Data Engineer at Datafin Recruitment

ENVIRONMENT:

• A Cape Town Travel Tech company that focuses on the global supply and revenue optimisation of travel ancillary products and services is looking for a hands-on Data Engineer to take ownership of- and optimise their entire data engineering function.
• As the sole data engineering expert in a small team, you'll design, build, and maintain robust data pipelines that power business intelligence, advanced performance analytics, machine learning & other AI-driven initiatives – using GCP and AWS.
• You are responsible for ensuring that their data quality and density is of the highest standard. The role demands creative problem-solving, courage to challenge the status quo, meticulous attention to detail, the ability to work independently and collaboratively, a delivery-mindset and a deep hunger to learn and contribute.

DUTIES:

• Manage, monitor, and optimise BI and data infrastructure costs across GCP and related tools.
• Lead end?to?end data pipeline development, including ingestion, transformation, and delivery of structured and unstructured data for reporting.
• Design and maintain data models (semantic model) and warehousing solutions to ensure accuracy, reliability, and usability for downstream consumers.
• Monitor pipeline performance, troubleshoot issues, and implement data quality controls, cleansing, and alerting processes
• Partner with Product, BI, Engineering, and Operations teams to provide data for AI/ML initiatives, system monitoring, customer analytics, and performance dashboards.
• Automate recurring data processes to improve efficiency and reduce manual work.
• Document data processes and support knowledge sharing; contribute to technical roadmaps and overall data strategy.
• Stay informed on fintech and data?engineering trends to proactively enhance the data ecosystem.
• Own and resolve data?related issues, queries, and support requests.
• Identify opportunities for new data insights and recommend strategies that add value for internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify and operationalise new data sources that support analytics and system performance monitoring.
• Manage Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to ensure accurate event tracking and reporting for web applications.
• Own and prioritise the data backlog, managing stakeholder expectations and distinguishing critical needs from nice?to?haves.
• Act as backup for the BI Developer when required.
• Contribute to future development and deployment of machine?learning models to support data?driven decision?making

REQUIREMENTS:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Information Systems, or related field.?
• 3+ years as Data Engineer or similar, owning full data pipelines in fintech or high-scale environments.?
• Strong data warehousing, integration, quality, and governance practices.
• Advanced SQL skills including performance optimisation and working with large datasets.
• Proficient in Python, GCP (BigQuery, storage buckets), and CI/CD via GitHub.?
• Experience ingesting from GTM/GA and AWS for analytics pipelines.?

Preferred:

• PowerBI and Google Looker Studio for visualisations
• Machine learning model integration/deployment.?
• Familiar with Agile Scrum Framework, Jira and Confluence

ATTRIBUTES:

• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to work independently to meet project deadlines.
• Thrives in a small team setting and takes ownership.
• Self-motivated, with excellent communication skills for cross-functional collaboration.
• Passionate about the power of data and its ability to unlock tangible business value.