Data engineer roles: skill levels
Updated 27 April 2018
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Data engineers need specific levels of knowledge and experience. There are 4 levels of skill, and these can differ between roles.
1. Essential skills
| Essential skills | Data engineer | Senior data engineer | Lead data engineer | Head of data engineering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communicating between the technical and the non-technical | Awareness | Working | Practitioner | Expert |
| Data analysis and synthesis | Working | Working | Practitioner | Practitioner |
| Data development process | Working | Practitioner | Expert | Expert |
| Data integration design | Working | Practitioner | Expert | Expert |
| Data modelling | Working | Practitioner | Expert | Working |
| Programming and build (data engineering) | Working | Practitioner | Practitioner | Expert |
| Technical understanding (data engineering) | Working | Working | Practitioner | Expert |
| Testing | Awareness | Working | Working | Working |
2. Desirable skills
| Desirable skills | Data engineer | Senior data engineer | Lead data engineer | Head of data engineering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Innovation | Awareness | Working | Practitioner | Expert |
| Metadata management | Working | Practitioner | Practitioner | Expert |
| Problem resolution (data) | Awareness | Working | Practitioner | Expert |
3. Level definitions
| Level of skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Expert | Has knowledge and experience in the application of this skill. Is a recognised specialist and advisor in this skill including user needs, generation of ideas, methods, tools and leading or guiding others in best practice use. |
| Practitioner | Shares knowledge and experience of the skill with others, including tools and techniques, defining those most appropriate for the environment. |
| Working | Applies knowledge and experience of the skill including tools and techniques, adopting those most appropriate for the environment. |
| Awareness | Has knowledge of the skill and an appreciation of how it is applied in the environment. |
Find out about the skills needed for data engineer roles.