Hello, I'm
Forward Deployed Engineer (Senior) · Palantir Foundry
I'm a data and engineering leader based in Cape Town, South Africa, with over a decade of experience turning complex data challenges into actionable business outcomes. Currently working at RANGR Data — the premier Palantir services firm — I help organisations unlock the full value of their data through Palantir Foundry and AIP. My career spans data engineering, product management, risk intelligence, and team leadership across South Africa and the United States.
Experience
Working at the premier Palantir services firm, helping organisations unlock the full value of their data through Palantir Foundry and AIP. Partnering directly with clients to drive actionable insights, optimise operations, and accelerate business impact by transforming complex data challenges into powerful, scalable solutions.
Led new product and functionality exploration, experimentation, and development for an AI-driven trading platform. Managed relationships with workflow technology partners and international data providers, while coaching the team and handling ad-hoc data engineering tasks.
Led and grew a team of data engineers and data scientists building models, systems, and ETL processes. Managed a continuously changing development backlog across multiple teams, drove complex project management tasks, and maintained end-to-end system knowledge and understanding.
Led, managed, and grew the Data Stewardship department serving internal and external clients. Responsible for capacity planning, profitability, strategic planning, and identifying new data sources across Africa for risk assessments and proactive risk monitoring. Managed all data supplier and partner relationships and attended client meetings to analyse requirements and guide outcomes.
Produced risk monitoring and mitigation models to help clients manage vendor sustainability, compliance, and integrity risks. Conducted conflict-of-interest investigations within supply chains and served as Product Manager for the Inoxico Matrix — a SaaS Supply Chain Governance Tool.
Researched, manipulated, cleaned, and analysed data to identify trends and produce high-quality client-ready output including background checks, adverse media reports, and due diligence documents. Contributed to internal process enhancements and workflow improvements.
Postgraduate Honours degree in Economics, building advanced analytical and research capabilities that have underpinned a career in data-driven decision making.
Undergraduate degree grounding in economics, international trade, and quantitative analysis.
Highlights
Awarded Employee of the Year at Trade Shield, recognising outstanding contribution across product leadership, data engineering, and team impact throughout 2023.
Holds the Professional Palantir Certified Foundry Data Engineer certification, validating deep expertise in building and deploying enterprise data solutions on Palantir Foundry.
Designed and implemented an automated entity resolution pipeline using SQL, KNIME, Power Apps, and Power Automate — eliminating manual Excel-based workflows and significantly reducing data cleaning overhead company-wide.
Developed a method for performing high-level social media relationship analysis, providing clients with a powerful new capability for forensic investigations and conflict-of-interest detection.
Introduced multiple process improvements in the first 18 months at Inoxico, eliminating repetitive tasks across ~20 individuals and freeing up over 120 hours of capacity per month.
Recognised as Risk Analyst of the Quarter at Inoxico for Q4 2018, reflecting excellence in risk assessments, supply chain investigations, and client account management during a high-impact period.
Competencies
Growth
Served on the company Strategy Committee for five years, contributing to quarterly and annual strategic planning, organisational reviews, and long-term directional decisions.
Talent Management, Leadership Development & Psychometrics assessment conducted by PeopleTree Insight (May 2019).
Easter Egg
Let's Talk
Whether you want to discuss an opportunity, collaborate on a project, or just say hello — my inbox is open. Fill out the form or reach me directly through the links below.