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Position

Data Wizard

Details
Location: 

Johannesburg, ZA

Date:  26 Jan 2026
Reference:  143798

Requisition Details & Talent Acquisition Contact

Requisition nr: 143798
Talent Acquisition Specialist: Tshego Semenya
Location: 135 Rivonia Road, Sandown
Closing date: 4 February 2026

Cluster

Personal and Private Banking

Career Stream

Data

Leadership Pipeline

Manage Self: Technical (MST)

Position

Data Wizard

Why join the team!

The Data Wizard plays a mission‑critical role in shaping the data backbone of Nedbank’s newest innovation space, delivering high‑quality, validated information that powers fast, accurate decision‑making across the business. Success in this role means consistently enabling rapid insights, automating processes to reduce operational costs, and designing reliable data structures that meet regulatory, analytical and operational needs. You will work with exceptionally large and complex datasets—including blockchain and crypto transaction streams—and transform them into trusted, secure and accessible assets aligned with governance and Group Technology standards. Your engineering expertise will directly influence turnaround times, reporting accuracy, and the availability of data for key stakeholders in Mid‑Corp BCB, Risk, AML, Compliance and other internal teams.

 

This role offers the excitement and challenge of building data capabilities for a brand‑new business with evolving requirements, all while replacing legacy dependencies and introducing modern, scalable engineering practices. You’ll be trusted to deliver under pressure, engage cross‑functionally with GT, vendors and domain specialists, and design solutions that integrate seamlessly into Nedbank’s broader data ecosystem. Most importantly, you’ll join a pioneering environment where you can shape the future of digital assets and Web3 banking—working with leading experts, cutting‑edge blockchain datasets and new technologies, with the freedom to innovate, automate and influence the direction of a high‑growth, high‑impact business unit. This is not maintenance work; it is the rare opportunity to build something new, meaningful and industry‑shaping from the ground up.

Job Purpose

The Data Wizard will serve as the technical engine behind Nedbank’s newest innovation unit, Ned Defi. This role combines strong SQL engineering capabilities with advanced data pipeline development skills to transform massive, complex datasets—particularly blockchain, Web3, and crypto‑related data—into reliable, accessible and meaningful information for decision‑making, regulatory reporting, and strategic insights.

 

As Ned Defi builds the future of blockchain‑enabled banking, the Data Wizard will create the data foundations that make high-volume crypto data (e.g., Bitcoin and Ethereum datasets with >24 billion rows) usable, trusted and analytics‑ready across the business.

Job Responsibilities

Data Engineering & Pipeline Management

  • Design, develop and maintain scalable, reliable data pipelines for ingestion, real-time streaming, transformation and delivery.
  • Engineer data flows that support both structured and unstructured datasets, including blockchain event streams, API feeds and Big Data sources like Kafka.
  • Build and maintain SSIS packages, SQL stored procedures and high‑performance transformations.
  • Optimise existing SQL scripts, structures and processes for speed, stability, and minimal latency.
  • Rapidly identify breakages, troubleshoot issues, and implement corrective actions to ensure uninterrupted data flow.

 

Building Data Structures for a New Business

  • Create data models, tables, platforms and integration points required to support Ned Defi as a newly established business unit, ensuring alignment with Nedbank’s data governance
  • standards.
  • Set up data environments in partnership with Infrastructure, Group Technology (GT) and vendors to ensure correct landing zones, processing pathways and system accessibility.
  • Ensure Chinese-wall compliance and proper data segregation between Nedbank and Ned Defi environments.

 

Data Preparation, Analysis & Insights

  • Convert raw blockchain and crypto transaction data into clean, structured, readable datasets suitable for analytics, reporting and operational decision-making.
  • Develop insights that support AML, Risk, Compliance, Conduct and Transaction Monitoring teams.
  • Support daily reconciliations, settlements to vendors, audit requirements and regulatory reporting using reliable and validated data.
  • Automate recurring operational processes and identify opportunities for pipeline enhancement.

 

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

  • Engage with internal teams (GT, CIA, Product, Risk, Web Development, Infrastructure) to align development strategies and ensure smooth integration of data solutions.
  • Liaise with vendors and external partners for data ingestion, tooling and solution design.
  • Participate in requirements discussions, validate specifications and deliver fit‑for‑purpose data solutions within agreed timelines.
  • Understand front-end systems, operational workflows and product platforms to ensure data engineering supports business processes end‑to‑end.

 

Governance, Security & Quality

  • Ensure adherence to data governance standards, metadata requirements, lineage rules and Nedbank architectural guidelines.
  • Partner with Information Security, CISO and Data Governance teams to ensure secure handling of sensitive information.
  • Ensure data delivered for reporting, AI/ML enablement, auditing, and operational consumption is complete, accurate and reliable.

 

Visualisation & Output

  • Create insights using Tableau, Power BI or similar tools for consumption by leadership and operational stakeholders.
  • Build clear dashboards, reports and data stories that simplify complex datasets into actionable outputs.

Essential Qualifications - NQF Level

  • Matric / Grade 12 / National Senior Certificate
  • Advanced Diplomas/National 1st Degrees

Preferred Qualification

  • BSc, BEng

Preferred Certifications

  •  DEVOPS or Data engineering certification

Minimum Experience Level

  • A highly skilled SQL engineer with strong experience in writing, reading and optimising complex SQL scripts (some Nedbank stored procedures exceed 2,000 lines).
  • 3+ years experience in data engineering, including SSIS, stored procedures, ETL, and working with large datasets.
  • Comfortable with Big Data technologies such as Hadoop, Postgres, Kafka, or other large-scale processing environments.
  • Curious and adaptable, able to research tools and propose fit-for-purpose technologies that align with Group Technology guidelines.
  • Able to work independently, quickly understand existing environments, and deliver quick turnaround times under pressure.
  • Strong in problem-solving, optimisation and automation, able to replace reliance on existing web developers performing SQL work.

Technical / Professional Knowledge

  • Cloud Data Engineering (Azure , AWS, Google)
  • Data Warehousing
  • Databases (PostgreSQL, MS SQL, IBM DB2)
  • Data Analysis and Data Modelling
  • Data Pipelines and ETL tools (Ab Initio, ADB, ADF, SAS ETL)
  • Agile Delivery

Disclaimer

Preference will be given to candidates from the underrepresented groups

Please contact the Nedbank Recruiting Team at +27 860 555 566

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Please contact the Nedbank Recruiting Team at +27 860 555 566 

 

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