Senior Data Engineer (Google Cloud Platform) (3-6 Months Contract)

Build scalable, production-grade data platforms that power enterprise decision-making. At Rhino Partners, we're looking for a hands-on Senior Data Engineer to join a high-impact data transformation initiative. You'll play a key role in designing, building, and optimising large-scale data pipelines within a modern Google Cloud Platform (GCP) ecosystem, helping organisations unlock the value of their data through reliable, secure, and scalable data engineering practices. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex data challenges, building robust data platforms, and working closely with architects, analysts, and business stakeholders to deliver production-ready solutions.

What You'll Be Doing

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable data pipelines using Google Cloud Platform services
• Build and optimise batch and real-time data processing workflows aligned to medallion architecture principles (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
• Develop data ingestion frameworks to onboard data from multiple source systems into Cloud Storage and BigQuery
• Implement orchestration workflows using Cloud Composer (Airflow), including dependency management, monitoring, retries, and error handling
• Develop event-driven processing solutions using Pub/Sub and streaming data technologies
• Build complex data transformation and enrichment pipelines using Dataflow, Apache Beam, Dataproc, and Spark
• Implement automated data quality controls, validation checks, monitoring, and alerting mechanisms
• Optimise query performance, storage utilisation, and processing efficiency across large-scale datasets
• Apply data governance, security, and access control standards, including secure handling of sensitive and PII data
• Collaborate with Data Architects, Platform Engineers, Product Owners, and Analytics teams to deliver scalable data solutions
• Contribute to reusable engineering frameworks, coding standards, and best practices across the data platform

What We're Looking For

• 6+ years of experience in data engineering, data platforms, or large-scale analytics environments
• Strong hands-on experience building production-grade data pipelines in Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Deep expertise with:
• BigQuery
• Cloud Storage
• Cloud Composer (Airflow)
• Dataflow / Apache Beam
• Dataproc / Spark
• Cloud SQL and Federated Queries
• Pub/Sub
• Strong programming skills in Python and SQL
• Experience with Java or Scala for distributed data processing
• Proven experience implementing medallion architecture and large-scale data transformation frameworks
• Strong understanding of data pipeline reliability, monitoring, observability, and performance optimisation
• Experience implementing automated data quality controls and exception handling frameworks
• Familiarity with cloud security principles, IAM, access controls, and secure data handling practices
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently in fast-paced environments

Nice to Have

• Experience working with high-volume transactional, logistics, supply chain, eCommerce, or event-driven systems
• Experience building real-time analytics and streaming data platforms
• Exposure to infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD, and DevOps practices for data platforms
• Experience supporting enterprise-scale cloud migrations or data modernisation initiatives

Why Join Rhino Partners?

• Work on large-scale enterprise and digital transformation projects
• Collaborate with experienced architects, engineers, and technology leaders
• Opportunity to influence data engineering standards, frameworks, and best practices
• Flexible engagement options with onsite and remote opportunities
• Competitive remuneration based on experience and expertise