Blue Pearl PTY LTD - Senior Data Engineer – Healthcare Data Platform

Data Engineer is needed in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Client: Blue Pearl PTY LTD

Location: Johannesburg, GT, za

Contract: Contract

Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Data Engineer to lead a greenfield and future-state data platform initiative within a regulated healthcare and medical scheme administration environment.

The successful candidate will own delivery end to end, from discovery and assessment through to implementation. The role requires an autonomous technical lead who can work across complex legacy data environments while supporting the transition to modern cloud-based data platforms.

The primary focus will be on reducing operational workload and improving business efficiency through:

• Reporting rationalisation and standardisation
• Process and data quality automation
• Self-service analytics enablement
• Development of reusable data assets
• Improved data governance, metadata and cataloguing
• Identification and delivery of measurable operational efficiencies

Key responsibilities include:

• Assessing and documenting the current reporting and data landscape
• Identifying manual, repetitive and inefficient processes
• Quantifying workload and prioritising initiatives based on business value
• Reviewing, consolidating and standardising reporting assets
• Defining consistent data and metric definitions
• Designing and implementing robust ETL and data engineering solutions
• Automating validation, reconciliation, quality assurance and audit controls
• Developing reusable datasets and governed Power BI assets
• Establishing data catalogue and metadata standards
• Exploring Generative AI and LLM applications for data and report discovery
• Engaging with business and technical stakeholders to shape requirements and delivery plans
• Tracking KPIs related to reduced manual effort, released capacity and operational improvement
• Owning planning, prioritisation and delivery across assigned workstreams

Requirements

The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience in the following areas:

• Oracle Database
• Advanced SQL development and optimisation
• SAP BusinessObjects
• SAS
• Power BI and self-service analytics
• ETL and data engineering
• Data profiling, quality assessment and automation
• Data modelling
• Snowflake and AWS
• Metadata management and data cataloguing
• Generative AI and LLM applications

The successful candidate should also:

• Be an experienced Senior Data Engineer with strong technical depth
• Be able to work independently with minimal supervision
• Have experience managing delivery from discovery through implementation
• Be comfortable working with complex, legacy or undocumented data environments
• Demonstrate strong data engineering, automation, data quality and governance skills
• Have the ability to quickly understand complex data estates and identify improvement opportunities
• Be commercially minded and focused on reducing operational effort
• Be confident engaging with senior business and technical stakeholders
• Be comfortable working with sensitive healthcare data in a regulated, POPIA-conscious environment
• Be outcome-focused, with the ability to measure delivery through efficiency gains and released capacity

Contract and Location

• Position: Senior Data Engineer
• Contract: Up to 18 months, structured in six-month phases
• Start date: 1 October 2026
• Work model: Hybrid
• Location: Waterfall, Midrand, Johannesburg

Ideal Candidate Mindset

This role is suited to a self-directed professional who can enter a complex environment, understand the current state, identify the highest-value opportunities, develop a delivery plan and execute against measurable outcomes.

The successful candidate will focus not only on building data solutions, but also on using data engineering, automation and modern analytics to simplify the reporting estate, reduce manual work and create sustainable business capacity.