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First Quantum Minerals Ltd

Data Platform Owner / Principal Engineer Aug 2023 – Present www.first-quantum.com

Independently architect, design, develop, and maintain end-to-end data solutions within the Azure environment and Databricks platform. Operate as a full-stack data professional, owning the complete data lifecycle from architecture design through implementation, deployment, and continuous optimization.

Key Responsibilities

Data Engineering

Data Acquisition & Source Management

  • Independently architect and implement end-to-end data acquisition strategies
  • Design solutions using:
    • Azure Synapse
    • Azure Functions
    • Azure Databricks
    • Medallion architecture principles
  • Architect and implement streaming ingestion using:
    • Azure Event Hubs
    • Azure Service Bus
    • Databricks Structured Streaming

Custom API & Integration Development

  • Design, develop, and deploy custom APIs and data feeds using Azure Functions (Python & C#)
  • Architect serverless, event-driven processing solutions
  • Build custom enterprise integration solutions connecting disparate systems

ETL / ELT Pipeline Development

  • Architect and implement reusable ETL/ELT boilerplate templates
  • Develop custom data transformation libraries (Rust & Python)
  • Design and build orchestration workflows across distributed systems

Data Quality Engineering

  • Architect enterprise-wide data quality frameworks
  • Design and implement automated validation rules
  • Build custom monitoring and quality enforcement solutions

Data Governance & Security

  • Architect and implement governance solutions using Unity Catalog
  • Implement group policy enforcement and access controls
  • Build audit and compliance monitoring systems
  • Develop automated reporting and alerting mechanisms

Data Architecture & System Design

End-to-End Architecture Ownership

  • Single-handedly designed and architected complete data ecosystems
  • Developed solutions from conceptual data models to production-ready platforms
  • Defined enterprise data architecture patterns across Azure & Databricks
  • Designed scalable, fault-tolerant infrastructure supporting batch and real-time workloads

Technology Strategy & Stack Planning

  • Evaluated, selected, and integrated technologies across:
    • Azure Synapse
    • Azure Data Factory
    • Azure Functions
    • Azure Databricks
  • Architected hybrid cloud solutions
  • Designed migration strategies from legacy systems to cloud-native platforms

Software Engineering

Full-Stack Development

  • Developed custom applications and tools using:
    • C#
    • Go
    • Rust
    • Python
  • Built REST APIs, microservices, and serverless applications using Azure Functions

Code Architecture & Engineering Standards

  • Designed reusable code libraries and data processing templates
  • Established coding standards and version control practices
  • Implemented structured code review processes
  • Architected modular, maintainable, scalable software solutions

Data Operations & Platform Management

Infrastructure & Environment Management

  • Architected, provisioned, and managed complete Azure cloud infrastructure
  • Designed multi-environment deployment strategies (Dev / Prod)
  • Built backup and disaster recovery strategies for critical data systems

Performance Optimization & Cost Management

  • Architected Databricks cluster optimization strategies
  • Implemented Delta Lake performance tuning
  • Optimized query performance across large-scale datasets
  • Designed cost optimization frameworks using:
    • Serverless computing patterns
    • Resource scheduling
    • Usage monitoring and governance
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