Data Engineer

Job Description Summary:

Our Digital Transformation 

The Coca‑Cola Company is evolving into a more digital‑first, data‑driven enterprise to fuel sustainable growth, increase speed to market, and unlock new sources of value. Rapid advances in technology, data, and AI create a unique opportunity to accelerate the KO system’s next chapter of growth by reimagining our core competitive advantages. Building on a strong foundation of modernized infrastructure, global digital experiences, early data capabilities, and proven use cases, we are now shifting from early wins to scaled, end to end impact on growth, productivity, and efficiency. 

This next phase moves us from an analog world to a fully digitized one, powered by a digital growth engine that embeds data, technology, and AI into our most critical business domains. Success will require more than technology implementation, it demands a strategic transformation of core capabilities, a domain based, product centric operating model, and a cultural shift toward experimentation, data and technology fluency, and seamless partnership between business and digital teams. 

Role Overview  The Director, Data Engineering plays a critical role in enabling Coca‑Cola’s digital transformation by designing and scaling modern, enterprise‑grade data platforms that power advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and data‑driven decision making. This role focuses on accelerating the shift from fragmented data ecosystems to a unified, high‑quality, and accessible data foundation aligned to business domains. 

This leader partners closely with cross‑functional digital, technology, and business teams to deliver reliable, scalable, and secure data pipelines and platforms that support end‑to‑end use cases. The role requires balancing near‑term delivery with long‑term platform strategy while advancing modern engineering practices and embedding data and AI fluency across teams. 

What You will do for us

Requirements

• Architect, build, and scale modern data platforms and pipelines that enable enterprise‑wide access to high‑quality data for analytics, reporting, and AI use cases 
• Drive the design and implementation of domain‑aligned data products that support business capabilities and align with a product‑centric operating model 
• Partner with digital product, analytics, and AI teams to translate business needs into scalable data engineering solutions that deliver measurable value 
• Establish and enforce data engineering standards, including data quality, governance, security, and interoperability across systems and domains 
• Lead modernization of legacy data environments, enabling migration to cloud‑based architectures and improving speed, flexibility, and cost efficiency 
• Implement best practices in data architecture, including real‑time and batch processing, data modeling, metadata management, and observability 
• Enable AI and advanced analytics by ensuring data readiness, accessibility, and integration across enterprise platforms 
• Collaborate with global teams across Functions and Operating Units to align on shared data models, standards, and reusable capabilities 
• Build and mentor engineering teams, fostering a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and accountability 
• Monitor and optimize platform performance, scalability, and cost, ensuring alignment with business priorities and value realization 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field 
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, data platform development, or related areas 
• Proven experience designing and scaling cloud‑based data platforms and distributed data systems 
• Strong expertise in modern data technologies, including data lakes, data warehouses, and streaming platforms 
• Experience with cloud platforms and data ecosystems such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform 
• Demonstrated ability to design data models and pipelines that support AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics use cases 
• Experience implementing data governance, data quality frameworks, and security best practices at scale 
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles, including version control, continuous integration, and automated testing 
• Experience working in product‑centric, agile delivery environments with cross‑functional teams 
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value and influence stakeholders at multiple levels 
• Strong leadership and people development skills, with experience building and scaling high‑performing technical teams 
• High level of digital and data fluency, with a growth mindset and commitment to continuous improvement 

 

Skills:

Location(s):

South Africa

City/Cities:

Johannesburg

Travel Required:

00% - 25%

Relocation Provided:

No

Job Posting End Date:

August 20, 2026

Our Purpose and Growth Culture:

We are taking deliberate action to nurture an inclusive culture that is grounded in our company purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference. We act with a growth mindset, take an expansive approach to what’s possible and believe in continuous learning to improve our business and ourselves. We focus on four key behaviors – curious, empowered, inclusive and agile – and value how we work as much as what we achieve. We believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive after 130+ years. Visit Our Purpose and Vision to learn more about these behaviors and how you can bring them to life in your next role at Coca-Cola.