Job Description

Standard Bank Group is a leading Africa-focused financial services group, and an innovative player on the global stage, that offers a variety of career-enhancing opportunities – plus the chance to work alongside some of the sector’s most talented, motivated professionals. Our clients range from individuals, to businesses of all sizes, high net worth families and large multinational corporates and institutions. We’re passionate about creating growth in Africa. Bringing true, meaningful value to our clients and the communities we serve and creating a real sense of purpose for you.

The Data Engineering Graduate Programme is a structured development pathway designed to attract, develop, and retain high‑potential graduates with strong analytical and technical aptitude. The programme provides graduates with hands‑on exposure to enterprise‑scale data platforms, modern data engineering practices, and real business cases, while building a sustainable pipeline of future Data Engineers for the organisation. 

Graduates will rotate through core components of the data engineering lifecycle, including data ingestion, transformation, modelling, and data quality, while being mentored by experienced Engineers and Analysts. 

Key responsibilities:

The programme aims to: 

• Build foundational data engineering capability. 
• Create a standardised onboarding and upskilling framework aligned to enterprise data architecture, governance, and engineering standards. 

Core Technical Tasks 

• Assist with the development and maintenance of ETL/ELT pipelines using approved tools and platforms. 
• Support data ingestion from diverse sources (databases, files, APIs, external vendors). 
• Participate in data transformation and modelling activities to support analytics and reporting. 
• Implement and monitor basic data quality and data integrity checks. 
• Contribute to data documentation, metadata, and lineage artefacts. 

Operational and Delivery Tasks 

• Support production data pipelines through monitoring, troubleshooting, and incident resolution. 
• Participate in sprint planning, stand‑ups, and delivery ceremonies (Agile/Hybrid). 
• Assist with testing, validation, and release activities within governed environments. 

Learning and Development Journey 

• Complete structured learning paths covering:  
• SQL and data modelling fundamentals.
• Data engineering concepts (ETL/ELT, SCDs, data quality).
• Cloud data platforms and modern data architectures.
• Actively seek feedback and participate in mentoring and coaching sessions. 
• Demonstrate continuous learning and improvement through practical application. 

Collaboration and Professional Conduct 

• Work closely with Data Analysts, BI developers, and business stakeholders. 
• Communicate clearly on progress, risks, and dependencies. 
• Adhere to data governance, security, and compliance policies. 
• Understanding of data concepts such as tables, schemas, keys, transformations and data models. 

Qualifications

Completed Undergraduate degree (within the last 2-3 years) or Postgraduate qualification (completed within the last 2-3 years or completing in 2026):

• Computer Science 
• Information Systems / Information Technology 
• Engineering (Computer, Industrial, Electrical, or similar) 
• Mathematics, Statistics, or Analytics 

Additional Information

Technical Foundation (Minimum but not mandatory) 

• Basic proficiency in SQL (queries, joins, aggregations). 
• Understanding of relational databases and structured data concepts. 
• Understanding of data concepts such as tables, schemas, keys, and transformations and data models. 

Minimum requirements:

• Must be a South African citizen.
• Should you have work experience, it should not exceed 12 months.
• Full academic transcripts to be submitted with application for undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

Programme duration: 12 months

Application closing date: 30 June 2026