
Allan Kote
Verified Expert in Engineering
Data Engineer and Developer
East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Toptal member since November 3, 2022
Allan is a senior data engineer and analytics engineer with extensive experience building enterprise analytics platforms, cloud data solutions, and scalable reporting ecosystems across financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, and enterprise environments. His expertise includes Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Databricks, Power BI, SQL, dbt, Azure Data Factory, ETL/ELT workflows, semantic modeling, and modern analytics engineering.
Portfolio
Experience
- SQL - 18 years
- Data Engineering - 17 years
- Microsoft Power BI - 8 years
- Data Build Tool (dbt) - 5 years
- Snowflake - 2 years
- Databricks - 2 years
- Microsoft Fabric - 2 years
Preferred Environment
Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Databricks, SQL, Data Build Tool (dbt), Azure Data Factory (ADF), Cloud Analytics Platforms, Modern ELT/ETL Workflows
The most amazing...
...thing was building scalable enterprise analytics platforms that transform complex operational and financial data into trusted business insights.
Work Experience
Data Engineer, Reporting and Visualization Expert
Freelance Clients
- Designed enterprise analytics and cloud reporting solutions using Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Power BI, SQL Server, dbt, Azure Data Factory, Databricks, and Python.
- Built analytics-ready datasets, semantic models, and governed reporting environments supporting operational and executive decision-making.
- Delivered reporting and analytics solutions for clients, including FIC, Point Broadband (USA), Wolf & Co. (USA), Fundi, Alexander Forbes, and C-Life (USA).
- Implemented ETL/ELT workflows and scalable reporting ecosystems supporting financial reporting, KPI tracking, and operational analytics.
Power BI/MS Fabric Developer
Guardian Restoration Partners Buyer, LLC - Main
- Created and implemented a unified HR and payroll analytics data model in Microsoft Fabric, integrating ADP and SAGE workforce data into Gold-layer dimensional structures and fact tables to support enterprise workforce reporting and payroll analytics.
- Enhanced and restructured Power BI semantic models and Direct Lake relationships to support cross-functional HR reporting, including payroll, workforce utilization, leave management, overtime analysis, and executive workforce dashboards.
- Developed Spark-based employee reconciliation and identity matching logic across disparate HR systems, implementing robust matching, surrogate key strategies, and data quality controls to improve workforce data consistency and reporting reliability.
- Designed custom monitoring and validation approaches for HR data pipelines and semantic model integrity, contributing to improved visibility into data quality and integration issues across shared enterprise reporting components.
TIBCO Specialist
Toptal Client
- Designed and automated temporary Statistica workflows to extract and standardize complex production-inspired pharmaceutical data.
- Built a scalable solution to migrate and document encrypted Statistica workflows, enabling full node logic extraction for auditability and regulatory compliance.
- Engineered Python-driven automation to streamline statistical model execution and reporting, accelerating validation cycles for pharmaceutical analytics teams.
Data Engineer
Freelance Clients
- Developed investment reports for Alexander Forbes using SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS).
- Outlined part of the ETL processes and automated jobs that feed into those investment reports.
- Developed ETL processes and reporting for master data services targeting the Aurum Institute and PPECB.
- Created data profiling scripts for RapidDeploy to be used on US 911 call data.
- Used Databricks to ingest and process data from multiple heterogeneous sources, including APIs and relational databases. The solutions focused on reliability, performance optimization, and modular architecture.
Data Engineer
Wolf & Company, P.C.
- Developed a data warehouse for a telco company in Snowflake with automated jobs. Thereafter, created Power BI reports with DAX formulas based on company KPIs.
- Tracked bugs and resolved them while liaising with the client.
- Ensure proper change management on GIT with team members.
Deal Desk Technology Advisor
Zoetis - Net Revenue Management
- Created a new advanced SQL script for tracking and calculating new ODx deals.
- Developed a new ODBC dataset connection to access the SharePoint tracker spreadsheet.
- Crafted a new paginated report to track sales and orders for new and existing ODx subscribers.
- Used Azure Storage Explorer and Python to scrape invoices on PDFs and images.
- Responded to the sales teams to recommend client offers based on the ODx tiering system.
Business Intelligence Developer and Data Engineer
inQuba
- Developed customer analytics and enterprise reporting solutions using TIBCO Jaspersoft, Spotfire, SQL Server, and SSIS.
- Designed dashboards and operational reports supporting customer engagement, service delivery, and CX analytics initiatives.
- Built ETL workflows and staging environments supporting scalable analytics and reporting across multiple enterprise data sources.
Business Intelligence Developer and Data Engineer
Standard Bank South Africa
- Developed South African Reserve Bank's regulatory reports for the finance department with SSRS.
- Built SSIS packages for integrating data from various accounting and trading data sources into a central data warehouse. Used this main data warehouse as a data source for several regulatory report datasets.
- Developed new ETL process status reports using Microsoft Power BI.
- Navigated diverse databases like MongoDB, mastering NoSQL. Designed efficient solutions for varied applications using my proficiency in document-oriented, key-value, and graph models. Optimized data processes, ensuring high-performance systems.
Business Intelligence Developer and Data Engineer
Telkom
- Developed OSS/BSS and CRM system reports for consumer customer support with SSRS.
