Manager – Data & Big Data Operations

Role Overview

The Manager – Data & Big Data Operations at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the infrastructure and tools that enable the organization to process and analyze large volumes of structured and unstructured data. This role is critical for leveraging big data technologies to derive actionable insights and support data-driven decision-making across the Authority.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of the Big Data stack (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, or cloud-native equivalents like Azure Synapse/Google BigQuery).
• Develop and implement data operations strategies aligned with organizational goals, ensuring efficiency, scalability, and sustainability.
• Ensure data analytics platforms and infrastructure are elastic enough to handle any variations in data and analytics traffic including unexpected spikes.
• Oversee the ingestion of unstructured and semi-structured data into a centralized repository for analytics.
• Evaluate, implement, and optimize data tools, platforms, and emerging technologies to enhance operational performance and analytics capability.
• Maintain real-time data pipelines that allow for immediate analytics, such as risk profiling and "on-the-spot" compliance alerts.
• Optimize massive batch ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)/ELT (Extract, Load and Transform) jobs that move data from operational databases into data warehousing for reporting.
• Utilize tools like Apache Airflow to manage complex dependencies between hundreds of different data workflows across KRA’s internal and external ecosystems.
• Implement disaster recovery and failover strategies to ensure that the Data Management & Analytics (DM&A) tools are available 24/7.
• Collaborate with Data Scientists to optimize complex SQL or NoSQL queries.
• Manage the compute and storage costs of the Big Data environment, ensuring KRA gets maximum ROI on its hardware or cloud spend.
• Implement fine-grained access control (Role-Based Access Control) to ensure sensitive information is only accessible to authorized users.
• Oversee the technical implementation of data masking and encryption "at rest" and "in transit" to comply with the Data Protection Act.
• Maintain logs of data access to provide "activity trails" for security audits.
• Ensure data integrity, accuracy, security, and compliance with regulatory, audit, integrity, QMS, and risk management frameworks.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to resolve data-related issues and advise leadership through actionable insights.
• Implement corporate initiatives in the Unit: Performance Management, Audit, Integrity, Quality Management Systems, and Risk Management.
• Support staff career development and performance enhancement within the unit.

Requirements and Person Specifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Engineering or a related and equivalent qualification from a recognized university.
• Advanced Education: Master’s Degree in any of the above fields is an added advantage.
• Experience: A cumulative service period of five (5) years relevant work experience, two (2) of which should have been in a first-level management position or comparable position.
• Certifications: Training or certification in Data Engineering, big data frameworks, DevOps, MLOps, or cloud platforms.
• Leadership: A leadership course lasting not less than four (4) weeks from a recognized institution is an added advantage.
• Professional Membership: Membership in a relevant professional body is required.

Key Competencies

• Sound decision-making and analytical capabilities.
• High standards of ethics, integrity, and professionalism.
• Accountability and ability to work under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong awareness of the operating environment and creative thinking.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should apply online by visiting the official Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) website at www.kra.go.ke. Alternatively, you can follow the application link provided on the recruitment portal at https://www.myjobmag.co.ke/apply-now/1166794.