Praesignis (Pty) Ltd is seeking a highly skilled Big Data Engineer (Hadoop & Cloud Specialist) to join their dynamic team in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in the Hadoop ecosystem, including Hadoop, Spark/PySpark, Python, and Cloud platforms (AWS, Cloudera, etc.).
This contract role offers an opportunity to contribute to Praesignis’s growing data strategy, driving the development and deployment of big data applications in both on-premise and cloud environments.
Key Responsibilities
As a Big Data Engineer, the successful candidate will undertake the following responsibilities:
- Provide Advanced Support: Troubleshoot and provide advanced support to users working within Hadoop, Spark, and PySpark environments.
- Develop and Maintain Applications: Oversee the development, deployment, and maintenance of applications and processes on Hadoop clusters.
- Performance Optimization: Review, optimise, and enhance big data code and processes to improve performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, particularly in cloud environments.
- Cloud & On-premise Environment Management: Manage and support big data environments in both cloud-based and on-premise settings, ensuring scalability, security, and overall stability.
- Drive Cloud Migration: Contribute significantly to the migration of big data workloads to the cloud, collaborating with the ingestion team for seamless transitions.
- Onboarding and Training: Lead post-migration activities, including onboarding of new teams and providing training to users, ensuring long-term success and platform optimisation.
- Collaborative Leadership: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify technical gaps, provide expert guidance, and establish best practices in big data development and operations.
Required Skills & Experience
To succeed in this role, the candidate must meet the following requirements:
- Hadoop Ecosystem Proficiency: Extensive knowledge of Hadoop components such as HDFS, YARN, Hive, and HBase.
- Apache Spark & PySpark Expertise: Proven experience working with Apache Spark and PySpark for efficient data processing.
- Python Development: Strong proficiency in Python for data engineering and application development.
- Cloud Platforms Experience: Hands-on experience with cloud platforms like AWS, Cloudera, or similar, including:
- Cloud networking
- Cloud security
- Cloud resource optimisation for cost management
- Code and Process Optimisation: Ability to review and optimise big data code and processes, ensuring peak performance.
- Scalability & Stability: Expertise in designing and supporting scalable big data solutions in both on-premise and cloud environments.
- Problem-Solving Skills: Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving capabilities, critical for maintaining system stability.
Preferred Qualifications
Candidates with the following qualifications will be preferred:
- Cloud Migration Experience: Previous involvement in data migration projects, especially in moving workloads from on-premise systems to the cloud.
- User Enablement: Exposure to platform onboarding, user training, and enabling teams to maximise big data tools.
- Performance Tuning: Familiarity with performance tuning strategies and cost optimisation techniques in cloud and big data ecosystems.
- Developer-Oriented Background: A background in development with a focus on long-term platform success, innovation, and optimisation.
How to Apply
Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their applications by 1 September 2025. Please include an updated CV and any relevant certifications to be considered for this exciting opportunity.
Praesignis (Pty) Ltd is a leading player in the banking industry, offering an innovative and growth-driven environment for professionals. As a Big Data Engineer, you will be part of a team at the forefront of data strategy and cloud transformation, playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of big data platforms.
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