Principal Data Engineer Consultant | Azure Databricks, Microsoft Fabric & AI-Ready Data nexwave Greater Melbourne Area (Hybrid)

Technology is moving fast, we move faster nexwave is a Microsoft-focused technology consultancy specialising in Data, Cloud, AI and intelligent applications. What sets us apart is our team and our mindset: fast, pragmatic, collaborative, curious, deeply technical, AI forward and genuinely passionate about solving complex problems for our clients.

We’re looking for a Senior Data Engineer Consultant who combines hands-on engineering depth with genuine end-to-end consulting capability.

This is not a role for someone who only wants to write pipelines to a ticket. We want someone who can sit with a client, understand what they’re really trying to achieve, design the platform, build it themselves and hand it over so the client can run it with confidence.

Someone who can go from requirements to design to code to handover.

You’ll design and build scalable data platforms on Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric, turning complex source data into trusted, AI-ready assets. You’ll also help shape the engineering standards and reusable assets we apply across every engagement. The role is predominantly client-facing, with most of your time aligned to client projects.

What you will do

- Design, build and operate modern data platforms on Microsoft Fabric and Azure Databricks using medallion architecture (bronze, silver, gold)
- Develop metadata-driven pipelines and reusable notebook patterns for ingestion, transformation and orchestration
- Ingest data from APIs, event streams and batch connectors, with retries, rate-limit handling and fault tolerance built in
- Integrate source systems including Salesforce, ERP and other SaaS platforms into governed, AI-ready lakehouse environments
- Apply change data capture, schema evolution and change data feed
- Design and operationalise merge logic, deduplication and slowly changing dimensions
- Implement data quality frameworks,



data dictionaries and lineage using the Microsoft Purview hub in Microsoft Fabric
- Implement CI/CD for data workflows in Git-based DevOps practices, with monitoring, validation and governance before release
- Apply role-based access control, column and row level security, and Azure Key Vault secret management
- Prepare trusted data for AI models, intelligent applications and Power BI semantic models
- Manage client solutions end to end, from gathering requirements through design, delivery and enablement
- Contribute to the engineering standards and reusable assets that scale across nexwave engagements

What you’ll bring

- Strong experience with Databricks, including Spark, Delta Lake, MLflow and Unity Catalog
- Hands-on experience with Microsoft Fabric (Data Factory, notebooks, lakehouses, warehouses) and Azure data services such as Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse, Azure Data Lake and Azure Event Hubs
- Proficiency in Python, SQL and PySpark
- Experience with Git, CI/CD for data, automated testing and deployment pipelines
- A working understanding of data governance, data quality and lineage
- Experience working in agile, cross-functional teams
- End-to-end consulting capability, from requirements and solution design through delivery to enabling the client to run what you’ve built
- The ability to communicate clearly with both technical teams and business stakeholders

What sets you apart

- You build the platforms yourself. Senior doesn’t mean you’ve stopped writing code.
- You’ve managed client solutions end to end and understand what happens after go-live
- You think like a consultant: the client, their environment, their needs and what they’re ultimately trying to achieve




- You stay resourceful when the answer isn’t obvious
- You design for the people who’ll operate the platform after you’ve handed it over
- You create reusable patterns rather than solving the same problem from scratch
- You’re happy to share what you know and lift the people around you
- You’re a lifelong learner: curious, down to earth and emotionally intelligent

Nice to have

- Microsoft certifications such as Fabric Data Engineer (DP-700), Fabric Analytics Engineer (DP-600) or Databricks Data Engineer Skilled
- Dimensional and semantic modelling
- Experience with Azure OpenAI, Azure AI services or Microsoft Copilot Studio
- Exposure to machine learning operations (MLOps)

Why join nexwave

- Join a Data Practice of nine specialists across engineering, analytics and AI, including Principal Consultants with deep Fabric, Databricks and Azure certifications
- Pair with experienced senior and principal consultants on complex client platforms
- Build data platforms that ship into production and power real AI outcomes
- Have direct influence over how we do data engineering at nexwave
- Build shared assets and approaches that become part of how nexwave delivers
- Join an AI-first consultancy that values technical craft, commercial thinking and low-ego collaboration
- Receive professional development and certification support
- Enjoy a flexible hybrid work model and annual BYOD tech allowance

Employment type: Full-time, permanent

Location: Australia — Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane or Perth

Working model: Hybrid, predominantly client-facing

Apply

If you’re the data engineer clients trust to build it properly and hand it over cleanly, we’d like to hear from you.

Email your CV and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line “Application: Senior Data Engineer Consultant”. In your cover letter, tell us about the data platforms you’ve built, the client solutions you’ve managed end to end, and your location, availability and Australian work-rights status.

📌 Principal Data Engineer (Melbourne)
🏢 nexwave
📍 Melbourne