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Data Technical Team Lead
(DataTechLead202607)
Overview
Reference
DataTechLead202607
Salary
Market Related
Job Location
South Africa -Tshwane Metro -Pretoria
Job Type
Permanent
Posted
10 July 2026
Closing date
31 Jul 2026 19:59
Data Technical Team Lead
The Data Technical Team Lead is responsible for the strategic and technical leadership of GIC’s Data Engineering, Data Science, and Data Analytics & BI functions.
This role will design, build, and lead the implementation of GIC’s enterprise data platform from the ground up — including data architecture, data structures, pipelines, governance, and analytics enablement. The incumbent must be hands-on and capable of architecting and implementing SQL/PostgreSQL-based solutions, while leading the development of a scalable Data Lake / Data Warehouse / Data Lakehouse architecture best suited to GIC’s operational and strategic needs.
The role combines:
- Strategic data leadership
- Deep technical architecture capability
- Hands-on engineering competence
- Team leadership across multiple data disciplines
1. Job Spesification
1.1 Data Strategy & Architecture
- Define and implement GIC’s enterprise data strategy.
- Design and build a scalable, secure, and future-proof: Data Lake, Data Warehouse and Data Lakehouse architecture (based on business requirements and cost model).
- Develop logical and physical data models across operational and analytical domains.
- Establish enterprise data standards (naming conventions, modelling standards, metadata, etc.).
- Implement master data management (MDM) principles where required.
- Ensure data platform alignment with cybersecurity and ISO27001 controls.
1.2 Data Platform Engineering (Hands-On)
- Architect and implement database environments using: SQL Server and/or PostgreSQL and Advanced SQL development (T-SQL / PL/pgSQL)
- Design and build: ETL / ELT pipelines, Data ingestion frameworks, Data transformation layers and Data orchestration processes
- Develop: Fact and dimension schemas (star/snowflake/databricks), Normalised operational data structures, Aggregated reporting structures
- Implement data partitioning, indexing, performance tuning and query optimisation.
- Establish backup, retention and disaster recovery strategies for data platforms.
- Ensure scalability, high availability and performance of the data environment.
1.3 Data Engineering Leadership
- Lead and mentor the Data Engineering function.
- Establish standards for: Code management, Version control, Data pipeline development, Testing and deployment (CI/CD where applicable)
- Oversee integration of: ERP systems, Financial systems, Project management systems and External data feeds
- Ensure reliable and auditable data flows across subsidiaries and offices.
1.4 Data Science Enablement
- Provide technical infrastructure and data readiness for Data Science initiatives.
- Ensure clean, structured, and feature-ready datasets.
- Support the deployment of predictive models into production.
- Enable advanced analytics use cases: Forecasting, Risk modelling, Asset performance analytics and Financial trend modelling
- Ensure compute environments support model development and deployment.
1.5 Data Analytics & BI Governance
- Lead the Data Analyst and BI function.
- Design and govern enterprise semantic models.
- Ensure a “single source of truth” across reports and dashboards.
- Define KPI governance frameworks for: Infrastructure performance, Financial metrics, Operational metrics, Executive reporting
- Oversee BI platform architecture (e.g., Power BI or equivalent).
- Ensure performance and data refresh optimisation.
1.6 Governance, Security & Compliance
- Implement data governance frameworks including: Data ownership, Data classification, Access controls and Audit trails
- Align with ISO27001 and corporate cybersecurity policies.
- Ensure role-based access to sensitive financial and infrastructure data.
- Maintain data quality monitoring and reporting.
1.7 Leadership & Management
- Lead and coordinate Data Engineers, Data Scientists and Data Analysts / BI Specialists
- Develop roadmaps and delivery plans aligned to GIC’s strategic objectives.
- Present data strategy and progress to Executive and Board level.
- Manage vendor relationships and technology evaluations.
- Develop budget proposals for data infrastructure investments.
2. Technical Requirements
2.1 Essential Technical Skills
- Advanced SQL (mandatory)
- Strong PostgreSQL experience (mandatory)
- Data modelling (OLTP and OLAP)
- Data warehouse design
- Data lake / lakehouse architecture design
- ETL/ELT pipeline development
- Query performance tuning and optimisation
- Indexing strategies
- Data Analytics & BI Governance
- Backup and disaster recovery planning
- Experience integrating multiple enterprise systems
3. Minimum Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in: Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering or related technical field
- 8–10+ years in Data Engineering / Database Architecture
- 3–5+ years leading technical teams
- Proven experience building a data warehouse or data platform from scratch
- Demonstrated experience in PostgreSQL production environments
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