Data Engineer (Analytics Engineering)

About the role

Watu, a microfinance lender focused on financing and mobility across borders, is hiring a Data Engineer for its Nairobi office. Reporting to the Analytics Engineering Senior Manager, the role shapes the data engineering foundations of the company, including best practices, pipeline architecture and technical standards. The successful candidate will also help define and own the first expansion into AI, building internal AI tools, agents and intelligent workflows.

Key responsibilities

• Design, build and deploy data ingestion pipelines that feed the Data Warehouse with raw data from diverse sources using cloud-hosted tools.
• Create and maintain data transformation processes that turn raw data into clean, analyst-ready datasets using dbt, SQL and Google Cloud tools (Dataflow, Datastream).
• Own data quality, consistency and security, implementing strict security protocols.
• Define and implement data governance rules to ensure data integrity and compliance.
• Manage Data Warehouse administration for performance, organization and accessibility.
• Implement and maintain the Analytics Engineering tools and infrastructure.
• Assist in defining and evolving the data architecture so it stays scalable and efficient.
• Develop custom agents, tools and intelligent workflows for the company's initial AI initiatives.

Required profile

• At least 3 years of proven experience in a Data Engineering or Back-end Engineering role.
• Advanced SQL and strong Python coding skills.
• Deep understanding of modern Data Warehouse technologies, architectural patterns and best practices.
• Expertise with data ingestion, transformation and management (ETL/ELT).
• Precision, autonomy, drive and collaboration; able to work independently and communicate technical work to business needs.

Required skills

• Google Cloud Platform (Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Datastream, Dataflow)
• dbt
• Git
• Plus: vector databases, RAG, LLM tooling, non-relational databases, data streaming and other programming languages

What we offer

• A competitive compensation package
• Health benefits
• An international, dynamic team and opportunities to learn and grow