Senior Data Engineer - Hybrid - KSA - (10-12 Months) - RTG

Role Overview

Senior Data Engineer - Hybrid position based in Saudi Arabia (KSA) with Robusta on a 10-12 month contract. The role leads technical design, implementation, and delivery of an enterprise-grade, AI-ready Data Lakehouse platform for a large-scale digital transformation initiative.

Company Overview

Robusta assists organizations in transitioning to a digital-first approach, crafting unforgettable experiences for their customers. The company provides strategy, design, product, and technology services to prominent businesses and brands, utilizing go-to-market expertise to facilitate seamless customer experiences and enhance conversion rates.

Role Purpose

Lead the design and implementation of a unified Data Lakehouse platform that serves as the foundational data layer for AI agents, digital workers, and knowledge graph systems. Provide technical leadership, mentor engineering teams in a collaborative co-building model, and ensure long-term operational ownership and knowledge transfer to the client organization.

Key Responsibilities

Lakehouse Architecture & Implementation

• Design and deploy a unified Data Lakehouse utilizing the Medallion architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold) and open table formats (e.g., Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg) on cloud infrastructure hosted within Saudi Arabia.

Data Ingestion & Pipeline Engineering

• Build reusable, automated ingestion frameworks (batch and streaming) capable of processing both structured data (RDBMS, APIs) and unstructured data (PDFs, policy documents) to feed downstream AI models and semantic reasoning engines.

Data Quality & Governance

• Implement automated data quality "circuit breakers" (completeness, uniqueness, referential integrity) and end-to-end data lineage tracking frameworks.

Optimization

• Optimize data processing workflows for performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency.

System Monitoring and Maintenance

• Monitor and maintain data systems, responding to SEVs or other urgent issues to ensure continuous operations.

Security & Compliance

• Ensure the platform adheres strictly to NCA (National Cybersecurity Authority) and NDMO (National Data Management Office) standards.
• Implement AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit.
• Deploy robust Key Management Systems (KMS) and centralized audit logging.

Access Control Integration

• Design and deploy granular Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), integrating seamlessly with existing enterprise Identity Providers (e.g., Active Directory).

Capability Building & Handover

• Lead hands-on knowledge transfer sessions and pair-programming with client engineers.
• Create operational runbooks and conduct "Game Day" failure simulations to ensure the client's team is fully ready to operate the platform independently.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of proven experience in Data Engineering, Distributed Systems, or Big Data Architecture.
• At least 2+ years specifically leading Data Lakehouse or Cloud Data Platform implementations.

Skills & Competencies

Programming Languages

• Proficiency in Python, Java, or Scala.

Data Architecture & System Design

• Strong expertise in designing data-intensive applications, complex data modeling, and schema design for enterprise environments.

Distributed Systems & Lakehouse Technologies

• Deep, hands-on experience with distributed processing engines (e.g., Apache Spark, Kafka, Hadoop).
• Modern open table formats (e.g., Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg, Apache Hudi).

ETL/ELT & Orchestration

• Experience designing and building robust data pipelines using modern transformation and orchestration tools (e.g., Apache Airflow, Prefect, dbt).

Database Ecosystems

• Proven track record with relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL).
• NoSQL platforms (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra).
• Distributed SQL query engines like Hive and Trino.

Cloud Infrastructure

• Proven experience deploying enterprise data solutions on major cloud providers, specifically within localized Saudi cloud regions.
• Expertise in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) or Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is highly preferred; experience with AWS or Azure is acceptable.

Analytical Skills

• Strong problem-solving skills with a keen eye for detail and a passion for data.

AI/Data Science Enablement

• Prior experience building data pipelines optimized for Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), vector embeddings, or Knowledge Graphs/Ontologies is highly desirable.

Security & Networking

• Strong understanding of enterprise network security, Private Endpoints, Identity & Access Management (IAM), and cryptographic key management.

Communication

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Leadership Skills

• Demonstrated ability to lead technical teams, manage stakeholder expectations, and successfully transition complex systems to internal IT/Data teams.

Regulatory Knowledge

• Familiarity with Saudi Arabian data compliance frameworks (NCA CCC, NDMO, SDAIA) is highly preferred.