Senior Data Engineer

Parvana; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 700,000 - 1,100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Parvana in Cape Town is seeking an experienced Data Engineer to design, develop, and optimize complex SQL Server database solutions and scalable data models. You will lead ETL/ELT pipelines and ensure reliable data access for analytics.

You will tackle indexing, partitioning, and performance tuning on large datasets, partnering with BI teams and stakeholders, using ADF, SSIS, dbt, Informatica, and related tools in a hybrid office/remote setup.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of hands-on experience in complex query development and optimization.
• Deep expertise in indexing, partitioning, and performance troubleshooting for large datasets.
• Experience designing both normalised relational models and dimensional models.
• Proven ability to separate transactional and reporting workloads and optimize data access.
• Experience with ETL/ELT pipelines and data integration from multiple sources.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize SQL Server database solutions and data models.
• Analyse execution plans, troubleshoot performance issues, and optimize indexing.
• Build and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines and data ingestion processes.
• Mentor developers on SQL optimization and data engineering practices.
• Collaborate with application developers, BI teams, analysts, and stakeholders.

Skills

SQL optimization

Query development

Stored procedures

Execution plans

ETL/ELT

Tools

Azure Data Factory

SSIS

dbt

Informatica

Power BI

Job description

Location: Cape Town | Work Type: Hybrid | Job ID: J107087

About our client: Our client is a global investment advisory firm focusing on long-term value creation through investment strategies. They work with a diverse group of institutional partners and pride themselves on their collaborative, sustainable, inclusive culture and performance. You are welcome to go into the office daily or to take advantage of their hybrid in-office / remote benefit. This company places significant investment in employee wellness, their benefits which are on top of generous basic salaries, are industry leading in their generosity. Our client is large, offering fantastic career development opportunities but also very dynamic, they track as many metrics as possible in order to continuously improve - they spare no expense on the tools to do so. Automation, AI and R&D are pillars of their business framework which ensures you should never be at risk of falling behind or getting stuck working with old legacy software. Culturally they are very cosmopolitan and diverse, you will be working with the best globally.

What you will be doing:

• Design, develop, and optimize complex SQL Server database solutions, writing efficient, scalable, and maintainable T-SQL code, including stored procedures, views, functions, and queries.
• Analyse execution plans, troubleshoot performance issues, and implement indexing, partitioning, and optimization strategies to resolve bottlenecks related to large datasets and high-volume workloads.
• Design scalable relational and analytical data models, building structures optimised for both operational and reporting workloads.
• Build and maintain data ingestion and transformation processes, developing reliable ETL/ELT pipelines and integrating data from internal and external systems.
• Ensure solutions are scalable, reliable, and maintainable, optimising data access patterns and reducing the impact on transactional systems.
• Define standards for naming conventions, database design, and documentation; contribute to code reviews and enforce SQL/database best practices.
• Mentor developers and engineers on SQL optimization and data engineering practices, and work closely with application developers, BI teams, analysts, and stakeholders.
• Support backend application data requirements and reporting needs, promote high-quality, testable solutions, and contribute to ongoing improvements in data architecture and engineering practices.

What our client is looking for:

• 6+ years of hands-on experience in complex query development, stored procedures, execution plan analysis, and comprehensive query optimization and troubleshooting.
• Deep expertise in indexing strategies, partitioning, transaction management, and resolving performance bottlenecks related to locking, blocking, deadlocks, and IO/memory optimization, especially with large-scale data.
• Strong experience designing both normalised relational models (3NF/OLTP) and dimensional models (star/snowflake schemas), with a focus on data integrity, scalability, and historical data tracking.
• Proven ability to design solutions separating transactional and reporting workloads, diagnose and resolve performance issues through index tuning, query refactoring, and data access optimization.
• Experience in ETL/ELT processes and data pipeline design, utilising tools like Azure Data Factory (ADF), SSIS, dbt, Informatica, and integrating various data sources (APIs, flat files, JSON/XML).
• Familiarity with Azure SQL, Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Fabric, Data Lake architectures, Git, Azure DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, engineering standards, and beneficial familiarity with BI tools like Power BI/Tableau.

For a more comprehensive list of opportunities that we have on offer, do visit our website - https://www.parvana.co.uk/careers

Requirements

Data Engineering / Science, Azure Data Factory (ADF), ETL/ELT, Data Pipelines, SQL Queries, SQL Server, Data Modelling, BI Teams, Investment Advisory