Director - Data Platform Engineering

We are looking for a senior data leader to join Simple Machines in Sydney as part of our Global Data Practice leadership team. This is a strategic and hands-on leadership role focused on helping shape the future direction of our data platform capability across ANZ. The individual will play a key role in defining our propositions, strengthening our technical capability, and helping clients modernise their data ecosystems for an AI-native future. The role requires someone equally comfortable operating at executive, architectural, commercial, and delivery levels. We are looking for a leader who understands where enterprise data platforms are heading over the next five years, not where they were five years ago. Requirements Key ResponsibilitiesPart of the Global Data Practice leadership teamHelping define and evolve Simple Machines' data platform propositions, technical direction, and strategic positioningAdvising enterprise clients on modern data platform strategy, architecture, operating models, and AI readinessSupporting organisations as they evolve from traditional centralised data platforms toward AI-native, real-time, and data product-oriented operating modelsWorking closely with Engagement Managers and senior leadership across major strategic initiativesLeading architecture and technical direction for complex enterprise data platform and transformation programsActing as a senior technical counterpart across strategic client engagements and partner relationshipsPre-sales, proposal development, technical solution shaping, and executive stakeholder engagementBuilding trusted relationships with strategic technology partners and staying current with emerging platform capabilities and market directionSupporting recruitment, mentoring, capability uplift, and practice development across the broader engineering organisationLeading major client initiatives across data engineering, platform modernisation, AI enablement, and operational data systemsContributing to thought leadership, market positioning, and growth initiatives across ANZ Must-Haves10+ years' experience across data engineering, data platforms, analytics engineering, or data architectureProven consultancy and enterprise client-facing experienceStrong pre-sales, proposal development, and solution shaping capabilityDemonstrated experience architecting and delivering modern cloud-native data platforms at enterprise scaleStrong experience developing solutions centred around data products and reusable enterprise data capabilitiesDeep understanding of data mesh principles, federated governance, and scalable domain-oriented data ownership modelsExperience designing platforms and architectures to support AI-native use cases, machine learning systems, agentic workflows, and intelligent software platformsStrong understanding of real-time and event-driven architectures, including streaming data systems and low-latency processing patternsExperience building platforms that support governed, discoverable, reusable, and operationalised data products across large organisations Familiarity with contemporary data stack technologies and modern engineering practicesStrong understanding of platform architecture, distributed data systems, orchestration, governance, and scalable data product designExperience with technologies and ecosystems such as GCP, AWS, Azure, Databricks, Snowflake, Kafka, Spark, dbt, Kubernetes, Airflow, ML/AI enablement, or similar modern platform toolingStrong commercial acumen and ability to engage credibly with senior technical and business stakeholdersExperience leading major enterprise initiatives and high-performing engineering teamsComfortable operating in a fast-moving, high-performance consultancy environment Ideal ProfileWe are looking for someone who combines strong technical depth with commercial and strategic capability. This is not purely a delivery management role, nor is it purely architectural. The ideal person will have a strong point of view on the future of enterprise data platforms, modern data operating models, and the convergence of data engineering and AI enablement. You should be comfortable moving between executive conversations, whiteboarding architecture, shaping proposals, mentoring teams, and helping clients navigate complex transformation programs. About Simple MachinesSimple Machines is a global, independent technology consultancy operating across Sydney, New Zealand, London, Poland and San Francisco. We design and build modern data platforms, intelligent systems, and bespoke software at the intersection of Data Engineering, Software Engineering and AI. We help enterprises, scale-ups, and government turn complex, high-value data into products, platforms, and decisions that drive real impact. We don't do generic. We build things that matter - We engineer data to life™.