# Head of Data Engineering > ZainTECH · New Cairo City, Egypt · Full-time · Posted 2026-05-07 **Workplace:** on_site **Department:** Technology & Delivery ## Description The Head of Data Engineering is responsible for leading the design, build, and operation of scalable, secure, and high-performing data platforms and data pipelines across ZainTECH and its customers. This role will own the data engineering strategy, standards, and execution across on-premises, private cloud, and public cloud environments, ensuring that data is reliable, timely, and ready for analytics, AI, and business consumption. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in modern data platforms, big data, cloud data services, and software engineering practices, with a proven track record of delivering complex data solutions that meet business, security, and regulatory requirements. Responsibilities: Platform & Architecture (On Prem, Cloud, Hybrid) - Own the end-to-end architecture and evolution of data platforms, including on prem (e.g., Cloudera / Hadoop), private cloud, and public cloud (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP). - Define and champion reference architectures for: o Data lakes, data warehouses, and lake houses. o Real-time and batch data integration. o Metadata, lineage, and observability. - Collaborate with Enterprise / Solution Architects to: o Evaluate and select technologies, tools, and services. o Ensure scalability, performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency. - Design hybrid data patterns (e.g., PII kept on-prem, analytics/AI in cloud, edge to-cloud integration) to meet local regulatory and data residency requirements. Leadership & Collaboration - Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing data engineering team, including hiring, performance management, career development, and succession planning. - Foster a culture of engineering excellence, continuous learning, and innovation within the team. - Collaborate closely with: o Cloud, Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure teams (environment, access, security). o Digital Solutions and Application teams (APIs, integration with apps and services). o Sales and Presales (feasibility checks, solution design, effort estimation for RFPs). - Promote strong collaboration with client and partner teams, ensuring clear communication of technical decisions, risks, and trade-offs. Delivery, Operations & Reliability - Lead the end-to-end delivery of data engineering projects and workstreams, from design and build through testing, deployment, and transition to operations. - Oversee the implementation of CI/CD and automation for data pipelines, including testing, deployment, and monitoring. - Ensure data platforms and pipelines meet defined SLAs, SLOs, and non functional requirements (performance, availability, security, resilience). - Implement and monitor data observability and quality controls (e.g., data validation, anomaly detection, lineage tracking). - Work with Operations teams to establish runbooks, incident management, and continuous improvement of platform reliability. Technology & Innovation - Stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies in big data, cloud data services, real-time analytics, and MLOps. - Evaluate and recommend new tools, platforms, and approaches that improve speed, quality, and cost of data delivery. - Drive innovation initiatives, PoCs, and accelerators (e.g., new ingestion patterns, real-time data mesh, metadata-driven pipelines). - Provide input into productization and packaging of ZainTECH data offerings (e.g., reusable blueprints, managed data platform services). Opportunity & Solution Shaping - Work closely with Sales and Account Managers to qualify opportunities and identify client challenges across data platforms, data governance, analytics, and AI. - Lead solution discovery workshops with customers to understand business objectives, current architecture, constraints (e.g., data residency, security, PII on-prem), and success criteria. - Translate business requirements into high-level and detailed solution designs, covering: - Data ingestion and integration (batch, real-time/streaming). o Data lake / data warehouse / lakehouse architectures. - BI & self-service analytics. - AI/ML workloads and MLOps. - Data governance, catalog, and quality. RFP / RFI / Proposal Leadership - Own the technical sections of RFP/RFI responses for data and AI solutions across multiple technologies (on-prem and cloud). - Analyze RFP requirements, scope, and scoring criteria; design winning strategies and answer templates for technical, functional, and non-functional requirements. - Coordinate with internal teams (Data Engineering, Architecture, Delivery, Finance) to: o Estimate efforts and timelines. - Define implementation phases and milestones. - Prepare BoQ/BOM, licensing