Principal Data Engineer – Microsoft Fabric

Contract Opportunity | Brisbane | Hybrid Working

In this senior technical leadership role, you will act as the subject matter expert for the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem, leading the design and optimisation of enterprise-grade data platforms, Lakehouse architectures, and modern data engineering capabilities.

You will work closely with data, analytics, architecture, and business stakeholders to establish scalable and secure data solutions that enable AI/ML, real-time analytics, reporting, and enterprise integration capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, governance, and operational management of the Microsoft Fabric platform including OneLake, Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, Eventstreams, and Real-Time Analytics
• Design and implement scalable ETL/ELT pipelines using Fabric Data Factory, Spark Notebooks, PySpark, and Spark SQL
• Establish enterprise data governance standards using Microsoft Purview including data lineage, cataloguing, classification, and policy enforcement
• Develop secure and scalable data access models including RBAC/ABAC frameworks and secure data sharing mechanisms
• Drive DataOps and CI/CD best practices using Git integration, deployment pipelines, Infrastructure-as-Code, and automated promotion across environments
• Lead migration of legacy reporting and analytics workloads into Microsoft Fabric
• Optimise Lakehouse performance through partitioning, compression, Spark optimisation, and query tuning
• Collaborate with Data Scientists and application teams to support MLOps, feature engineering, and API integration capabilities
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and engineering standards across Data & Analytics teams
• Work closely with vendors, architects, and stakeholders to deliver scalable and future-ready enterprise data solutions

Key Skills & Experience

• 8+ years of experience in Data Engineering with demonstrated experience in Lead or Principal level roles
• Strong hands-on expertise across the Microsoft Fabric ecosystem including:
  • OneLake
  • Lakehouse / Delta Lake
  • Data Engineering (Spark)
  • Data Factory Pipelines
  • Eventstreams / Real-Time Analytics
  • Power BI
• Advanced Python and SQL development skills including PySpark and Spark SQL
• Strong experience designing cloud-based enterprise data platforms within Azure environments
• Proven capability implementing enterprise data governance using Microsoft Purview
• Experience building DataOps, CI/CD, and automated deployment pipelines using Azure DevOps, GitHub, or similar tooling
• Strong understanding of distributed systems, modern data modelling approaches, and scalable data architecture patterns
• Experience integrating data across hybrid and multi-cloud environments including Azure, AWS, and on-premise platforms
• Exposure to AI/ML enablement, MLOps, API integration, and real-time analytics capabilities highly regarded
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and technical leadership skills

Highly Desirable

• Experience with enterprise geospatial or ArcGIS data integrations
• Experience supporting Copilot or AI-enabled enterprise analytics initiatives
• Exposure to Local Government or large enterprise transformation environments

What's on Offer

• Opportunity to lead a major enterprise data platform transformation
• High-profile strategic program with significant investment in modern technologies
• Collaborative and forward-thinking digital transformation environment
• Flexible hybrid working arrangements
• Brisbane-based opportunity with competitive market rates

If you are passionate about modern data engineering, enterprise-scale analytics platforms, and Microsoft Fabric technologies, we would love to hear from you.

To be considered for the role click the 'apply' button or for more information about this and other opportunities please contact Anna Reyes on + 617 3709 7456 or email areyes@paxus.com.au and quote the above job reference number.

Paxus values diversity and welcomes applications from Indigenous Australians, people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and people living with a disability. If you require an adjustment to the recruitment process, including the application form in an alternate format, please contact me on the above contact details.