling and warehousing concepts.
• Strong understanding of data governance and data security principles.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated experience working in a fully remote, collaborative environment.

Benefits

• Highly competitive salary and performance-based incentives.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous paid time off and flexible working hours.
• Significant opportunities for professional development and leadership growth.
• Work with cutting-edge big data technologies and platforms.
• A fully remote work environment with a strong team culture.
• Direct impact on critical business decisions through data infrastructure.
• Company-sponsored conferences and training.