About us and the role

We build a fully open-source data-mesh platform for health and the public sector across Africa and Europe, with a strong focus on open source, security, and the digital sovereignty of the states we serve — including work for institutions such as the African Union. Cybersecurity is central to this role, not an afterthought.

We are hiring a Senior Data Platform Engineer, based at our Speedykom MEA office in Tunis, who can own both the data architecture — pipelines, analytical stores, and governance — and the full-stack platform that exposes it to users. This is an on-site role in Tunis (not remote-first), with regular travel across Africa: as a senior you will also represent us to partners, run workshops, and lead training, so critical thinking and communication are decisive. You will set technical direction, lift the whole team’s output, and take ownership of ambiguous problems.

The technical environment

Data and analytics run on ClickHouse as the analytical store, Apache Airflow and Apache Hop for orchestration and ETL, MinIO / S3 object storage and Parquet, DuckDB, data contracts, DataHub for catalogue and lineage, Apache Superset for BI, and Kafka for streaming. The application is a Python / Django REST backend and a Next.js / React / TypeScript frontend, on PostgreSQL and Redis, containerised with Docker and Kubernetes, secured with Keycloak, observed with Prometheus / Grafana / Loki, and delivered through GitHub Actions. Everything is open source.

What you will do

• Own the architecture of the data-mesh platform: data products, data contracts, governance and lineage (DataHub), the analytical store (ClickHouse), and object storage (MinIO / S3, Parquet).
• Design and harden ingestion and transformation pipelines orchestrated with Apache Airflow and Apache Hop, and handle streaming / real-time flows (Kafka) where relevant.
• Own the full-stack development of the platform (Django / DRF, Next.js / React / TypeScript): APIs, catalogue, pipeline and dashboard interfaces.
• Harden deployments and strengthen identity and access management (IAM with SSO, Keycloak; OAuth2 / OIDC; RBAC, federation).
• Work across Docker / Kubernetes, CI/CD (GitHub Actions), and observability (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki).
• Lead on security: threat modelling, dependency and vulnerability management, secure and auditable deployment, and OWASP.
• Represent us to partners across Africa: run workshops, lead training, and prepare and present technical decisions — this role is more than writing code.

Read complex existing systems, identify risks, prepare sound technical decisions, and unblock other developers.

Your profile — required

• At least 5 years of professional experience after graduation. Internships, PFE / final-year projects, and working-student roles do not count towards this.
• Excellent communication and strong critical thinking. You will present, question, decide, train, and represent the team, not only code. This is decisive for a senior role.
• Willingness and ability to travel within Africa for on-site work, workshops, and training.
• Strong data-engineering experience at scale: ETL / ELT, data modelling, analytical / columnar stores, orchestration, and large data volumes, with a strong command of Python and SQL.
• Strong full-stack background (Django / Python, Next.js / React / TypeScript) with real platform and distributed-systems experience.
• Strong cybersecurity and identity-and-access-management understanding: threat modelling, secure architecture and deployment, vulnerability management, hardening, auditability, and a solid grasp of SSO, OAuth2 / OIDC, and RBAC.
• Strong command of Docker, containerisation, and Kubernetes in production, and comfort with CI/CD and observability.
• Effective use of AI-assisted development and modern coding tools, with solid familiarity with software-engineering best practices.
• Strong written and spoken communication in both English and French.

Strong pluses (not required)

• Deep, hands-on Keycloak: SSO, OAuth2 / OIDC, RBAC, and federation.
• Hands-on experience with several of: ClickHouse, Apache Airflow, Apache Hop, Kafka, MinIO / S3, Parquet, DuckDB, data contracts, DataHub, Apache Superset.
• Fluent Git / GitHub workflows and genuine experience within open-source ecosystems.
• Awareness of auditability and standards (ISO / SOC).
• Experience mentoring engineers, delivering training, and setting technical direction.

How we work and what we expect

Senior here does not mean “ten years of React”. It means someone who can read a complex system, see the risks, prepare sound technical decisions, and lift the whole team’s output. You take ownership of ambiguous problems and turn them into structured work. Above all, critical thinking and communication are decisive: you will represent us to partners across Africa, run workshops, and lead training — not only ship code. Fluency with AI and modern coding tools and familiarity with best practices matter, but your ability to reason clearly and communicate well matters most. We expect you to use AI tools as a lever for stronger output and faster delivery — never as a way to do less — and you remain fully accountable for what you and the team ship. We want a senior who delivers quickly and to a high standard, spreads genuine enthusiasm, sets the tone for commitment and team spirit, and inspires the developers around them. Clear, professional communication in both English and French is essential.

What we offer

• A permanent, senior contract (CDI) through Speedykom MEA, based at our Tunis office, with real technical authority.
• Genuine data-platform and security work on systems with continental reach.
• Exposure to partners and public-sector teams across Africa, with travel and training as part of the role.
• A team that takes open source and digital sovereignty seriously.
• The scope to shape architecture and standards across the whole platform.

Selection process

A short set of screening questions (including your graduation year and employers since then), followed by a technical conversation and a focused senior-level task — for example spotting security issues in a code snippet or answering an architecture question on authorisation and data-product access control. One-click applications without answers will not be processed.