Data Engineer

Metropolitan is one of the oldest financial services brands in South Africa. With a 125-year legacy of serving the communities in which it operates, Metropolitan represents true empowerment in serving Africa's people through affordable financial solutions that create financial growth and security. Metropolitan operates in South Africa, but the brand is also present in 7 African countries including, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, Ghana and Lesotho. Metropolitan provides financial wellness solutions that meet the needs of low-income clients, including funeral insurance, health, savings, hospital cash-back cover, retirement solutions and life insurance. www.metropolitan.co.za

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Role Purpose

Are you a data enthusiast with a passion for modern data technologies? We are looking for a Data Engineer with 25 years of experience to design, build, and maintain scalable data solutions that ingest, stage, and expose data on cloud-based data platforms and data lakes. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with Python, Spark, and SQL for data analysis and transformation, and will be comfortable working with a variety of database systems, including both relational (RDBMS) and NoSQL databases such as MongoDB. Proficiency in AWS services particularly Glue (pyspark), Athena, and Lambda is essential for success in this role. In addition, the role requires familiarity with key data warehouse concepts, including data modeling, processes, slowly changing dimensions (SCD), change data capture (CDC), and query performance optimization. Exposure to data science workflows such as data preparation and feature engineering, understanding of basic model types, and model serving (via batch processes and real-time APIs) will be highly beneficial. The position is a full-time, in-person position, at our Parc du Cap offices in Bellville.

Requirements

Matric (grade 12) certificate (essential)
Degree in Information Technology/ Data Science/ Computer Science and or relevant equivalent qualification (essential)
Proven experience in ETL development and building and maintaining data pipelines (essential)
AWS Certifications (advantageous)
25 years of experience in data engineering (essential)

Applicants might be invited to perform a technical skills assessment in person at the Parc du Cap offices in Bellville as part of the interview process.

Knowledge:

25 years of experience in data engineering
Hands-on experience with AWS data services
Strong skills in SQL, Python, Spark, or other data-processing frameworks
Experience with data lakes, data warehouses, and data pipelines
Familiarity with modern data architectures (e.g., serverless, lakehouse)
Knowledge of Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
Strong problem-solving and analytical skills

Duties & Responsibilities

PROCESS

Design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and ETL processes on cloud-based platforms and data lakes.
Work with AWS services such as Glue, Lambda, Athena, S3, Redshift, and EMR.
Work across multiple database platforms relational and NoSQL to support diverse data needs.
Design and code new functionality/patterns using code that is readable, maintainable and re-usable
Collaborate with data scientists and analysts to support analytics and reporting needs.
Diagnose root causes of data issues through problem-solving and recommend potential solutions.
Monitor performance of solutions and make recommendations to improve the performance and functionality of the solution.
Ensure data reliability and security
Implement best practices for data governance and data quality.

CLIENT

Provide authoritative expertise and advice to clients and stakeholders.
Build and maintain relationships with clients, internal and external stakeholders.
Deliver on service level agreements made with internal and external stakeholders and clients.
Make recommendations to improve client service within area of responsibility.
Participate and contribute to a culture which build rewarding relationships, facilitates feedback and provides exceptional client service.

PEOPLE

Develop and maintain productive and collaborative working relationships with peers and stakeholders.
Positively influence and participate in change initiatives within the team and across the business.
Continuously develop own expertise in terms of professional, industry and legislation knowledge.
Contribute to continuous innovation through the development, sharing and implementation of new ideas.
Take ownership for driving career development through available channels.

FINANCE

Identify opportunities to enhance cost effectiveness and increase operational efficiency.
Provide input into the risk identification processes and communicate recommendations in the appropriate forum.

Competencies