- Developed ETL processes to integrate data from Telkom's various systems into a central reporting data warehouse. I would then use this data warehouse for business intelligence reporting.
- Investigated and resolved anomalies in data reporting.
System Developer
Direct Transact
- Developed banking system transactional components for branch treasury regulation using Transact-SQL.
- Wrote code for transaction processing in Transact-SQL triggers and Delphi.
- Investigated and resolved system-process anomalies.
Business Intelligence Developer and Data Engineer
Telkom
- Developed OSS, CRM, and BSS system reports for consumer customer support with SSRS.
- Extracted, transformed, and loaded data from various sources to staging environments on Microsoft SQL Server using SSIS.
- Investigated and resolved system and data reporting anomalies.
Database Support
Turfsport
- Provided database support for the company's integrated wagering solution.
- Ensured triggers for betting processes worked as intended and at the precise time in the OLTP environment.
- Investigated and resolved bets with unexpected results.
Business Intelligence Developer and Data Engineer
Telkom
- Developed OSS/BSS and CRM system reports for consumer customer support with SSRS.
- Signed a contract with Telkom to integrate legacy system data with new mobile network system data while the company was preparing to become a mobile network provider.
- Developed C++, C#, VB.NET, Microsoft Access, and Oracle Application Express (APEX) applications to report network faults and manage fault activity proactively.
Agent
Sishayele Contact Centre Solutions
- Took emergency and police calls as an agent, providing the necessary information to emergency services.
- Trained new colleagues on system usage and soft skills.
- Captured and uploaded system data to be analyzed by the planning team.
System Developer
Soluziona Professional Services
- Wrote an ICS security application in PowerBuilder and C.
- Developed a reports module for the application using Oracle Report Writer.
- Created system batch jobs in C and PL/SQL for overnight execution.
System Developer
Touchstone Computer Systems
- Developed new functionality for the Payplus payroll system in Visual Basic for MS-DOS.
- Built an HR data capturing application to store the historical data of employees in Q&A.
- Created a system to automatically print cheques an operator has entered in Q&A.
Experience
Master Data Services for the Perishable Products Export Control Board
Emergency Call Center Data Engineering
Financial Data Warehousing
http://www.fundi.co.zaEducation
Postgraduate Program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
The University of Texas - Austin, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
University of South Africa - Pretoria, South Africa
Advanced Diploma in Telecommunications
Rhodes University | Institute for Technology and Strategy Innovation (ITSI) - Pretoria, South Africa
Advanced Diploma in Operations Management
North-West University - South Africa
Vocational Diploma in Computer Science
Genetic Computer School - Gaborone, Botswana
Certifications
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft
ITIL Certification
EXIN Cape Town
Skills
Libraries/APIs
PySpark, Sage, ADP APIs, Fabric
Tools
Microsoft Power BI, Spotfire, JasperSoft ETL, Tableau, Microsoft Excel, VPN, Oracle Reports, Microsoft Access, Looker, Azure Data Explorer, Apache Airflow, MongoDB Atlas, Postman, Sage 300 SDK, AWS Glue, Git
Languages
Transact-SQL (T-SQL), SQL, Snowflake, Delphi, C++, C#, VB.NET, C, PowerBuilder, VB, Python, Java, R, JavaScript
Storage
Relational Databases, Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), PL/SQL, Azure SQL, Databases, Database Migration, Database Management, Database Architecture, Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, Data Pipelines, NoSQL, MongoDB, OLTP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Cloud Firestore, JSON
Frameworks
ASP.NET, Windows PowerShell, .NET, Spark
Paradigms
Business Intelligence (BI), ETL, OLAP, Database Design, DevOps, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Requirements Analysis
Platforms
Azure Synapse, Oracle, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Databricks, Dedicated SQL Pool (formerly SQL DW), Microsoft Fabric, Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Docker
Industry Expertise
Accounting
Other
Reporting, Data Engineering, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Data, Data Warehouse Design, Data Migration, Finance, Dashboards, tSQLt, ETL Tools, Consulting, Data Architecture, Data Management, Analytics, Azure Data Factory (ADF), Scripting, Data Warehousing, DAX, Azure Data Lake, BI Reporting, Data Modeling, Warehouses, Data Build Tool (dbt), Microsoft Data Transformation Services (now SSIS), Relational Database Design, Metabase, FTP, SFTP, Star Schema, Data Quality Analysis, Data Scraping, Web Scraping, Scraping, Data Cleaning, Database Schema Design, Database Normalization, Performance Optimization, ELT, Machine Learning, Computer Science, ITIL V3 Foundation Certified, Next-generation Networks (NGN), Operations, Business, Customer Support, Human Assessment, Microsoft Master Data Services (MDS), Reports, Azure Databricks, CI/CD Pipelines, Data Visualization, Business Services, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Azure Storage Explorer, Pricing, Financials, Architecture, MacPractice, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Human Resources (HR), External Financial Reporting, ADP, Sage ERP, API Integration, RESTFul APIs, Looker Studio, TIBCO, Performance Tuning, Cloud Analytics Platforms, Modern ELT/ETL Workflows, SQL Server, UAT Support
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