Senior Data Fabric Data Engineer

Senior Data Fabric Data Engineer

Johannesburg (Hybrid) - Midrand Full-time Permanent Senior Level

An established data and analytics consulting environment is seeking a Senior Data Fabric Data Engineer to lead the design build and delivery of modern end-to-end data solutions across multiple client engagements. The role has a strong Microsoft technology focus particularly Microsoft Fabric Azure and Power BI and combines hands-on engineering with solution architecture client engagement and technical leadership.

You will take ownership of the technical architecture of client data platforms from ingestion and Bronze/Silver/Gold Lakehouse and Warehouse layers through to semantic models supporting Power BI. The role includes production implementations legacy BI migrations proof-of-concept initiatives ongoing platform support and mentoring of junior and mid-level engineers.

• Design and build end-to-end Microsoft Fabric solutions including Lakehouses Warehouses Data Pipelines Dataflows Gen2 and Notebooks.
• Architect medallion (Bronze/Silver/Gold) data models and define ingestion transformation and curation standards.
• Build and optimise ingestion pipelines from sources such as SQL Server Azure SQL REST APIs Excel/SharePoint and ERP/finance systems.
• Develop semantic models using DirectLake Import DirectQuery and composite modelling to support Power BI and self-service analytics.
• Lead migrations from legacy BI and ETL platforms such as QlikView/Qlik Sense Synapse SSIS and SSRS to modern cloud architectures.
• Write and optimise T-SQL PySpark and Python for transformation data quality and performance tuning.
• Implement CI/CD source control workspace governance and environment promotion using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
• Establish monitoring alerting data validation security and governance practices.
• Lead client requirements workshops translate business needs into technical designs and document current/future-state architectures.
• Lead technical workstreams and proof-of-concept implementations support critical platform issues and mentor less experienced engineers.

• Microsoft Fabric: Lakehouse Warehouse Pipelines Dataflows Gen2 and Notebooks.
• Azure technologies including Azure Synapse Analytics Azure SQL Azure Data Lake and Azure Data Factory.
• Strong T-SQL PySpark Python and Spark SQL skills.
• Power BI DAX data modelling and semantic modelling.
• DirectLake Import/DirectQuery and composite models.
• Delta Lake SSIS Power Query (M) and SQL Server.
• Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions Git-based source control and CI/CD.
• Data platform security access controls governance monitoring and backup/recovery concepts.

• 5 years experience in data engineering BI development or data warehousing ideally in a client-facing consulting environment.
• Hands-on production experience delivering Microsoft Fabric solutions including Lakehouse/Warehouse builds pipelines and semantic modelling.
• Experience migrating legacy BI/ETL platforms to modern cloud architectures.
• Experience leading technical workstreams or small teams and mentoring junior engineers.
• Bachelors degree or diploma in Computer Science Information Systems Data Science or a related field (NQF 6 or higher).

Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate - required or in progress.

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate - required or in progress.
• Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate - advantageous.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals - minimum baseline where the above certifications are still in progress.

• Databricks and exposure to AWS or GCP.
• Machine learning workflows on Microsoft Fabric or data science tooling such as Python or R.
• SQL Server high-availability and disaster-recovery concepts.
• Agile/Scrum or Kanban delivery methods.
• Consulting or professional-services experience managing multiple concurrent client engagements.

• Strong client-facing communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Confident running workshops and presenting technical or architecture decisions.
• Self-motivated problem-solver who takes ownership from design through production support.
• Structured and methodical with strong technical documentation habits.
• Collaborative and comfortable mentoring less experienced team members.
• Able to manage multiple client engagements and changing priorities.

This is an excellent opportunity for a senior data professional who wants to combine hands-on Microsoft Fabric engineering with architecture client engagement and technical leadership.