AWS Lakehouse Platform Engineer

Job Title: AWS Lakehouse Platform Engineer

Location: UAE – Abu Dhabi or Dubai

Engagement: Full-time (On-site)

Contract duration: 3 or 6 months + possible extensions

Start date: February 2026

Riverflex is partnering with a leading financial institution in the UAE on a strategic Proof of Concept to establish the foundations of an AWS data platform. We are seeking a Platform Engineer to own the PoC end-to-end, define the reference architecture, and establish the standards and guardrails that will shape how the data platform is built going forward.

This is not a data engineering role. This position is about platform ownership, architecture, governance, and long-term operability. You will serve as the internal authority on “how we do data platforms,” working closely with the partner’s Data Lead and embedded with the on-site platform engineering team to ensure the foundation is robust, scalable, and fit for enterprise-grade analytics and future AI use cases.

• Own the end-to-end design and delivery of an AWS-based lakehouse Proof of Concept.
• Act as lead architect and custodian of the data platform, defining reference architectures, reusable patterns, and engineering standards.
• Design and implement a governed lakehouse architecture using Amazon S3, AWS Glue, Athena, Lake Formation, with Apache Iceberg as a core tableformat.

• Establish security-first platform designs, including IAM patterns and role-based access, Data access controls, governance guardrails, auditability, etc.
• Ensure consistent cataloging, lineage, and metadata practices across the lakehouse.

• Build and manage platform infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (AWS CDK or Terraform).
• Ensure the platform is production-minded, with explicit focus on: long-term operability, scalability, cost efficiency and maintainability
• Define and implement operational standards, including monitoring, alerting, and basic runbooks where applicable.

• Partner closely with the Data Lead to align platform architecture with data engineering and analytics needs.
• Work embedded with the on-site platform engineering team, acting as a hands-on technical leader and mentor.
• Document architectural decisions, standards, and operating models to enable reuse and scaling beyond the PoC.

• 6+ years of experience in platform engineering, cloud engineering, or data platform engineering roles.
• Proven experience owning and shaping platform architectures rather than only implementing pipelines.
• Deep hands-on experience with:
  • Amazon S3 (storage patterns, lifecycle policies)
  • Glue (jobs, catalog, orchestration)
  • Athena
  • Lake Formation
  • Apache Iceberg
  • AWS CDK or Terraform
• Strong understanding of AWS Well-Architected Framework and platform best practices.
• Ability to design for reliability, cost control, and operational simplicity.
• Architectural mindset and being comfortable operating with reference architectures, engineering standards, guardrails and governance models.
• Able to balance short-term PoC delivery with long-term platform sustainability.
• Experience in financial services or other regulated environments is a strong advantage.
• Ability to be based in the UAE for a minimum of 3 months, working full-time on-site (Abu Dhabi or Dubai).

This is a unique opportunity to define the foundation of a modern enterprise data platform for a major financial institution, with real influence over long-term architectural direction - while working on-site in the UAE at the heart of one of the world’s fastest-growing technology and financial hubs. You will operate in a high-impact environment, alongside senior stakeholders, on a greenfield platform initiative with strong executive backing.