Senior Data Engineer| Contract

IQbusiness South Africa; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

IQbusiness South Africa is seeking a Senior Data Engineer for a 12-month contract to collaborate with an international partner from our Welgemoed, Cape Town offices. This hybrid role includes 3 days on-site and 2 days working from home.

You will design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and Snowflake architectures, using dbt for transformation, with a focus on data quality, governance, and observability across cloud environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or in a similar data-focused role.
• Strong hands-on experience with Snowflake architecture, design, and administration (mandatory).
• Strong hands-on experience with dbt (mandatory).
• Experience designing multi-tenant or multi-schema data warehouse architectures within Snowflake.
• Proficiency in SQL and Python.
• Experience building ingestion pipelines that leverage AI or machine learning models.
• Experience designing and operating data pipelines in cloud environments (Azure, AWS, or GCP).
• Experience with version control (Git) and CI/CD workflows.
• Solid understanding of data modelling (Kimball/Dimensional).

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimise scalable data pipelines.
• Architect Snowflake environments, security frameworks, and data governance.
• Develop and maintain dbt models with modularity, testing, and documentation.
• Build ingestion pipelines using Snowpipe, Streams, and Tasks.
• Implement AI-driven ingestion to process unstructured data.
• Optimise Snowflake cost and performance.
• Ensure data quality, reliability, and observability across transformations.
• Collaborate with analytics, product, and data science teams to deliver datasets.
• Automate deployments and workflows using Git-driven processes.
• Maintain documentation and share knowledge with the team.

Skills

Analytical skills

Problem solving

Communication skills

End-user requirement gathering

Data pipeline design

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/IS/Engineering/Data Science or related

Tools

Snowflake

dbt

Git

CI/CD

Job description

SeniorData Engineer on a 12-month contract to collaborate with an international partner from our offices in Welgemoed, Cape Town, Northern Suburbs. This is a hybrid role (3 days on-site; 2 days WFH).

As a Senior Data Engineer, you will be responsible for designing, building, maintaining, and architecting scalable data pipelines and cloud-native data platforms. You will play a key role in enabling analytics and data science teams by designing robust Snowflake architecture, ensuring high-quality, reliable, and well-modelled data while leveraging dbt for transformation, automation, and governance. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders to deliver efficient, modern data solutions aligned with business needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimise scalable data pipelines.
• Architect Snowflake environments, security frameworks, and data governance.
• Develop and maintain dbt models following best practices (modularity, testing, documentation, lineage).
• Build continuous ingestion pipelines using Snowpipe, Streams, and Tasks.
• Implement AI-driven ingestion pipelines to process, enrich, and structure unstructured data
• Optimise cost and performance within Snowflake (warehousing strategy, query tuning, resource monitoring).
• Ensure data quality, reliability, and observability across all transformations.
• Work with analytics, product, and data science teams to deliver well-modelled datasets.
• Automate deployments and workflows using Git-driven processes.
• Maintain documentation and share technical knowledge with the broader team.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or in a similar data-focused role
• Strong hands-on experience with Snowflake architecture, design, and administration (mandatory)
• Strong hands-on experience with dbt (mandatory)
• Proven experience designing multi-tenant or multi-schema data warehouse architectures within Snowflake
• Proficiency in SQL and Python
• Experience building ingestion pipelines that leverage AI or machine learning models
• Experience designing and operating data pipelines in cloud environments (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
• Experience with version control (Git) and CI/CD workflows
• Solid understanding of data modelling (Kimball/Dimensional)

Skills Required

• Ability to work with end users to define requirements and identify solutions
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent visualisation skills
• Excellent communication skills
• A mindset focused on quality, reliability, and continuous improvement
• Ability to prioritise tasks, solve complex problems, and drive process improvement

Note: As all business roles require honesty in the handling of or access to cash, finances, financial systems, or confidential information, our recruitment process requires that the following background checks be completed: credit, criminal, ID, and qualification verification.

iqbusiness is committed to sustainable growth and transformation; we embrace diversity and employ previously disadvantaged individuals.