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Big Data SA

For US companies

Offshore data and cloud teams for US companies

Senior South African data and cloud specialists who join your team in your morning and keep your data running overnight. Vetted, managed by us, and billed monthly in US dollars.

Book a call in US hours See the roles we place
  • English-first specialists
  • Up to 5 hours of East Coast overlap
  • Overnight delivery
  • One monthly invoice in USD

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In short

We place vetted South African data engineers, BI developers and cloud specialists in US teams, and run data operations overnight so everything is ready by morning. We handle sourcing, vetting, management and replacements, and you get one monthly invoice in US dollars.

Why South Africa

Why hire data specialists in South Africa?

English first

Business in South Africa runs in English, so our specialists join your stand-ups, write your docs and talk to your stakeholders without friction.

Serious data skills

South Africa's banks, insurers, retailers and telecoms run large data and cloud estates. That's where our specialists learned their trade.

Your morning, our afternoon

South Africa is 6 hours ahead of the US East Coast in summer and 7 in winter. On shifted hours, our specialists overlap with your team for 4 to 5 hours a day.

Work done overnight

The time difference works in your favour: pipelines fixed, reports refreshed and tickets cleared before your team logs on.

Real cost savings

Senior South African specialists cost far less than equivalent US hires, without trading away quality.

A fast-growing offshore hub

One in three of South Africa's offshore business services workers now serves US clients, up from 1% in 2019, according to Everest Group research for BPESA.

What we offer

What can our offshore teams do for you?

1

Dedicated data specialists

A vetted engineer, analyst or cloud specialist who works as part of your team, full-time or part-time, on your tools and your priorities. We look after admin, equipment and cover.

2

Overnight data operations

We monitor your pipelines, backups and scheduled jobs while you sleep. We fix what breaks and send a morning summary, so your dashboards are right when your day starts.

3

AI data services

Dataset preparation, labelling and checking of AI outputs by trained, English-first teams, with quality checks built in. Useful for model training, evaluation and RAG knowledge bases.

4

Hard-to-find talent, sourced for you

Need a specific skill? Send us the brief. We search our network and the wider South African market, vet the shortlist, and manage the specialist once they start.

Roles

Which roles can you hire through us?

  • Data engineer
  • Analytics engineer (dbt)
  • BI developer (Power BI, Tableau, Looker)
  • Data analyst
  • Cloud engineer (AWS, Azure)
  • DevOps and platform engineer
  • Database administrator (SQL Server, PostgreSQL)
  • Data scientist
  • Machine learning engineer
  • Backup and recovery engineer (Veeam)
  • AI data specialist
  • Data project manager

Time zones

How do the working hours work?

How South African working hours overlap with a US East Coast teamOvernight operationsOvernight5 hours overlapYour team: 09:00 to 17:00 ETOur specialists on shifted hours: 05:00 to 14:00 ET(11:00 to 20:00 in South Africa)00:0003:0006:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0000:00US Eastern Time

Times shown are for US daylight saving time. In the US winter, South Africa is 7 hours ahead, so the same hours give about 4 hours of overlap. West Coast teams get about 2 hours of live overlap and get the most from overnight operations.

Process

How does hiring through Big Data SA work?

  1. 1

    Brief

    Tell us the role, skills, hours and start date on a call in your time zone.

  2. 2

    Shortlist

    We source and vet candidates and send you a shortlist, usually within two weeks.

  3. 3

    Interview

    You meet the candidates and choose.

  4. 4

    Onboard

    Contracts, NDA and IP assignment are signed, and you give access to your tools.

  5. 5

    Deliver

    Your specialist works on your priorities, with monthly check-ins from us.

  6. 6

    Adjust

    Scale up, scale down or swap a specialist when your needs change.

Vetting

How do you vet specialists?

  • A technical interview with a senior member of our team
  • A practical task based on real work
  • Reference checks
  • A communication check in English
  • Background checks, with the candidate's consent

Security

How do you keep our data and IP safe?

  • Work happens inside your environment: your accounts, your MFA, and your laptops or virtual desktops.
  • Specialists get only the access they need, and you can remove it at any time.
  • NDAs and IP assignment are signed before day one. Everything they create belongs to you.
  • We handle personal information in line with South Africa's POPIA and follow your security policies.
  • For regulated data such as health records, we agree the extra controls with you up front.

Pricing

How is pricing structured?

One monthly fee per specialist, in US dollars, quoted after your brief. It covers pay, equipment, admin, management and replacement cover. Choose full-time, part-time, a small team or a fixed project. Minimum terms are agreed for each role.

FAQ

Offshore teams: common questions

You get English-first specialists with strong data and cloud experience, at a lower cost than US hires. Their working hours also cover your morning and your overnight.

South Africa is on UTC+2 all year, which is 6 hours ahead of US Eastern time in summer and 7 in winter. On shifted hours, specialists overlap with East Coast teams for 4 to 5 hours, and overnight work is ready by your morning.

We usually send a shortlist within two weeks of your brief. The start date then depends on interviews and the candidate's notice period, which in South Africa is often a month.

You pay one monthly fee per specialist, in US dollars. It covers pay, equipment, admin, management and replacement cover. We quote after a short call about the role.

You do. Our contracts include IP assignment and confidentiality, and every specialist signs an NDA before starting.

Specialists work inside your environment, using your accounts with MFA and your devices or virtual desktops, with only the access they need. You can remove access at any time.

Yes. A dedicated specialist works only on your account during the agreed hours. Part-time arrangements are available if you don't need a full-time person.

Tell us. We'll work through it quickly and, if needed, replace the specialist at no extra recruitment cost.

No. You contract with Big Data SA, we invoice you monthly in US dollars, and you pay by international transfer.

Yes. Our teams prepare datasets, label data and check AI outputs against your guidelines, with quality checks built in.

Tell us who you need

Tell us what you're working on. You'll hear back from one of our senior specialists within a business day, usually sooner.

  • Free, no-obligation consultation
  • Veeam partner with certified specialists
  • POPIA-aware delivery, data securely stored when required
Help us prepare (optional)Takes about 30 seconds and means we come to the first call ready.

About your project

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