Haken Data Engineer - GCP, ETL & Generative AI

Join one of Japan's largest technology companies as a Data Engineer, building scalable data infrastructure that supports enterprise-wide analytics and AI initiatives. This Tokyo-based contract opportunity is ideal for an experienced engineer who wants to combine GCP, ETL pipelines, data analytics, and Generative AI in a large-scale production environment.

You will design, build, and maintain cloud-based data pipelines while ensuring data quality, reliability, and cost efficiency. Working closely with engineering and SRE teams, you will help operate sophisticated analytics platforms handling large and diverse datasets.

Generative AI is also an important part of the engineering environment. You will use LLMs, AI coding agents, and modern AI tools to accelerate development, automate repetitive tasks, troubleshoot issues, and continuously improve data engineering workflows.

Please note: This position is open to candidates currently residing in Japan only.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable ETL and data pipelines on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), balancing system performance, scalability, and cost efficiency.
• Maintain high standards of data quality and pipeline reliability by implementing robust validation, monitoring, and accuracy checks.
• Collaborate with engineering teams on release planning and work closely with SRE teams on platform governance, operational monitoring, and system reliability.
• Investigate and resolve data anomalies, user data requests, and platform-related issues, providing effective support for customer service inquiries.
• Take ownership of technical issues from identification through resolution, applying a structured and proactive approach to troubleshooting.
• Use Generative AI, LLMs, and AI coding agents to optimise development processes, accelerate engineering workflows, and automate repetitive data tasks.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve the performance, maintainability, and operational efficiency of enterprise data platforms.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in data engineering, data pipelines, analytics platforms, or equivalent software engineering development.
• Hands-on experience designing, building, maintaining, and troubleshooting cloud ETL and data pipelines on GCP.
• Practical experience using Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), or AI coding agents as part of day-to-day engineering workflows.
• Strong understanding of data pipeline reliability, validation, data quality, and production troubleshooting.
• Experience working with engineering, platform, SRE, or other technical teams in a production environment.

Soft Skills:

• Strong ownership and the ability to independently drive technical issues from investigation through resolution.
• Logical problem-solving skills with a systematic, proactive approach to engineering challenges.
• Excellent cross-functional communication and collaboration skills for working effectively with engineering, SRE, and global teams.
• Ability to work productively and reliably in asynchronous and distributed working environments.
• Continuous-improvement mindset with an interest in using AI and automation to improve engineering efficiency.

Language Requirements:

• English: Intermediate to business-level proficiency for collaboration within a global engineering environment.
• Japanese: Basic-level proficiency.

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

• Experience building, operating, and maintaining data platforms using GCP BigQuery, Managed Spark, or Databricks.
• Strong knowledge of ETL pipeline orchestration, CI/CD, automated data quality assurance, and production monitoring.
• Experience with Spark performance tuning and optimisation of large-scale data processing workloads.
• Experience implementing automated data validation and quality-control processes.
• Proven ability to use modern AI frameworks, Generative AI, LLMs, or AI agents to accelerate engineering workflows and automate repetitive tasks.
• Experience working with large-scale enterprise analytics platforms and complex datasets.

About the Company

Our client is one of Japan's largest technology and internet companies, operating large-scale digital services and sophisticated technology platforms.

Within its forward-looking AI & Data organisation, engineers work with massive, diverse datasets while developing platforms that enable data-driven decision-making across the enterprise. The environment combines the scale of a major Japanese technology company with modern approaches to cloud data engineering, AI, analytics, and automation.

Engineers are encouraged to take ownership, experiment with AI-enabled development approaches, and continuously strengthen their technical expertise while collaborating with global talent.

Why You'll Love Working Here

• Competitive contract rate of ¥3,500-¥4,000 per hour.
• Work with GCP, ETL, BigQuery, Spark, Generative AI, and enterprise-scale data platforms in a production environment.
• Gain hands-on experience integrating LLMs and AI coding agents into modern data engineering workflows.
• Work with large, complex datasets at one of Japan's leading technology companies.
• Hybrid working model with four days in the office and one flexible work-from-home day per week.
• Monthly transportation allowance.
• Access to an employee food hall with meals provided.
• Collaborate with global engineering talent in an environment focused on AI adoption, technical ownership, and continuous improvement.

Don't Miss Out - Apply Now!