<img id="photoDetail" src="https://www.discovery.co.za/gallery/template-resources/banners/general/smartpeople-recruit.jpg" style="width:1250.0px;height:301.0px"> Discovery – Insure Senior Data Engineer - Vitality Drive International About Discovery Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. We seek out and invest in exceptional individuals who understand and support our core purpose, and whose own values align with those of Discovery. Our fast-paced and dynamic environment enables smart, self-driven people to be their best. As global thought leaders, Discovery is passionate about innovating in order to not only achieve financial success, but to ignite positive and meaningful change within our society. About Discovery Insure Discovery Insure is committed to creating a nation of great drivers through our innovative Shared-value Insurance model. Discovery Insure is South Africa’s fastest growing short-term insurance company with comprehensive products that provide protection against current and emerging risks facing clients in the motor and home insurance sectors. Vitality Drive, an internationally-recognised and award-winning programme, is a key differentiator in the market that incentivises and rewards clients for driving well. The Vitality Drive programme has been scaled to local and international markets which now include Europe and the Middle East. The company employs over 1 000 people who are committed to putting our customers and financial advisers first by providing unique and innovative solutions and cover. Key Purpose The Senior Data Engineer is responsible for the design, development, and optimisation of scalable, enterprise-grade data platforms on Azure, with Azure Synapse Analytics at the core.This role enables the delivery of high-quality, trusted, and reusable data assets to support analytics, reporting, and AI use cases. The incumbent will play a key role in advancing a modern data lakehouse architecture, ensuring data is governed, performant, and aligned to business value outcomes. Areas of responsibility may include but are not limited to: Design Translate business requirements into technical designs adhering to Discovery Insure processes, standards and guidelines, considering performance, security, scalability, and cost. <ul style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Define and evolve medallion architecture patterns in Microsoft Fabric (Bronze/Silver/Gold), including ingestion, transformation, and curated consumption layers. </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Produce and maintain modern data models: </li> </ul> <ul style="list-style-type:circle;margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 96.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">OLTP-aligned models where needed</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 96.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Dimensional models (star/snowflake) for analytics</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 96.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Curated “Gold” layer data products (conformed dimensions, business-ready facts)</li> </ul> <ul style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Design ingestion and transformation strategies across Fabric components (Lakehouse/Warehouse, Data Pipelines, Dataflows Gen2, Notebooks/Spark). </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Establish data quality, lineage, and governance requirements (e.g., data contracts, validation rules, auditing, retention). </li> </ul> <ul style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Liaise with relevant parties where clarification of business requirements or resolution to technical issues is needed.</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Research and recommend effective solutions to technical issues that arise (e.g., performance bottlenecks, modelling trade-offs, orchestration patterns). </li> </ul> <ul style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Estimate development timelines based on business requirements and technical complexity; identify risks and dependencies early.</li> </ul> Development <ul style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Construct robust, maintainable, scalable, optimally performing solution components in line with technical specifications, following prescribed process, standards and procedures. </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Develop and optimise: </li> </ul> <ul style="list-style-type:circle;margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 96.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">T-SQL for Fabric Warehouse/Azure SQL (as applicable)</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 96.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">ELT/ETL transformations (SQL/Spark) aligned to the medallion pattern</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 96.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Reusable frameworks for ingestion, validation, and incremental processing</li> </ul> <ul style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Build and maintain orchestration using Fabric Data Pipelines (scheduling, dependencies, retries, parameterization). </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Implement patterns for incremental loads and change processing (e.g., CDC-like approaches, watermarking, SCD Type 1/2 where appropriate). </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Apply performance engineering: </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Partitioning strategies, incremental refresh patterns</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Query optimisation and model simplification</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Efficient file formats and table design for analytical workloads</li> </ul> Testing <ul style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-bottom:8.0pt"> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Conduct unit testing and fix any defects found, aiming for high-quality releases. </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Verify build stability and quality with development team before releasing to test team, aiming to release with zero defects. </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Build and maintain test data sets, validation rules, and reconciliation checks across Bronze/Silver/Gold.</li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Assist the Business Analyst in ensuring the test pack includes relevant scenarios and test data. </li> <li style="margin:6.0pt 0.0in 8.0pt 72.0px;text-align:justify;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Consult and assist in reviewing risk / impact of defects found in testing and assist with fixing where necessary.</li> </ul> Knowledge and Skills: <ul style="margin-bottom:0.0in;margin-top:0.0px"> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Modern Data Modelling & Analytics</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Modern data modelling (OLTP where needed, dimensional modelling, curated analytical models, semantic consistency)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Strong understanding of medallion architecture concepts (Bronze/Silver/Gold, data quality gates, curated data products)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Metric definition discipline (facts, dimensions, conformed entities, grain, business rules)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Microsoft / Azure Data Platform</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Microsoft Fabric: Lakehouse/Warehouse concepts, Pipelines, Dataflows Gen2, Notebooks/Spark (as applicable)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">T-SQL expertise (complex querying, optimisation, robust patterns) </li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Performance tuning and optimisation for analytical workloads (SQL/Spark and modelling considerations) </li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Understanding of security patterns (RBAC, least privilege, workspace access, data access controls)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Engineering Excellence</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Strong SDLC practices (requirements → design → build → test → release) </li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Source control and peer review culture (Git; branching strategies; PR discipline)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Data quality and validation frameworks (reconciliation, anomaly checks, rule-based validations)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Documentation and maintainability: clear design artifacts, data dictionaries, lineage-ready documentation</li> </ul> Working knowledge of: <ul style="margin-bottom:0.0in;margin-top:0.0px"> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Software development within SDLC. </li> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Unit Testing and quality practices. </li> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Data modelling and design of database structures. </li> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Practical understanding of cloud data solution concepts (security, orchestration, monitoring, cost-awareness).</li> </ul> Advantageous <ul style="margin-bottom:0.0in;margin-top:0.0px"> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Power BI semantic modelling (star schemas, measures, performance considerations)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Governance tooling awareness (cataloging, lineage, data classification)</li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 72.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Exposure to CI/CD for data solutions (deployment pipelines, environment promotion concepts)</li> </ul> Education and Experience Education: <ul style="margin-bottom:0.0in;margin-top:0.0px"> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 48.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Matric (Essential) </li> <li style="margin:0.0in 0.0in 8.0pt 48.0px;line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">BSc Computer Science or equivalent 3-year qualification - (advantageous)</li> </ul> Minimum Experience: <ul style="margin-bottom:0.0in;margin-top:0.0px"> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 48.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">5+ years consistent experience in Microsoft data development with demonstrable delivery of complex solutions (senior-level capability).</li> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 48.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Strong experience with SQL development and performance optimisation. </li> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 48.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Proven experience designing and implementing data models and data structures in support of operational and analytical requirements. </li> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 48.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Experience delivering data solutions aligned to layered architecture patterns (or demonstrable capability to adopt medallion practices quickly).</li> </ul> Advantageous <ul> <li style="list-style-type:none"> <ul> <li style="list-style-type:none"> <ul style="margin-bottom:0.0in;margin-top:0.0px"> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 0.0in 48.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Experience modernising or migrating data workloads from on-prem to cloud.</li> <li style="line-height:150%;margin:0.0in 0.0in 8.0pt 48.0px;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Aptos, sans-serif">Experience building curated “Gold” layer models for enterprise reporting/analytics.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul>EMPLOYMENT EQUITY The Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.

Data Engineer (Sandton - 1 Discovery Place, GP, ZA, 2196) @ Discovery

About this role

Ready to apply?