Data Platform System Administrator at Inkomoko -Nairobi
Inkomoko
Job description
Data Platform System Administrator at Inkomoko Manages and secures data infrastructure, databases, and analytics platforms to ensure reliability. Requires Computer Science/IT degree, database administration skills (SQL/Cloud), and 5+ years of experience in System administration. Full-time.
About the Role
We are seeking a highly skilled Data Platform System Administrator to manage, optimize, and evolve our internal information management systems across relational, NoSQL, OLAP, and vector databases. This role goes beyond traditional database administration – supporting data reliability, secure architectures, event-driven pipelines, and AI-powered workflows.
The ideal candidate is forward-thinking, detail-oriented, and capable of enabling clean, scalable, and secure data ecosystems that power analytics, operations, and agentic automation across the organization.
Key Responsibilities
Database, Storage & Vector Systems Administration
- Administer, maintain, and optimize relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL).
- Manage vector databases (pgvector, Milvus, Pinecone) for embedding-based search.
- Administer and optimize data warehouse platforms and OLAP systems (e.g., ClickHouse) supporting hybrid analytical workloads.
- Administer NoSQL systems such as MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Redis.
- Ensure proper indexing, normalization, and data modeling.
- Execute backups, recovery testing, schema maintenance, and performance tuning.
- Operate several database paradigms simultaneously (polyglot persistence).
- Write and maintain infrastructure as code using Terraform best practices.
Data Flow, Integrations & Pipelines
- Ensure clean, reliable data pipelines for BI tools, analytics, and agentic systems.
- Support data warehouse architecture and ETL/ELT processes feeding BI, analytics, and reporting layers.
- Support integration efforts by ensuring proper data availability and quality.
- Implement event-driven architectures (Kafka, Pulsar, CDC).
- Maintain semantic layers, metadata catalogs, data dictionaries, and embedding pipelines.
- Guarantee data consistency, quality, and structuring across all storage environments.
System Reliability, Monitoring & Observability
- Monitor system health, performance, uptime, and data flow.
- Implement observability for databases, pipelines, and agentic workflows.
- Conduct audits, performance reviews, and capacity planning.
- Troubleshoot incidents, perform root-cause analysis, and implement corrective actions.
Security, Access Control & Compliance
- Manage roles, permissions, RBAC/ABAC, and secure system access.
- Ensure compliance with data security, privacy, and auditability requirements.
- Maintain explainability and traceability of agentic and automated actions.
- Apply best practices for backups, encryption, and data lifecycle protection.
Automation, Infrastructure & DevOps Support
- Develop scripts for automation (Bash, Python, PowerShell).
- Support IaC approaches using Terraform and Ansible.
- Assist in container deployment workflows (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Provide configuration-level support for ExtJS or Django-based platforms.
Collaboration & Documentation
- Work closely with engineering, data, and business teams.
- Maintain documentation of schemas, workflows, contracts, and governance.
- Provide knowledge support and system enablement to internal teams.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience in System administration
- Strong proficiency in SQL and relational database optimization.
- Experience with vector databases and embedding search systems.
- Experience with NoSQL databases (MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch).
- Knowledge of OLAP databases (ClickHouse).
- Understanding of event-driven systems and streaming platforms.
- Proficiency in automation scripting (Bash, Python, PowerShell).
- Experience with monitoring/observability tools.
- Familiarity with ExtJS and Django for system configuration.
- Knowledge of IaC (Terraform, Ansible), GitOps, Docker, Kubernetes.
- Experience orchestrating data warehouse platforms, including deployment, performance tuning, and lifecycle operations.
- Strong understanding of data security and compliance.
- Understanding of asynchronous task execution and distributed workflows.
- Ability to manage semantic layers and metadata systems.
Key competencies
We are looking for someone who
- Instills Trust – Follows through on commitments, builds credibility by being direct and truthful, and shows genuine care for staff members.
- Acts with Courage – Steps up to address difficult issues and speaks openly with bravery; takes the initiative to pursue new opportunities; takes full ownership of own work
- Makes Informed Decisions – Seeks relevant data and input when needed, takes appropriate action within their area of responsibility, and knows when to escalate.