Head: Senior Data Engineer & AI Lead

A company that positions itself as a revenue technology and data intelligence company —one that blends cutting-edge technology with deep commercial insight to drive measurable growth for its clients. are looking for a highly experienced Head: Senior Data Engineer & AI Lead (GCP) to architect, optimise, and drive the continuous evolution of our end-to-end data and AI ecosystem. In this strategic yet hands-on leadership position, you will own the advancement of our proprietary Data Management Platform (DMP), ensuring it delivers scalability, accuracy, resilience, and real-time intelligence across the organisation.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the architecture, development, and continuous optimisation of our Google Cloud Platform data ecosystem (BigQuery, Cloud Functions, Dataflow, Composer, Pub/Sub, etc.).
• Design, implement, and maintain scalable ETL/ELT pipelines for diverse structured and unstructured data sources.
• Establish and enforce robust data governance, validation, deduplication, and enrichment frameworks.
• Optimise costs, performance, and reliability across data storage, compute layers, and pipeline operations.
• Build and maintain data tools, dashboards, and metrics that support analytics, AI solutions, and marketing performance.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, SOPs, standards, and best practices for data operations.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with AI, analytics, marketing, and operations teams to develop data-driven products and strategic insights.
• Lead, mentor, and support data engineers and analysts to ensure exceptional technical delivery and continual growth.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance during mission-critical incidents, ensuring stability and reliability of the data platform.

Qualification and Experience

• 5+ years of experience as a senior data engineer or data platform lead
• Advanced proficiency with Google Cloud Platform (Big Query, Dataflow, Pub/Sub, Cloud Storage, Composer)
• Strong coding expertise in Python, SQL, and either Java or PHP
• Proven experience managing complex data pipelines, debugging, and ensuring data security
• Familiarity with AI/ML concepts and tools (experience with Gemini is an advantage)
• Strong understanding of cost optimisation and scalable cloud architecture
• Excellent communicator with a track record of professional accountability and ownership

• Familiarity with Salesforce, Meta Conversions API, or Google Analytics integrations

The reference number for this position is NG60896 which is a permanent Hybrid position based in Cape Town offering a cost to company of up to R900k CTC negotiable on experience and ability. Contact Nokuthula at e-merge.co.za or call her on 011 463 3633 to discuss this and other opportunities.

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

Do you have a friend who is a developer or technology specialist? We pay cash for successful referrals!

Posted on 11 Dec 19:55, Closing date 9 Feb