Senior Cloud Data Engineer - Hybrid, Scalable Pipelines

E-Merge; South Africa; Hybrid; ZAR 972,000 - 1,188,000; Full time

Job summary

E-Merge in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa, is looking for a seasoned Data Engineer to design and optimize scalable data pipelines, enable advanced analytics, and drive data engineering excellence in a cloud-first environment.

You will partner with data scientists and engineers to build API‑based ingestion, implement CI/CD for data workflows, and mentor juniors while delivering robust, maintainable code that supports business decisions across the organization.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional experience as a Data Engineer or in a similar role developing data ETL pipelines.
• Advanced proficiency in Python for backend development and scripting
• Strong SQL skills with hands-on experience in querying and modeling relational databases
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure
• Hands-on with containerization technologies like Docker or Kubernetes
• Solid understanding of RESTful APIs
• Experience with version control systems (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) and CI/CD workflows
• Strong grasp of software development lifecycle (SDLC) and principles of clean, maintainable code
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, own projects end-to-end, and mentor junior engineers
• Familiarity with AI concepts and prompt engineering is a plus

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain reliable data pipelines and ETL processes using Python and SQL
• Build and manage API-based data ingestion workflows and real-time data integrations
• Apply software engineering best practices: modular design, testing, version control, and documentation
• Own and optimize data workflows and automation, ensuring efficiency and scalability
• Collaborate closely with senior engineers, data scientists, and stakeholders to translate business needs into technical solutions
• Work with data-devops principles: CI/CD for data workflows, infrastructure-as-code, and containerized ETL deployments

Skills

Python

SQL

Cloud platforms

Docker

Kubernetes

REST APIs

Git & CI/CD

SDLC

Mentoring

AI concepts

Tools

Terraform

Helm

Job description

E-Merge in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, South Africa, is looking for a seasoned Data Engineer to design and optimize scalable data pipelines, enable advanced analytics, and drive data engineering excellence in a cloud-first environment.

You will partner with data scientists and engineers to build API‑based ingestion, implement CI/CD for data workflows, and mentor juniors while delivering robust, maintainable code that supports business decisions across the organization.