Location: Johannesburg, Gauteng
Company: Praesignis (Pty) Ltd
Job Type: Contract (6 months)
Industry: Banking / Information Technology
Experience Level: Mid-Senior
Job Overview
Praesignis is seeking a Big Data Engineer (Hadoop & Cloud Specialist) to join their Johannesburg team. This role focuses on developing, deploying, and optimising big data applications in both on-premise and cloud environments. The ideal candidate has deep expertise in the Hadoop ecosystem, Spark/PySpark, Python, and cloud platforms (AWS, Cloudera, etc.).
Key Responsibilities
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Provide advanced support and troubleshooting for Hadoop, Spark, and PySpark environments
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Develop, deploy, and maintain applications and processes on Hadoop clusters
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Review, optimise, and enhance code and processes for performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, especially in cloud environments
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Support on-premise and cloud-based big data systems, ensuring stability, scalability, and security
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Contribute to cloud migration projects, working with ingestion teams
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Drive post-migration activities including onboarding, user training, and platform optimisation
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Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify gaps, provide technical guidance, and ensure best practices
Required Skills & Experience
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Strong knowledge of the Hadoop ecosystem (HDFS, YARN, Hive, HBase, etc.)
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Proven experience with Apache Spark and PySpark
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Proficiency in Python for data engineering and application development
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Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Cloudera, or equivalent), including networking, security, and cost optimisation
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Experience reviewing and optimising big data code and processes
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Ability to design, build, and support scalable big data solutions
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Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
Preferred Qualifications
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Experience in migrating workloads from on-premise to cloud
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Exposure to platform onboarding, user enablement, and training
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Familiarity with performance tuning and cost optimisation in big data/cloud environments
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Developer-oriented mindset with focus on long-term platform success and innovation