Data Engineer

Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS) is a global leader in electronics and reuse recycling with facilities across the globe. Our goal is to be the world’s best, safest, and most responsible recycling company. SLS serves global clients across a range of industries to securely and responsibly recycle and manage the disposition of IT equipment and electronic products.
 
Our asset management and recovery service enables businesses to meet both their social and legal obligations in the treatment of surplus electronics in a legally compliant, data secure, fully traceable, and environmentally sustainable manner. With our global reach, expertise, and infrastructure, SLS is able to provide a comprehensive solution for e-waste and IT asset disposition anywhere in the world.

Purpose of Role

The SLS Data Engineer role plays an integral part in managing and optimizing the company's data infrastructure, with a particular focus on leveraging Microsoft Fabric to streamline data pipelines. This position entails ensuring the efficient flow of data from diverse sources to their respective destinations while adhering to the bronze, silver, and gold transformation architecture. In this framework, data is ingested and stored in its raw form (bronze), refined and cleansed for intermediate use (silver), and finally enriched for actionable insights (gold).

The Data Engineer is responsible for configuring and maintaining SQL Servers on-premises and in the cloud, migrating on-premises or VM-hosted databases to cloud solutions, and ensuring the security and reliability of such systems. By implementing and monitoring robust disaster recovery solutions, the engineer guarantees the achievement of RPOs and RTOs, vital for maintaining business continuity.

In addition, the engineer ensures that all data movements and transformations prioritize accuracy and efficiency, minimizing latency and optimizing performance metrics. Collaborating across departments, the engineer designs and expands data warehouses and lakes, enabling consolidated and reliable data systems. The role also involves supporting internal and external audits, monitoring resource usage for predictive analytics, and tuning systems to prevent outages, all while supporting the broader goal of data-driven decision-making and operational excellence.

Principal Responsibilities:

• Design and implement data pipelines using Microsoft Fabric, ensuring seamless ingestion, transformation, and delivery across bronze (raw), silver (cleansed), and gold (enriched) layers.
• Develop and maintain scalable data lake and data warehouse architectures to support enterprise-wide analytics and reporting needs.
• Configure, monitor, and optimize SQL Server environments both on-premises and in the cloud (e.g., Azure SQL, Managed Instances).
• Lead database migration initiatives from on-premises or VM-hosted environments to cloud-native platforms, ensuring minimal disruption and data integrity.
• Implement and validate disaster recovery strategies, ensuring compliance with defined Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs).
• Enforce data security and compliance policies across all data platforms, supporting internal and external audit requirements.
• Monitor and tune system performance, proactively identifying and resolving bottlenecks to minimize latency and maximize throughput.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design data models and optimize queries for business intelligence and reporting solutions.
• Support predictive analytics and capacity planning by logging and analysing resource usage trends.
• Maintain replicated reporting environments to ensure high availability and performance for business-critical dashboards.
• Provide second-line support for complex database issues and mentor first-line support staff on recurring operational tasks.
• Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement by documenting best practices, automating routine processes, and participating in knowledge-sharing initiatives.

Key Performance Indicator (KPIs):

• Successful implementation of Microsoft Fabric-based data pipelines.
• Average latency from data ingestion to gold layer delivery.
• Data accuracy rate across bronze, silver, and gold layers.
• Number of data quality issues and time to resolution.
• Uptime percentage of SQL Server environments (on-prem and cloud).
• Percentage of successful database migrations to the cloud.
• Compliance with RPO and RTO targets during disaster recovery tests.
• Number of audit findings related to data infrastructure.
• Frequency and resolution time of performance issues.
• Query optimization success rate (e.g., improved execution time).
• Resource utilization trends and predictive capacity planning accuracy.
• Number of cross-functional projects supported with data solutions.
• Average resolution time for second-line support tickets.
• Number of recurring DBA tasks automated or delegated.
• Contributions to documentation, training, and process improvements.

Key Relationships:

• Internal – finance, commercial, service delivery, operations, and technology teams
• External – external technology vendors, application software providers, and project consultants

Experience/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in data engineering, database administration, or related roles.
• Proven experience designing and managing data pipelines using Microsoft Fabric or similar modern data platforms.
• Strong background in implementing bronze-silver-gold data architecture for scalable and efficient data transformation.
• Hands-on experience with SQL Server administration, both on-premises and in cloud environments (e.g., Azure SQL, Managed Instances).
• Demonstrated success in migrating databases from on-premises or virtual machines to cloud-native solutions.
• Experience configuring and validating disaster recovery strategies, with a focus on meeting RPO and RTO targets.
• Familiarity with data security best practices and compliance standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2).
• Proficiency in performance tuning, query optimization, and resource monitoring for large-scale data systems.
• Experience collaborating with BI/reporting teams and supporting analytics initiatives.   

With a promote-from-within philosophy and a variety of programs available to support continuous learning, Sims offers the opportunity for a rewarding career. We are committed to the ecologically sound and sustainable use of resources and strive to operate in a manner that minimizes waste and protects the environment.
 
A career with SLS provides you with the opportunity to work with an organization whose goal is to be the world’s safest and most responsible recycling company. Our people achieve this by creating a zero-harm workplace, being exemplary members of the communities in which we operate, and being responsible stewards of the environment. We also offer competitive pay and a range of attractive benefits.

SLS is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value the diversity of all of our employees and are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where everyone can contribute, advance on merit, and realize their full potential. SLS does not discriminate with regard to race, sex, religion, color, national origin, citizenship status, disability, age, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, housing status, source of income, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws. This applies to any employment decision, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.  qualified applicants with a disability in need of a reasonable accommodation may request such without fear of reprisal or discrimination.

To achieve our purpose to create a world without waste to preserve our planet, we are guided by our Principles of Purpose: Be Safe + Well, Band Together, Be Accountable + Transparent, Consistently Innovate, Inspire with Purpose, Celebrate + Have Fun.