Principal Data and Platform Engineer

Who We Are

Simple Machines is a global, independent technology consultancy operating across Sydney, New Zealand, London, Poland and San Francisco. We design and build up-to-date data platforms, intelligent systems, and bespoke software at the intersection of Data Engineering, Software Engineering and AI.

We work with enterprises, scale-ups, and government to turn messy, high-value data into products, platforms, and decisions that actually move the needle.

We don’t do generic. We build things that matter - We engineer data to life.

The Role

This is a hands-on principal engineering role, not an architecture-only seat and not a support function. You’ll be responsible for technical direction, platform design and architectural decision-making.

You’ll design and build greenfield data platforms, real-time pipelines, and data products for clients who are serious about using data properly. You’ll work in small, high-calibre teams and operate close to both the problem and the client.

If you enjoy solving hard data problems, shaping up-to-date architectures (data mesh, data products, contracts), and delivering real outcomes this is your lane.

What You’ll Be Doing

Lead Platform & Architecture Design

- Own the end-to-end architecture of modern, cloud-native data platforms
- Design scalable data ecosystems using data mesh, data products, and data contracts
- Make high-impact architectural decisions across ingestion, storage, processing, and access layers
- Ensure platforms are secure, compliant, and production-grade by design

Build Modern Data Platforms





- Design and deliver cloud-native data platforms using Databricks, Snowflake, AWS, and GCP
- Apply modern architectural patterns: data mesh, data products, and data contracts
- Integrate deeply with client systems to enable scalable, consumer-oriented data access

Develop High-Performance Pipelines

- Build and optimise batch and real-time pipelines
- Work with streaming and event-driven tech such as Kafka, Flink, Kinesis, Pub/Sub
- Orchestrate workflows using Airflow, Dataflow, Glue

Work at Scale

- Process and transform large datasets using Spark and Flink
- Design systems that perform in production - not just on paper

Consult and Influence

- Work directly with clients to understand problems and shape solutions
- Translate business needs into pragmatic engineering decisions
- Act as a trusted technical advisor, not just an order taker

Technical Leadership & Quality

- Set engineering standards, patterns, and best practices across teams
- Review designs and code, providing transparent technical direction and mentorship
- Raise the bar on data quality, testing, observability, and operational excellence

What We’re Looking For

Core Engineering Strength

- Strong Python and SQL




- Deep experience with Spark and up-to-date data platforms (Databricks / Snowflake)
- Solid grasp of cloud data services (AWS or GCP)

Architecture & Design Judgement

- Demonstrated ownership of large-scale data platform architectures
- Strong data modelling skills and architectural decision-making ability
- Comfortable balancing trade-offs between performance, cost, and complexity

Data Platform Experience

- Built and operated large-scale data pipelines in production
- Strong data modelling capability and architectural judgement
- Comfortable with multiple storage technologies and formats

Engineering Discipline

- Infrastructure-as-code experience (Terraform, Pulumi)
- CI/CD pipelines using tools like GitHub Actions, ArgoCD
- Data testing and quality frameworks (dbt, Great Expectations, Soda)

Delivery & Consulting Mindset

- Experience in consulting or professional services environments
- Strong consulting instincts able to challenge assumptions and guide clients toward better outcomes
- Comfortable mentoring senior engineers and influencing technical culture

Why Simple Machines

- You’ll work on interesting, high-impact problems
- You’ll build modern platforms, not maintain legacy mess
- You’ll be surrounded by senior engineers who actually know their craft
- You’ll have autonomy, influence, and room to grow
- Amazing Darlinghurst office space
- Team lunches on Monday & Wednesdays
- Training & Conference fund

If you’re a passionate data engineer who wants to build properly, think clearl

📌 Principal Data and Platform Engineer (Sydney)
🏢 Simple Machines
📍 Sydney