Senior Data Engineer

Kuda Technologies Ltd; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 800 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A financial technology company is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to lead data engineering efforts and drive innovation. Responsibilities include developing large-scale data pipelines, ensuring data quality, and mentoring junior engineers. The ideal candidate has over 7 years of experience, expert SQL skills, and proficiency in Python and various data tools. Join us to shape the future of banking for millions.

Benefits

Pension fund

Competitive annual leave

Medical Aid

Award winning L&D training

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering.
• Proven leadership in guiding data engineering teams.
• Expertise in SQL query optimization and performance tuning.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize data pipelines for diverse data types.
• Lead integration of multi-cloud data platforms.
• Implement data quality frameworks and ensure compliance standards.

Skills

Expert-level SQL skills

Strong programming skills in Python

Data ingestion tools experience

Streaming architectures experience

Tools

Microsoft SQL Server

Google BigQuery

Azure SQL

Dataform

Job description

Kuda is a money app for Africans on a mission to make financial services accessible, affordable and rewarding for every African on the planet.
We’re a tribe of passionate and diverse people who dreamed of building an inclusive money app that Africans would love so it’s only right that we ended up with the name ‘Kuda’ which means ‘love’ in Shona, a language spoken in the southern part of Africa.
We’re giving Africans around the world a better alternative to traditional finance by delivering money transfers, smart budgeting and instant access to credit through digital devices.
We’ve raised over $90 million from some of the world's most respected institutional investors, and we’re rolling out our game-changing services globally from our offices in Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK.

Role Overview

We are expanding our reach and seeking a visionary Senior Data Engineer to spearhead our data engineering efforts, driving innovation and growth. With a passion for data-driven decision-making, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of banking for millions.

Roles and responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimise large-scale data ingestion, transformation, and processing pipelines for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
• Lead the integration of multi-cloud and hybrid data platforms (e.g., Azure SQL, Google BigQuery, on-premises SQL Server).
• Define and enforce data architecture standards to ensure scalability, security, and optimal performance.
• Leverage Dataform to manage SQL-based transformations, version control, testing, and deployment of analytics datasets in BigQuery.
• Introduce and manage real-time streaming solutions (e.g., Kafka, Pub/Sub, or Dataflow) in conjunction with batch data pipelines.
• Data Quality & Governance
• Establish data quality frameworks with automated validation, anomaly detection, and reconciliation checks.
• Collaborate with Data Governance teams to maintain data catalogues metadata management, and lineage tracking.
• Implement security, privacy, and compliance standards (such as GDPR, NDPR, and ISO 27001) within data pipelines.
• Mentor junior and mid-level data engineers, providing technical guidance and career development support.
• Partner with Data Science and BI teams to deliver data products for predictive modelling, experimentation, and self-service analytics.
• Act as a subject matter expert in cross-functional projects, advising on technical trade-offs and best practices.
• Research and adopt emerging data engineering technologies and methodologies.
• Drive automation in data workflows to reduce manual intervention and operational risk.
• Optimise data storage and compute costs through partitioning, clustering, and workload management.

• 7+ years of experience in data engineering, with a proven track record of leading teams.
• Expert-level SQL skills, including advanced query optimisation and performance tuning.
• Proven experience with:
• Microsoft SQL Server / Azure SQL DB / Azure Managed Instance
• Google BigQuery & Google Cloud Platform
• Dbt. Cloud or Dataform for data modelling, testing, and deployment
• Data ingestion tools (e.g., Airbyte, Azure Data Factory and Fivetran)
• Strong programming skills in Python (preferred) and at least one additional language (Java, Scala, or Go).
• Experience with streaming architectures (Kafka, Pub/Sub, Spark Streaming, or Flink).
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, Pulumi, or Deployment Manager).
• Strong understanding of modern data architectures (Medallion, Data Mesh Lakehouse).
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD for data and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Proficient in Agile delivery methodologies.
• Preferred:
• Knowledge of machine learning pipelines (Vertex AI, MLflow, or SageMaker).
• Prior experience working in FinTech or other regulated industries.
• Exposure to Looker or similar BI tools.

Why join Kuda?

At Kuda, our people are the heart of our business, so we prioritize your welfare. We offer a wide range of competitive benefits in areas including but not limited to:

A great and upbeat work environment populated by a multinational team

Pension fund

Competitive annual leave plus bank holidays

Competitive paid time off (Parental, Moving day, Birthday, Study leave etc)

Medical Aid

Award winning L&D training

Kuda is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Kuda is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent.

We don’t regard colour, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.