Chief Manager, Data Engineering at Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)

Job Summary

This jobholder shall be responsible for leading the Authority’s data engineering function, overseeing the development and maintenance of scalable, reliable, and efficient data infrastructure. The role holder shall drive the strategy, architecture, implementation and evolution of data analytics & integration platforms, tools and systems to support data-driven decision-making and business growth. The role holder will also spearhead the design, development, and optimization of the Authority’s data analytics infrastructure.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the Data Engineering function, aligning it with the Authority’s digital transformation and analytics goals.
• Lead the development and maintenance of data pipelines, data lakes, data warehouses, and real-time streaming systems that ingest data from internal systems and external sources.
• Oversee the design and implementation of data architectures that support business intelligence, data science, compliance monitoring, and risk management.
• Build scalable, secure, and reliable data pipelines and platforms that support data analytics, business intelligence, compliance monitoring, and decision-making across the organization
• Define and prioritize data engineering projects to ensure alignment with strategic goals, maximize organizational impact and oversee the allocation of resources, including tools, personnel, and budget, to ensure optimal execution of data engineering projects.
• Oversee monitoring of the data infrastructure to ensure efficiency, cost optimization, monitor project timelines, budget and deliverables and ensure high-quality outcomes.
• Evaluate and implement modern data platforms and tools, ensuring cost-efficiency, scalability, and compliance with security regulations and oversee the integration of data from multiple sources (e.g., Application Programme Interfaces (APIs), databases, streaming data) into centralized systems.
• Facilitate the implementation and maintenance of robust and secure data analytics infrastructure to support business data analytics needs, monitor the performance of data systems and pipelines, identifying and resolving bottlenecks.
• Ensure development and maintenance of comprehensive technical documentation for data workflows and processes and establish best practices for big data and data engineering to ensure data integrity, consistency and scalability.
• Implement data observability practices to ensure the reliability and availability of data systems.
• Manage data platform vendors to ensure adherence to delivery Service Level Agreements.
• Oversee implementation of corporate initiatives in the division: Ensure conformity to ISO standards and data security requirements and manage Audit, Integrity, Quality Management Systems (QMS), Risk Management programmes and staff performance.

Persons Specifications

For appointment to this job, one must have:-

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Business Information Technology, Machine Learning, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering or a related field from a recognized Institution.
• Master’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Business Information Technology, Machine Learning, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering or any other relevant field from a recognized Institution will be an added advantage.
• Cumulative relevant service period of seven (7) years, three (3) of which should be at middle level management.
• Leadership Course lasting not less than four (4) weeks from a recognized institution will be an added advantage.
• Professional qualifications in Data Analytics, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Data Engineering or a related field.
• Valid membership to any relevant professional body will be an added advantage.

Demonstrate technical proficiency in any of the following areas:-

• Data architecture, Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) / Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) development, and big data technologies.
• Cloud data platforms and data orchestration tools
• Structured Query Language (SQL), Python, or Scala and modern data management frameworks.

Key Competencies

• Visionary leadership, strategic thinking, strong organizational, planning, analytical and interpersonal skills.
• Adaptability and strong Project management skills
• Strong decision-making, problem-solving and creative thinking skills
• Strong persuasion, negotiation and communication skills–both oral and written.
• Professionalism, Ethical Judgment and Integrity.
• Understanding of data protection and compliance standards in Kenya or equivalent jurisdictions. Flexibility to adapt to evolving organizational needs and technological advancements
• High attention to detail and accountability for data reliability and accuracy.