Senior Data Engineer - NVWA

Project overview

Please note! This role is only available for secondment/suppliers or for freelancers joining our payroll. We can tell you more about this by phone. Rate cap: €105,- Assignment description For the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), we are looking for a Senior Data Engineer for a pilot to investigate whether an open-source data platform can replace the current analysis and reporting environment. The pilot will be carried out based on a predetermined number of use cases, which together cover the chain from source unlocking to unlocking for the business.

The Senior Data Engineer is the substantive driver of the pilot: he/she will actually build the use cases and ensure that the involved developers from the various teams are able to contribute themselves. The work will be carried out under the direction and supervision of the NVWA, within the framework of the pilot plan and in consultation with the project leader. Main responsibilities & Realization of use cases:

• Setting up and elaborating the pilot use cases on the open-source data platform, with components such as Apache NiFi, Apache Spark, Trino, Apache Iceberg, dbt, Apache Airflow, Superset, OpenMetadata, and OPA on Kubernetes.
• Building data ingestion, transformation, and unlocking based on existing NVWA data sources.
• Translating existing functionality from the current analysis and reporting environment into equivalents in the new stack, and documenting differences and limitations.
• Monitoring the pace: use cases must be completed within the agreed lead time and delivered with reproducible results. Collaboration and knowledge transfer:
• Involving developers from the various teams according to the principle 'show > do together > do yourself'; the knowledge remains within the NVWA after completion.
• Facilitating rather than directing: allowing teams space, but maintaining progress on agreed milestones. Substantiation and delivery:
• Documenting the findings per use case (functionality, performance, management overhead, security, costs) as input for subsequent decision-making.
• Delivering reusable building blocks, configuration as code, and documentation.
• Identifying risks and bottlenecks to the project leader, timely and substantiated. Background of the assignment The NVWA is working on renewing its data foundation. It is being investigated whether an open-source, Kubernetes-based data platform can functionally and operationally replace the current analysis and reporting environment. The motivation is the desired supplier independence, digital autonomy, and control over costs and licenses. The pilot runs through a series of representative use cases and is carried out in collaboration with the data teams and DICTU. The outcome will provide input for the decision-making about the NVWA's future data platform. To realize the use cases within the pilot's duration and involve the participating teams, additional senior-level engineering capacity is needed. Requirements Requirements are Knock-out criteria. Applications that do not meet the requirements will be set aside. The quality of the proposed candidates will not be assessed based on these requirements, but based on the award criteria shown below. Candidate has at least 10 years of demonstrable IT work experience Candidate has at least 5 years of work experience as a data engineer and with building and managing data platforms and data pipelines Candidate has at least 3 years of work experience with distributed data processing on a modern platform, such as Spark/PySpark, Databricks, Fabric, or equivalent Candidate has at least 3 years of demonstrable work experience with SQL and/or Python Candidate has at least 3 years of demonstrable work experience with CI/CD, version control, and configuration as code Candidate has demonstrable work experience with open source and with supplier-independent solutions Wishes: Knowledge and experience aspects on which candidates can distinguish themselves An completed HBO (higher professional education) degree Candidate has demonstrable work experience with building data platforms and data pipelines at scale, and demonstrable ability to quickly master a new (open source (e.g., Spark, Trino, dbt, Airflow, NiFi)) stack Candidate has demonstrable ability to involve developers from multiple teams and transfer knowledge Candidate has demonstrable experience with the migration or replacement of an existing data platform, including demonstrable transfer of functionality Candidate has demonstrable experience with data environments, including setup of security, rights, and access management Candidate has demonstrable experience within the (semi-)public sector in a politically sensitive environment Competencies Objective & Pragmatic Political-administrative sensitivity Results-oriented & passion Connecting ability & didactic skills

Project details

• Start: 2026-11-30T23:00:00
• Location: Utrecht, NL
• Languages: Dutch