Data Engineering and Architecture Lead

We are seeking an experienced Data Engineering and Architecture Lead to join our IT team. In this role, you will spearhead the design, implementation, and management of enterprise data platforms and architectures, driving scalable analytics, seamless data integration, and advanced business intelligence capabilities in a modern AWS Cloud environment. You will lead a talented team of engineers and architects, ensuring that data solutions are efficient, secure, and aligned with the organization’s digital strategy.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, implementation, and delivery of scalable, secure, and future-ready data architectures.
• Build and manage robust data pipelines for extracting, transforming, and loading data from multiple sources.
• Ensure that data models and structures support analytics, BI, and AI/ML initiatives.
• Collaborate with data science, BI, and business teams to ensure data quality, accessibility, and performance.
• Establish and enforce engineering standards, best practices, and governance frameworks.
• Drive platform automation, performance optimization, and cost efficiency.
• Mentor, coach, and develop data engineers and architects, building internal capability and expertise.
• Stay up to date with emerging data engineering technologies and cloud trends, recommending improvements where appropriate.

Qualifications and experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or a related discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, or a related technical role.
• Proven hands-on experience with AWS Cloud services including S3, Glue, Redshift, EMR, Lambda, and Athena.
• Strong programming skills in SQL and Python.
• Advanced expertise in data modeling techniques (e.g. Kimball, Data Vault) and ETL/ELT development.
• Experience with DevOps practices and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation).
• Previous experience in team leadership or managing technical teams is essential.

The reference number for this position is NG60852 which is a permanent, Hybrid role in Johannesburg offering a salary of up to R1.8mil per annum negotiable based on experience. E-mail Nokuthula on e-Merge.co.za or call her for a chat on 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities.

Are you ready for a change of scenery? E-Merge IT recruitment is a niche recruitment agency. We offer our candidates options so that we can successfully place the right people with the right companies, in the right roles. Check out the e-Merge IT website www.e-merge.co.za for more great positions.

Posted on 13 Mar 15:10, Closing date 12 May