Data Platform System Administrator

ABOUT INKOMOKO

Inkomoko supports entrepreneurs to grow their businesses in order to improve livelihoods, create jobs, and help communities thrive.

In 2026, Inkomoko was listed by the Financial Times as the 5th fastest-growing company in Africa, supporting entrepreneurs across East and Central Africa to grow thriving businesses and build inclusive, resilient economies.

Founded in 2012, Inkomoko has worked with more than 100,000 entrepreneurs, including thousands of refugee entrepreneurs. Inkomoko provides a combination of training, consulting, access to finance, and market-level systems change. We are the largest investor to refugee entrepreneurs in Africa.

Inkomoko has 900+ staff in 50 offices across Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Through Inkomoko’s 2030 strategic plan, we are adding 3 additional countries to serve more than 550,000 entrepreneurs and growing our $30M loan fund to impact 7M lives.

INKOMOKO VALUES

All staff at Inkomoko are connected to a shared set of organizational values:

• Purpose: be solutions-oriented, produce high-quality work, and be a global leader.
• Achievement: push yourself to reach beyond what you previously thought possible.
• Improvement: be humble, engage in continuous growth through open & accurate feedback
• Bravery: willing to take risks, create a safe space for others, be compassionate, and inclusive.
• We Eat Goat: we celebrate success and support each other in hard times. We do this work together in the spirit of turikumwe, tuko pamoja, abren nen, Kula na sawa, On est ensemble.

Inkomoko is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Refugees, women, and persons who reflect the diverse communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.

ABOUT THE ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• 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.

Benefits

WHAT YOU’LL GET

This role is inside a high-growth, mission-driven social enterprise. By joining, you’ll access:

• Meaningful work that directly contributes to sustainable livelihoods and job creation across East and Central Africa.
• Competitive salary, and potential Performance-based bonus
• Incredible company culture, with opportunities for learning and growth
• Diverse colleagues across the region, and policies that demonstrate commitment to equity and inclusion
• A dynamic and entrepreneurial team environment committed to innovation and social impact
• Health insurance for self and family
• Staff savings and provident fund negotiated bank rates for long-term employees
• Generous annual leave, parental leave, and sabbatical options.

TO APPLY

If you’re excited about this role, please submit your CV and tell us why you are the right fit for this opportunity.

Application Deadline: 1st September 2026

Inkomoko is committed to justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. As we seek to reflect the communities we serve, refugees and women are strongly encouraged to apply. As a company, we have policies that ensure fair treatment in the application process.

NB: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Employment is conditional upon successful background checks and other verification as needed.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and background screening checks. Inkomoko also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual misconduct, fraud, or abuse. By applying, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.