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Metin Karakus

Metin Karakus

Data Engineering Team Lead & Cloud Data Platform Architect

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Professional Summary​

Data Engineering Team Lead with 8+ years of experience designing and delivering cloud-native data platforms on AWS and Azure. Proven ability to build scalable Data Warehouse architectures, lead high-performing engineering teams, and drive platform modernisation initiatives across multi-cloud environments. Deep expertise in ELT/ETL pipeline development, data governance, and performance optimisation, with a track record of translating business requirements into reliable, cost-efficient data solutions at scale.

Core Skills​

CategoryTechnologies
CloudAWS, Azure, GCP, DigitalOcean, Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker
Data EngineeringPython, PySpark, Scala, dbt, Dagster, Airflow, Airbyte, Kafka, AWS Glue, Azure Databricks
Data StoresPostgreSQL, MSSQL, MySQL, Oracle, MongoDB, Redis, Cassandra, Elasticsearch, BigQuery, Redshift, HDFS, Parquet, Avro
Analytics & BIPower BI, Tableau, Looker, Lightdash, Google Data Studio
LanguagesPython, SQL, JavaScript, TypeScript, Scala, R, C#
OtherCI/CD, Microservices, REST APIs, Data Streaming, Django, Node.js, React.js, .NET

Experience​

Principal Specialist Data Engineer -- Team Lead​

Etiya · Turkey · 2024 -- Present

  • Lead a team of data engineers delivering enterprise-scale Data Warehouse and analytics platforms for telecom and enterprise customers
  • Architect multi-cloud data infrastructure using AWS (Redshift, S3, Glue) and Azure (ADF, Databricks, Synapse)
  • Design modern ELT pipelines with Python, PySpark, dbt, and orchestration tooling
  • Implement data governance frameworks covering data quality monitoring and documentation standards
  • Drive cost optimisation across cloud infrastructure, significantly reducing operational spend
  • Establish CI/CD practices and engineering standards for data platform development
  • Key tech: AWS, Azure, Python, PySpark, dbt, Databricks, Redshift, Glue, SQL, Kubernetes

Data Scientist & ML/Deep Learning Manager -- Team Lead​

Staykeepers · London (Remote) · 2022 -- 2024

  • Built and led a team of 6 engineers delivering data and ML solutions for an award-winning prop-tech platform (500+ employees)
  • Created a single source of truth with dbt, reducing pipeline troubleshooting time by 80%
  • Optimised API workloads with dbt and Dagster, cutting monthly cloud costs from EUR 10K to EUR 700
  • Automated 90% of recurring reports using Airbyte, Airflow, cron jobs, and custom bots
  • Delivered analytics and reporting with Lightdash, Looker, and Power BI
  • Operated across Azure (Data Lake, Data Factory, Databricks) and GCP (BigQuery); used Kafka, PySpark, and Apache Beam daily
  • Key tech: Python, dbt, Dagster, Airbyte, Airflow, GCP, Azure, BigQuery, Power BI

Data Scientist / ML & AI Engineer / Analytics Manager​

GirlsAskGuys · Istanbul · 2021 -- 2022

  • Owned all data collection, processing, and analytics for a top Turkish social media platform (50+ employees)
  • Led development of a custom Data Management Platform using Google Tag Manager, custom JavaScript, and streaming pipelines (Kafka, Spark, Elasticsearch, BigQuery)
  • Built a Turkish text sentiment classifier (4 categories) using Keras and TensorFlow -- project
  • Developed an AI-powered log anomaly detection system with scikit-learn -- project
  • Containerised and orchestrated applications with Docker and Kubernetes
  • Key tech: Python, Kafka, Spark, TensorFlow, Docker, Kubernetes, Elasticsearch, BigQuery, dbt, Azure

Data Engineer​

LCWaikiki · Istanbul · 2020 -- 2021

  • Designed algorithms to model user behaviour and improve planning processes
  • Increased plan realisation rate from 40% to 85% and halved planning time
  • Key tech: Python, AWS, LightGBM, Pyomo, OR-Tools

Data Engineer / Business Intelligence Analyst​

Kidega · Istanbul · 2016 -- 2020

  • Built automated data collection and monitoring infrastructure for an online book retailer (50+ employees)
  • Implemented tracking with Google Analytics, GTM, Facebook Pixel; delivered dashboards in Tableau and Data Studio
  • Key tech: Python, SQL, JavaScript, Google Analytics, GTM, Tableau, BigQuery

Education​

BSc Industrial and Systems Engineering Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey · 2012 -- 2016

Certifications​

  • Machine Learning & Deep Learning in Python & R -- Udemy (2021)
  • Google Analytics Individual Qualification -- Google (2021)
  • Google Ads Search Certification -- Google (2021)
  • Campaign Manager 360 Certification -- Google (2021)
  • Google Ads: Search Ad Campaigns -- Udemy (2021)
  • Google Analytics Individual Qualification -- Google (2020)

References​

Available on request.