Data Engineer

Te Tari o te Mumu Tuarua Akoranga | DVC Academic Office

Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• Full-time (37.5 hours per week)
• Fixed-term position until December 2026

Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā

He hiahia, he pūkenga nōu ki te mahi a te Data Engineer? Nāia te pōwhiri nā Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha kia tono mai i te tūranga nei.

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do

As a Data Engineer at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the University's modern data ecosystem to support advanced analytics, visualisation, and self-service capabilities. You will design, build, and optimise data solutions that ensure accuracy, automation, and scalability across the full data lifecycle.

Working within a cloud-based lakehouse environment, you will collaborate with data scientists, analysts, and architects to deliver high-quality, governed, and reusable data products. This role will see you championing data quality, documentation, and continuous improvement, while contributing to UC's vision for trusted and accessible data.

Mōu | Who You Are

To be successful in this role you will be a data professional with a passion for designing and delivering innovative data solutions. You will bring both technical expertise and an understanding of modern data platforms to enable high-quality insights and analytics across the organisation.

Your skills and experiences will include:

• at least 7 years' experience in IT or related fields, with 5+ years in data engineering or analytics platforms (data warehouse/lake)
• proven experience with modern data tools such as Snowflake, Databricks, dbt, and Azure/AWS cloud services, including CI/CD-enabled pipelines
• strong skills in SQL and Python, with a sound understanding of data modelling, ELT/ETL processes, and data warehousing principles
• familiarity with metadata and data lineage frameworks (e.g. Microsoft Purview)
• experience with Power BI or similar reporting tools
• a collaborative mindset, with excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to translate complex data needs into scalable solutions
• a relevant tertiary qualification in Computer Science, Data Science, or an equivalent discipline (NZQA Level 7 or above).

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With

You will work with stakeholders across UC as part of a project team who's mahi aligns closely with UC's Student Success Programme - Kia Angitu. The project team aims to support student success through a range of pedagogical, digital, and organisational approaches.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC

Ngā Uara | Our Values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and tiakitanga guide our decisions and behaviour and provide a roadmap for how we do things at UC, affirming our commitment to pastoral care and support for our ākonga and staff. They challenge and inspire us to be the best we can and make UC a great place to work and study. For more info on Ngā Uara | Our Values visit us here.

We are committed to accessible higher education, service to the community and the encouragement of talent without barriers of distance, wealth, class, gender or ethnicity. The University explicitly aims to produce graduates and support staff who are engaged with their communities, empowered to act for good and determined to make a difference in the world.

For more information, please visit us: .

For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit

The closing date for this position is: 9 November 2025 (midnight, NZ time)

Please note, applications will be reviewed as they are received.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency or hold a valid NZ work visa to be considered for this role.