Platform, Engineering & Data Technical Lead (6 months contract)
ContangoJobsCloseBy Editorial Insights
Contango seeks a Platform, Engineering & Data Technical Lead for a 6 month on-site project in Abu Dhabi to drive an enterprise transformation across a process orchestration platform, a data platform and a roadmap. You will be the onshore technical authority, own the end-to-end solution, define target architecture and engineering standards, and lead offshore teams through go-live and stabilization. Expect governance, data modeling and quality controls, AI enabled capabilities, and robust orchestration delivery. The ideal candidate has 10+ years delivering multi-workstream programs with Azure and Databricks, Camunda 8 BPMN orchestration, and vendor oversight; consulting or Big Tech background is valued. To apply, tailor your resume and cover letter to highlight measurable outcomes, governance, and readiness for a 6 month on-site start Aug/Sep 2026.
Contract duration: 6 months (with a potential extension)
Engagement Type: Full-time
Start date: August/September 2026
Location: Abu Dhabi (on-site)
About Contango:
Contango is the strategic partner for transformative growth and sustained success for the ADQ portfolio. Our team excels in providing comprehensive growth solutions that combine global best practices with local market expertise. We focus on long-term value creation, empowering our clients to achieve the full scale of their aspirations. As a trusted advisor to ADQ's portfolio companies, Contango helps CEOs drive strategic growth initiatives, navigate disruptive forces, and maximize long-term value creation.
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced Platform, Engineering & Data Technical Lead to serve as the onshore technical authority for an enterprise transformation program implementing a process orchestration platform, an enterprise data platform, and an integration roadmap across core business streams.
The role owns the end-to-end technical solution, helps define the target architecture and engineering standards, provides technical oversight of the incumbent data platform vendor, and leads the design and delivery of the data foundation and AI-enabled capabilities. The role directs offshore engineering, platform, data, and QA teams, and is accountable for solution quality, technical risk, and production readiness through go-live and stabilization.
This is a hands-on leadership role, requiring both architectural understanding and personal technical depth.
Key Responsibilities
Act as the senior technical interface to client stakeholders, the incumbent data platform vendor, and parallel initiatives
Own the end-to-end technical solution across orchestration and data workstreams, ensuring architectural coherence across all components:
Architecture and Engineering Standards
Help define architecture components across infrastructure, security, RBAC, data, etc.
Make and document key technology decisions; surface technical risks and dependencies through governance forums
Establish and enforce engineering standards - CI/CD pipelines, code review gates, quality controls, etc.
Enterprise Data Platform
Help assess existing data platform readiness against orchestration requirements and identify gaps
Provide technical oversight of the incumbent vendor's platform implementation
Define the target data model, key business entities, and source-to-target mappings
Oversee build of ingestion pipelines and transformation logic for structured and unstructured data
Establish data quality, validation, and reconciliation controls to support go-live readiness
AI Capabilities
Define the technical approach for AI capabilities embedded within workflows
Lead extraction and accuracy tuning of unstructured data to support smart features
Implement evaluation criteria, human-in-the-loop patterns, and guardrails for security and cost control
Orchestration Platform Delivery Assurance and Go-Live
Provide technical assurance over orchestration platform setup and integration
Oversee sprint planning, testing cycles, defect triage, and release readiness
Own technical go-live sign-off, including cutover and rollback planning
Lead and mentor offshore engineering, platform, data, and QA teams
Lead hypercare, stabilization, operations documentation, and knowledge transfer
Required Experience and Qualifications
Prior experience at management consulting firms and/or Big Tech is an advantage
Client-serving experience is an advantage
10+ years across enterprise technology delivery, combining solution architecture, platform engineering, and data engineering
Technical lead experience on multi-workstream programs spanning application and data domains
Strong hands-on experience with modern cloud data platforms (Databricks preferred) - Lakehouse architecture, data modeling, and pipeline design
Experience onboarding structured and unstructured data, including document extraction and accuracy tuning
Practical experience delivering AI/LLM-enabled capabilities within enterprise applications or workflows
Strong cloud platform experience (Azure preferred) - IaC, environment design, RBAC, CI/CD, and monitoring
Working knowledge of process orchestration concepts (BPMN, human-in-the-loop workflows) and enterprise integration patterns
Ability to translate technical decisions into business outcomes for senior stakeholders
Relevant certifications in cloud architecture, data platforms, or AI engineering
Preferred Experience and Qualifications
Experience delivering enterprise orchestration, automation, or data platform programs in asset-intensive sectors such as marine, logistics, energy, or industrial operations
Experience leading offshore teams and providing technical assurance over vendor deliverables
Exposure to Camunda 8 or comparable process orchestration platforms
Experience with data governance capabilities such as Unity Catalog, Delta Lake, or Microsoft Purview
Experience defining target architectures, technology roadmaps, and technical business cases for large transformation programs