Junior Data Engineer

Are you ready to launch your data career at warp speed?

Sapiant is a funded early-stage startup building software for data-driven operations and decision-making.

Our mission is to bring frontier AI data & analytics technology to businesses of all sizes, not just large enterprises and tech giants.We're looking for a curious, driven junior data engineer.

At Sapiant, you won't be stuck on the sidelines cleaning data in the background, you'll be hands-on building pipelines, shaping datasets, and helping operationalise AI for businesses that have never had access to this tech before.This is a role for someone who loves data, thrives on learning fast, and wants to grow into a standout engineer while helping shape a product and company from the ground up – with plenty of coaching and support.What you'll be doingBuild and maintain data pipelines that ingest and structure data from diverse sources to power analytics and AI applicationsValidate and test data quality, ensuring datasets used for decision-making and AI models (ML and LLMs) are accurate, reliable, and timelyClean, model, and transform datasets into usable, well-structured tables that support our product roadmapSupport infrastructure and monitoring, assisting with deployment workflows, logging, and troubleshootingDocument pipelines, schemas, transformations, reports and processes, keeping knowledge currentWhat you'll bringHands-on data engineering skillsStrong SQL and Python skills demonstrated through coursework, internships, projects, or personal workExposure to data engineering concepts (ETL / ELT pipelines, data modelling, cloud data warehouses) through study, projects, or industry experienceFamiliarity with modern data stack tools (e.g. Coalesce, dbt, Airflow, Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Fabric, Databricks ) is a plus, but not requiredExamples of high-quality work (e.g. GitHub projects, academic projects, internship deliverables, open-source contributions)Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent technical discipline - a plus, but not requiredAmbition and adaptabilityComfortable working in a small, high-trust teamVersatile and eager to take on a range of tasks - technical and non-technicalWilling to contribute beyond code - QA, planning, delivery etcComfortable communicating with customers where requiredLooking for rapid career advancement, and willing to stretch yourself to achieve itGenuine love of dataEnjoy exploring, questioning, and working hands-on with data day-in-day-outDeep conviction in the power of data to influence, persuade, and drive changeExcited by AI and building AI-powered products, and operationalising data platformsJoining us means stepping into the earliest stages of a startup.

You'll work directly with experienced founders and one of NZ's top data engineers, learning at a pace few ever experience, and ramping your career on a steep trajectory.We'll give you real ownership and the freedom to solve problems your way, with support when you need it.

No BS - just meaningful work, rapid growth, and the opportunity to shape something game-changing.

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