Senior Data Engineer

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Posted on 01/16/2026

As a Senior Data Engineer at Sentra

AI, you will build, migrate, and operate data pipelines at enterprise scale, involving vast numbers of source systems, 100s of TB of data, and 1000s of ETL workloads, inside complex, highly governed environments.

If you have not owned data systems in production, handled failures under pressure, or worked inside large, complex enterprises, this role is not for you.

Sentra

AI is delivering a multi-year data and AI transformation for a large, complex enterprise.

• Migration from legacy Hadoop, Oracle, SAP, and bespoke ETL systems
• A modern cloud lakehouse architecture supporting batch and real‑time workloads
• Enterprise reporting, operational analytics, and Customer 360‑style use cases
• Downstream AI and advanced analytics at scale

This is not greenfield. These systems are used, audited, and relied upon.

You are accountable for data pipelines that run reliably in production.

• Designing and building Spark‑based batch and streaming pipelines
• Migrating large volumes of legacy ETL into modern architectures
• Implementing and enforcing data quality, validation, and data contracts
• Supporting live systems, including during incidents and critical delivery windows
• Communicating clearly with engineers, architects, and client stakeholders
• Ownership does not end at deployment

• Streaming pipelines using Kafka and Spark Streaming or Flink
• CDC pipelines using Debezium or equivalent
• Data quality frameworks using Great Expectations, dbt, or similar

You are expected to actively use AI tools to improve development speed, testing quality, and operational resilience, within defined governance standards.

• Your experience is primarily academic, conceptual, or notebook‑only
• You have not supported data systems in production
• You avoid accountability for failures or incidents
• You prefer fixed hours over delivery responsibility
• You are uncomfortable being challenged on technical decisions

Within 6–12 months:

• Pipelines you own are stable, observable, and trusted
• Legacy ETL migrations are predictable and low‑risk
• Data quality issues reduce materially
• Stakeholders trust your judgment and communication
• You raise the bar for those around you

These metrics are used to assess your impact as a senior engineer. They will guide career progression and recognition.

• Work on the region’s most complex data transformations
• Exposure to enterprise‑scale systems and real accountability
• A team that values engineering rigour over optics
• Meritocratic progression based on impact, not tenure
• Career capital that carries real weight globally

Sentra

AI is not for everyone. It is for engineers who want to build systems that matter, take ownership seriously, and grow through responsibility rather than protection.

If that describes how you work, Lets Talk!