Senior Systems Engineer - Data

Senior Systems Engineer - Data Location: Auckland/Wellington or Palmerston North Campus| Massey University Salary Band: $83,818 - $117,788 based on skills and experience Shape the future of data at Massey University - join our Enterprise Services team! Be at the heart of data-driven transformation, enabling research, teaching, and operational excellence. Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role We are looking for an experienced Data Engineer who will help shape and operate the University\'s modern data platforms, including our data warehouse, Microsoft Fabric, Lakehouse services, and data integration pipelines. You\'ll provide technical leadership across platform design, security, performance, reliability, and operational guardrails, ensuring data services are trusted, scalable, and well governed. Working closely with ITS, Strategy & Planning, architecture, security, and governance colleagues, you\'ll support data-driven decision-making across research, teaching, operations, reporting, analytics, and future AI-enabled use cases. Āu mahi | What you will do Lead the technical lifecycle of Massey University\'s data and analytics platforms, from design and implementation through to operation, improvement, and retirement. Provide operational ownership for platform foundations, including configuration, access, monitoring, performance, cost, release, resilience, and support practices. Establish practical standards, guardrails, and operating patterns that keep data services secure, reliable, compliant, and easy to support. Work with technical and business stakeholders to enable trusted reporting, analytics, research, operational decision-making, and future AI use cases. Share expertise, mentor colleagues, and champion good practice in data platform management, engineering, governance, and service reliability. Ko koe tēnei | Who you are A collaborative and inclusive team member, with the ability to build trusted relationships across technical and non-technical teams. Clear communication skills, with the confidence to explain complex data and platform concepts in practical, accessible ways. A willingness to mentor, support, and uplift others, contributing to a positive team culture and shared delivery outcomes. Sound judgement and ownership, with the ability to make considered decisions, manage competing priorities, and guide others through ambiguity. Strong influence and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to bring people together, shape shared understanding, and support practical decisions across teams. Technical Skills and Experience Essential A tertiary qualification in an IT or Business Management subject, or equivalent extensive industry experience. Industry recognised certification in Database Administration at a senior practitioner level. Minimum 5 years\' experience in an IT or IT-related position with experience in manging data and databases. Experience designing, building, and operating enterprise data platforms, including databases, data warehouses, Lakehouse\'s, dimensional models, and cloud-based platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory, Databricks, Snowflake, or equivalent. Advanced SQL and data engineering capability, including query optimisation, performance tuning, data modelling, ETL/ELT pipeline development, and production troubleshooting across structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Strong understanding of modern data architecture and governance, including security, privacy, compliance, integration patterns, APIs, enterprise applications, databases, and SaaS platforms. Highly Desirable Experience with data quality frameworks, metadata management, data lineage, or real-time/event-driven data integration. Experience with Infrastructure as Code, cloud automation, AI, or analytics. Proficiency in Python or another relevant programming language, with experience applying automation, source control, CI/CD, and DataOps/DevOps practices in data engineering environments. Ko ngā hua o te tūranga? | What\'s in it for you? Up to 6.75% employer contribution to the UniSaver Superannuation Scheme. Five university holidays per year in addition to your annual leave. Subsidised Southern Cross Healthcare plan for you and your family. Discounted membership to our fully equipped recreation centre and gym facilities. Staff purchasing privileges and discounts at many commercial and retail businesses across NZ. Access to on-campus crèche/day care facilities for dependents of staff on our Manawatū and Auckland campuses. This is a full-time position (1 FTE 37.50hrs p/w) with the following location options available to the preferred candidate: Based in Palmerston North, with a minimum of 3 days a week at the Manawatū campus. Based in Wellington, with 1 day a week at the Manawatū campus and a minimum of 2 days a week at the Wellington campus. Based in Auckland, with a minimum of 3 days a week at the Auckland campus. Join us and be a key part of Massey University\'s digital and data transformation. Applications will be reviewed as submitted and we may interview prior to the role closing on Sunday 16 August 2026, 11.00pm. Desired Skills and Experience Data Engineer Senior Systems Engineer Data Platforms Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse Lakehouse Architecture Azure Synapse Analytics Azure Data Factory Databricks Snowflake Data Integration Data Governance Data Architecture Analytics Platforms Enterprise Data Cloud Data Engineering SQL Data Modelling ETL ELT DataOps DevOps AI Enablement Data Reliability Platform Engineering Microsoft Fabric Data Engineering Data Architecture Data Warehousing Lakehouse Design Advanced SQL ETL/ELT Development Data Modelling Azure Cloud Services Database Administration Performance Tuning Data Governance Data Security API Integration Python CI/CD Infrastructure as Code Analytics Solutions Stakeholder Management Technical Leadership Mentoring & Coaching Service Reliability Engineering Problem Solving Cross-functional Collaboration #J-18808-Ljbffr