Data Ops - Principal

We’re seeking a Principal Data Engineer to shape the future of our enterprise data platform and uplift data engineering practices across the organisation. This permanent role sits within our Data Analytics team at Leederville and is pivotal to delivering trusted, high-quality data products that enable faster, smarter decisions.

Water Corporation is recognised globally for our performance and innovation to secure water supplies for Western Australia in a changing climate. We’re driven to manage water services sustainably to make WA a great place to live and invest. A role at Water Corporation can unlock the door to ongoing long term career development opportunities; we also support training and development, flexible work arrangements, health and lifestyle programs and generous company benefits. If you share our commitment, then consider Water Corporation as the next step in your career.

About the Role

We’re seeking a Principal Data Engineer to shape the future of our enterprise data platform and uplift data engineering practices across the organisation. This permanent role sits within our Data Analytics team at Leederville and is pivotal to delivering trusted, high-quality data products that enable faster, smarter decisions.

You’ll oversee and quality assure the design and implementation of our Enterprise Data Platform, which is going to be built on Databricks and AWS, and provide ongoing technical leadership and guidance for its maintenance, support and enhancements. Your focus will be on designing scalable, secure, and cost-efficient pipelines, establishing golden paths for data engineering, and embedding best practices in DevOps, testing, and observability.

As a senior technical leader, you’ll partner with architects, engineers, and business stakeholders to:

• Define and implement patterns for Lakehouse architecture and data integration.
• Mentor engineers and uplift standards across multiple squads.
• Ensure our platform evolves to meet changing business needs while maintaining reliability and governance.

This is a role for someone who can turn ambiguity into clear technical direction and empower teams to deliver at scale.

Key Skills and Experience

To succeed in this role, you’ll combine technical depth with architectural judgment and leadership. You’ll have a strong foundation in data and software engineering, with proven experience delivering modern data platforms and integrations at scale.

What we’re looking for:

• Expertise in data platform engineering, ideally with experience in Databricks and AWS cloud-native architectures.
• Strong programming skills in Python, PySpark, and SQL, plus experience with delivering patterns for scalable, reliable pipelines.
• Ability to design and orchestrate modern ETL/ELT frameworks, streaming and batch pipelines, and apply best practices for performance, cost, security and governance.
• Proven track record of technical leadership: setting standards, mentoring engineers, and influencing architecture decisions across teams.

You’ll bring experience in:

• Infrastructure as Code (e.g., CloudFormation, Databricks Asset Bundles).
• Engineering excellence: Agile delivery, DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, observability and reliability patterns for data pipelines and integrations.
• Data architecture and modelling: Medallion architecture and modern data evolution patterns, designing data models.
• Integration patterns: APIs, event-driven designs, schema evolution, and reliability strategies.
• Enterprise data governance, Unity Catalogue and familiarity with BI platforms and MLOps pipelines.

We’d love to see any relevant certifications, in Databricks and AWS, however this is not an essential requirement.

This is a fantastic opportunity to take technical ownership of a high-impact platform and play a key role in shaping the future of data and analytics at Water Corporation.

Real benefits that matter

• Real flexibility with options to work from home, 9-day fortnight, flexible work hours
• Two well-being days each year to do whatever you need to do to feel good
• Access to long service leave pro rata after 3 years of service
• Generous co-contribution superannuation scheme, offering up to 16%. This includes 12% standard employer contribution, plus an additional 2% employer co-contribution that matches your own 2% contribution.
• Purchase additional leave of up to 12 weeks or work 4 years at a reduced salary and take the fifth year off as paid leave

Discover more benefits we offer to support the unique and individual ways our employees live.

Apply: If you are interested in the above opportunity, please submit a covering letter and resume that best demonstrates your ability to meet the requirements of the role.

 Please note: As part of the recruitment process you will be required to complete Pre-Employment screening which may include a medical, qualification check, police clearance and Australian working rights check.

Applications close 17 November 2025

Our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace

Diversity and inclusion are more than words. They guide us on building a thriving workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers and our community.

 We encourage applications from every background, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, women, youth, LGBTQIA+ folks and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

 Applicants with disability who require adjustments, or alternative methods of communication in the recruitment process, can contact a Recruitment Officer recruitment@watercorporation.com.au or 9420 2000. To read our diversity and inclusion statement, please visit our website