estimates, and cost assumptions. - Prepare clear, structured proposal content including solution overviews, architectures, implementation plans, assumptions, risks, and value propositions. - Ensure proposals are aligned with ZainTECH standards, reusable accelerators, and partner best practices. Architecture & Technology (On Prem and Cloud) - Design hybrid architectures leveraging both on-premise platforms (e.g., Cloudera, Hadoop ecosystem) and cloud (Azure, AWS, GCP), depending on client constraints and preferences. - Define reference architectures for: - On-prem data platforms (e.g., Cloudera CDP, Hadoop/Spark, on-prem object storage). - Cloud-native data platforms (e.g., Azure Synapse/Fabric, AWS Redshift/EMR, GCP BigQuery/Dataproc). - Hybrid scenarios (data gravity on-prem, analytics or AI in cloud, PII data residency, etc.). - Collaborate with Delivery and Architecture teams to validate feasibility, performance, and scalability of proposed solutions. Demonstrations, PoCs, and Client Engagement - Prepare and deliver technical presentations, live demos, and tailored PoCs for data platforms, governance, analytics, and AI use cases. - Build or supervise PoC architectures and quick prototypes showcasing: - Ingestion from key source systems (ERP, CRM, billing, sensors, logs, etc.). - Data models and curated layers. - Analytics dashboards and AI/ML use cases (e.g., churn, recommendation, anomaly detection). - Collect client feedback and incorporate into solution refinement and product/offer roadmap. Collaboration with Vendors and Partners - Work closely with strategic partners (e.g., Microsoft, Cloudera, Informatica, Databricks, etc.) to: - Align on recommended architectures and best practices. - Validate sizing, licensing, and deployment patterns (on-prem, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS). - Prepare joint presentations, PoCs, and reference architectures. - Ensure ZainTECH’s proposals leverage partner programs, incentives, and co selling frameworks where applicable. Internal Enablement and Knowledge Sharing - Document reusable solution templates, RFP answer libraries, architecture blueprints, and effort-estimation models for future opportunities. - Provide training and knowledge-sharing sessions to: - Sales and presales teams (value messaging, positioning, competition). - Delivery teams (solution rationale, assumptions, architecture decisions). - Stay current on industry trends, data & AI reference architectures, and competitors, and feed market insights into ZainTECH offerings and go-to-market strategy. ## Requirements - 15+ years of experience in data engineering, data platforms, or related fields, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing engineering teams. - Proven experience designing, building, and operating large-scale data platforms and pipelines in on-prem and cloud environments. - Strong hands-on background in on-prem big data platforms such as Cloudera CDP, Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, Hive, HBase, and NiFi - Experience with cloud data services including Azure Synapse, Fabric, Azure Data Lake, Databricks, AWS S3, Redshift, Glue, EMR, and GCP BigQuery and Dataproc - Proficiency in containerization and orchestration tools like Docker and Kubernetes - Deep understanding of data modeling and data architecture patterns (relational, dimensional, lakehouse, streaming) - Solid knowledge of data integration patterns (batch, streaming, CDC, event-driven) - Strong grasp of data quality, observability, security, and access control principles - Proven ability to lead cross-functional engineering initiatives end-to-end - Experience in defining and enforcing standards, frameworks, and engineering best practices - Ability to collaborate with senior stakeholders to translate business needs into technical solutions - Excellent presentation, communication, and storytelling skills, with the ability to explain complex architectures in simple business language - Experience creating architecture diagrams and solution design documents - Experience developing high-level implementation plans, including assumptions and risk registers - Experience preparing rough order of magnitude (ROM) and effort estimations - Experience working with regulated industries such as telecom, financial services, and government is an advantage - Familiarity with data residency and compliance requirements is an advantage - Arabic speaking is preferred - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred. - Professional certifications in cloud and data technologies (e.g., Azure Data Engineer / Architect, AWS Data Analytics, GCP Data Engineer, Cloudera, Databricks, Snowflake). - Certifications or formal training in Agile, DevOps, or SAFe are a plus. ## Apply [Apply at ZainTECH](https://apply.workable.com/zaintech/j/AF347B4E98/apply) --- Powered by [Workable](https://www.workable.com)