Overview
Data Engineer Jobs in Johannesburg Metropolitan Area at Collage Recruitment
Title: Data Engineer
Company: Collage Recruitment
Location: Johannesburg Metropolitan Area
Data & AI Engineer
South Africa (Johannesburg / Cape Town) | Permanent | Talent Pool
🔍 TALENT POOL NOTICE: We are actively building a talent pool in anticipation of securing preferred supplier status with a high-growth, internationally connected technology delivery hub based in South Africa. Our client services major clients across the UK and global markets, and is scaling rapidly with strong investment in people and technology. This is a real and imminent opportunity — register now and you will go directly into our active talent pool, making you instantly visible to us the moment matching roles go live.
About our client
Our client is a fast-growing, internationally focused technology delivery business operating out of South Africa, servicing a major portfolio of clients across the UK and beyond. They are currently building a dedicated Data & AI practice from the ground up — investing in the right cloud infrastructure, tooling, and people to make it exceptional. If you want to build something significant from scratch, rather than inherit a legacy system, this is the opportunity.
What we'll be looking for
We are looking for Data Engineers and AI Engineers who are excited about building things that matter. You may come from a pure data engineering background, an ML/AI background, or somewhere in between. What matters most is strong engineering fundamentals, cloud fluency, and a genuine curiosity about how data and AI create business value.
Note that this is NOT a specific job description but rather a generic one that’s designed to capture a large pool of candidates within this space. Successful candidates will have to live in South Africa and have the right to work in South Africa.
What you'll likely do
- Design and build robust data pipelines, data warehouses, and data lakes
- Work with cloud-native data platforms (Azure Data Factory, Databricks, Synapse, BigQuery)
- Develop and deploy machine learning models and AI-powered applications
- Build and maintain data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration workflows
- Collaborate with business stakeholders to translate data requirements into solutions
- Contribute to the development of AI agents and automation tools
- Ensure data quality, governance, and security across pipelines
- Work with LLMs, prompt engineering, and emerging generative AI tooling
Skills & Experience we will look for
- Strong Python skills — you should be comfortable here
- SQL proficiency and solid understanding of data modelling
- Hands-on experience with cloud data platforms: Azure (preferred), AWS, or GCP
- Experience with at least one orchestration tool: Apache Airflow, dbt, Azure Data Factory, or similar
- Understanding of ML frameworks: scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar
- Familiarity with Spark or distributed computing concepts
- A degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Engineering, or equivalent
- Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders
Bonus Points
- Microsoft Azure Data Engineer or AI Engineer certification
- Experience building or deploying LLM-based applications or AI agents
- Knowledge of Databricks or Synapse Analytics
- Background in financial services, insurance, or professional services data
- Experience with real-time streaming data (Kafka, Event Hubs)
Why submit your CV?
- Work with cutting-edge AI and cloud tooling on real international projects
- Access to a global AI network academy and dedicated L&D investment
- Join a business with serious growth ambition —scaling fast, with investment flowing in from international partners
- Permanent role with competitive package, medical aid, and strong provident fund contribution
- South Africa's data talent is globally competitive — your skills are in high demand here
How to Apply
This is a talent pool registration — not a live vacancy. Submit your CV to Collage Recruitment and you will be added to our active talent pool. You become instantly visible to us when we search, meaning you are front of mind the moment a matching role is confirmed.
