Senior Data Engineer

About the Role

Our client is seeking a Senior Data Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, build, and operation of a modern analytics and reporting capability. This role is critical to translating business needs into trusted data products, including curated datasets, ELT pipelines, and semantic datasets, using an Azure Synapse Serverless and ADLS Gen2 lakehouse architecture.

The successful candidate will work across the full data lifecycle, including ingestion, integration, orchestration, large-scale transformations, data quality, observability, and security. A strong focus is placed on operational excellence, including automated testing, CI/CD, incident response, and cost optimisation, while enabling seamless consumption via Power BI.

Key Responsibilities

• Translate business requirements into an ADLS Lakehouse and Synapse Serverless SQL design, including zones, curation rules, naming standards, and data models, while developing and maintaining ELT pipelines.
• Support and enhance analytics solutions by monitoring and tuning Synapse Serverless SQL queries, responding to data integrity questions, and communicating technical issues clearly.
• Implement new lakehouse data products such as curated datasets, views, and semantic models, and modify existing solutions to meet evolving business needs.
• Continuously improve lakehouse and analytics services, focusing on reliability, performance, cost efficiency, and usability for end users.
• Ensure ongoing availability, reliability, and performance of data services, including ADLS Gen2, Synapse Serverless SQL endpoints, pipelines, and semantic models, to agreed service levels.
• Contribute to project planning and execution for data platform initiatives, including estimation, delivery planning, and risk or issue management.
• Develop and maintain automated test routines to support regression testing and data quality validation across all pipelines.
• Provide 2nd and 3rd line support for lakehouse and Synapse services, including incident resolution, root-cause analysis, and continuous remediation.
• Share knowledge and experience with team members to strengthen overall capability and consistency, and anticipate business needs to propose alternative data solutions.

Requirements

• 7–12 years' experience in a similar role with a focus on modern cloud data platforms, specifically Azure Synapse or Fabric, analytics, and data integration projects.
• Extensive and recent experience delivering end-to-end data engineering outcomes, from ingesting source system data to publishing curated datasets through to production support.
• Proven experience designing lakehouse and pipeline architectures, including bronze/silver/gold layers, incremental processing, idempotency, backfills, and dependency management.
• Strong hands-on experience with ADLS Gen2 lakehouse patterns and tooling, including Synapse Serverless SQL, Synapse Pipelines or Azure Data Factory, and Spark.
• Strong hands-on development skills with T-SQL, Spark, and Python, including code quality, packaging, and reuse.
• Experience with modern engineering practices including Git-based version control, pull-request workflows, automated testing, and CI/CD (e.g., Azure DevOps).
• Strong capability in data reliability practices, including automated data testing, metadata and lineage, monitoring, alerting, and structured incident management.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to convey complex information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Desirable

• Exposure to Microsoft Fabric, including Lakehouse or Warehouse, and experience supporting platform migration or modernisation from Synapse to Fabric.
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools such as Claude or GitHub Copilot to accelerate pipeline development, code generation, testing, and documentation.
• Exposure to machine learning technologies and techniques.
• Experience in, or knowledge of, the health sector.
• Knowledge of Agile delivery methodologies and experience in a highly business-engaged environment.

To be considered for the role click the 'apply' button or for more information about this and other opportunities please contact Karina Gan via email kgan@paxus.com.au and quote the above job reference number.

Paxus values diversity and welcomes applications from Indigenous Australians, people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and people living with a disability. If you require an adjustment to the recruitment process, including the application form in an alternate format, please contact me on the above contact details.