Senior Data Engineer

Vacancies: Health Information Systems Program South Africa NPC (2003/005786/08)

Location : Pretoria, South Africa

Start Date : As soon as possible

About HISP-SA

HISP-SA provides a wide range of digital health solutions that are implemented across several African countries. These include routine public health information systems, disease surveillance systems, and various data management and decision support applications. Our comprehensive digital health expertise helps to improve lives though digital transformation in Africa.

Senior Data Engineer

The Senior Data Engineer is the lead architect and builder of HISP’s data infrastructure, responsible for the “supply” side of the organization's data ecosystem. Operating under the strategic direction of the AI Discipline Mentor, this role builds and maintains the robust, scalable architecture required to move large volumes of public health data efficiently. The Senior Data Engineer owns the ETL/ELT processes, data warehouse/lake architecture and database performance optimization.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and implement HISP’s core data architecture, determining the most efficient methods for data warehousing, data lakes, and localized storage in resource-constrained LMIC environments with a strong focus on AI and machine learning.
• Establish robust ETL and ELT pipelines to reliably ingest data.
• Assume ultimate responsibility for the performance and optimization of heavy data workloads, specifically tuning database queries and indexing strategies for large-scale DHIS2 Tracker and Aggregate data.
• Build and automate marts; ensuring raw data is programmatically cleaned, structured and staged for ingestion with a focus on machine learning and AI.
• Research, select, and implement modern data engineering toolsets (e.g., Apache Airflow, dbt, custom Python frameworks) to automate and monitor pipeline health.
• Act as the technical executor for data requirements defined by the Senior Analytics Engineer, translating business reporting needs into highly efficient, automated data models.
• Work alongside the Security Mentor to ensure all data pipelines comply with Zero Trust architecture, implementing programmatic anonymization for sensitive patient health information (PHI) before data reaches the analytics layer.
• Set the technical standard for all data engineering code and scripts within the organization, leading mandatory code reviews for any junior resources or software developers touching the data pipelines.
• Document all data architecture and infrastructure logic to eliminate single-point-of-failure risks and prepare the foundation for a future, expanded data engineering team.

Job Requirements:

• Relevant degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Certifications in Cloud Data Architecture (e.g., GCP Data Engineer, AWS Data Analytics) are highly preferred
• 8–10 years of demonstrable success in complex data engineering, database architecture, and backend software development.
• Extensive hands-on experience building scalable ETL/ELT pipelines and managing large-scale data warehouses.
• Prior experience extracting and optimizing data from DHIS2 (both Tracker and Aggregate data models) or similar highly complex public health information systems.
• Expert-level proficiency in advanced SQL, Python, and data orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow, dbt).
• Deep understanding of relational databases (PostgreSQL), NoSQL environments, and cloud storage optimization.
• Strong capability in API integration, secure data transfer protocols, and programmatic data anonymization techniques.

To apply, use this application link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfjUAQwtI_YJJIb3G7SgHZRPL66bkJ67kp28hFDdVJHml-DtQ/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Applications will close at cob on 12 July 2026. Communication will be limited to shortlisted candidates.

In evaluating prospective applicants and making the final selection, consideration will be given to HISP-SA’s Employment Equity objectives. Should you not receive correspondence from HISP-SA within 14 days of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful.

HISP reserves the right not to make an appointment.

Enquiries: [email protected]

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: R499 333,00 - R581 366,00 per year

Application Question(s):

• Qualification in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Software Engineering

Experience:

• complex data engineering: 8 years (Required)

License/Certification:

• in cloud data architecture (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in South Africa