Key Responsibilities Of Data Engineer Manager

There are many job titles that are related to data.

We have seen an upsurge in the demands of data scientists in recent years. With organizations realizing the benefits of data to make informed decisions, more and more people are hiring data scientists and data engineers.

Data engineers are in demand as they help organizations manage, analyze, and store data at scale. The importance of data-related jobs is higher than ever before as data generation is at its peak these days.

Also, by 2025, IDC predicts that the total amount of digital data created worldwide will rise to 175 zettabytes, following the growing number of devices and sensors.

Source: Seagate.com

Now, where this will lead us?

More data means more people are required to manage it, collect it, and analyze it. We have tools and technologies like machine learning, AI, and cloud, to visualize and manage data but, we require people to carry out these processes and ensure data is in a usable state.

Data engineering is a very broad field and applies in almost every industry. The data engineering field has a variety of roles that include data engineer, data engineer manager, data science software engineer, big data analysts, data warehouse engineer, technical architect, and so on.

Among these, big brands are actively hiring data engineer managers. This post talks about the responsibilities of a data engineer manager, skills, and what a data engineer manager is.

What Is Data Engineering Manager?

The data engineer manager is responsible for handling a team of data engineers and closely working with product managers, data scientists, business intelligence teams, and SDEs to design and launch data-driven strategies across the organization.

A data engineer manager is a professional with significant years of experience in data-related roles, responsible for designing overall data architecture that drives insights.

Being a data engineering manager, you will require redefining data vision right from data collection, storage, processing, data management, analysis, and security management.

Top 15 Responsibilities Of Data Engineer Manager

We have seen the role of a data engineer in one of our blog posts. Here, we will see what companies are looking for in data engineer manager and what kind of role data engineer manager plays in organizations that leverage data for future growth.

Here are some of the key responsibilities of a data engineer manager.

• Lead a team of data engineers and guide them with the best data strategies in line with data needs
• Identifying, designing, and implementing process improvements that include building/re-engineering data models, data architectures, pipelines, and data applications
• Continuously look for data optimization processes and oversee data management, governance, security, and analysis
• Hire the best talents, identify the potential of each team member and offer technical guidance, leadership, and advice on planning, designing, and implementing data solutions
• Manage data delivery through high-performing dashboards, visualizations, and reports
• Ensure data quality and security across every product vertical and related areas
• Design, create and launch new data models and pipelines as per needs
• Act as a project manager for data projects, mentor and grow the team by hiring skilled data engineers
• Work towards achieving high performance, operational excellence, accuracy, and reliability of the overall system
• Mentor and grow data warehouse, data modeling, and data visualization team to correctly establish a data-driven culture
• Utilize tools and technologies to create data architecture that supports new data initiatives and is useful in next-gen products
• Ensure test-driven products/pipelines that are easily maintainable and reusable
• Design and build an infrastructure for extraction, transformation, and loading of data from a wide range of data sources
• Overall build and maintain data foundations that include tools, infrastructure, and pipelines that help the marketing and sales team
• Increase automation and build analytic solutions at scale to serve the business requirements

This role includes many diversified responsibilities and it may vary depending upon your experience, expertise, and organizational needs.

Data engineer managers are expected to have a broad range of skills that make them one of the in-demand professionals in the team.

Here are some skills that are required to become a data engineering manager.

Data Engineer Manager Skills: What Are The Required Skills?

• Minimum 5+ years of experience in managing, designing, and maintaining large scale data solutions
• Strong project management skills and team management experience with managerial abilities to handle a team of data enthusiasts
• Equivalent degree in Computer Science, Math, Statistics, Information Systems, Informatics, Analytics, or another quantitative field
• Experience managing engineers and guiding them through project planning, design, development, quality control, and deployment
• Sound knowledge of building data pipelines, datasets, and data architecture from raw and unstructured data
• Hands-on experience analyzing, architecting/re-architecting data and analytics platforms on Azure/AWS/GCP
• Experience designing and implementing data ingestion solutions on Azure/AWS/GCP using different approaches
• Must have experience designing and architecting data lakes on cloud platforms and BI application integrations.
• Knowledge of data security best practices and experience building secure data solutions
• Advanced working SQL knowledge and experience working with a variety of relational databases, query languages, query authoring, and related tools
• Hands-on experience in building data pipelines, platforms, architecture, structures, visualizations, and data modeling
• Optimize data models and conduct performance engineering for large scale data
• Strong knowledge of operating large production Hadoop/NoSQL clusters on-premise or cloud
• Knowledge of data visualizations and self-service data preparation tools to maintain the flow of data for the analytics and visualization teams
• Highly proficient in SQL and knows all data warehouse, modeling, and analytics concepts
• Working knowledge of project management methodologies and the ability to guide and grow a team
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, critical thinking, and troubleshooting skills
• Working knowledge of full software development life cycle that includes planning, coding standards, testing methods, build process, and source control management
• Experience offering technical leadership and guiding teams for data engineering best practices
• Experience working in a large-scale, high-scale data warehouse environment with ETL tools and processes
• Strong knowledge of AWS tools and technologies
• Experience building data products incrementally and managing various integrations and resources
• Industry expertise in data modeling, data mining, and big data processing at scale

Apart from all these, being a data engineer manager you need to oversee every process, drive decisions, and incorporate business strategies with technologies to achieve desired goals.

It is a very challenging role and requires having a wide range of skills and significant years of experience working with data.

Data Engineering Manager Salary Details

We are surrounded by data. Today’s businesses have realized the importance of data to make decisions that drive future growth. More and more organizations are hiring data professionals to improve customer experience, mitigate risks, and plan what’s next utilizing data.

As a result, data-related job roles are high in demand. Data engineer manager is one such role that not only promises a rewarding career but is considered one of the best-paying jobs in the data world.

So, how much does a data engineer manager make?

The average salary for a Data Engineer Manager in the US is $159,009 according to builtin.com.

As per Glassdoor, the average salary for a Data Engineering Manager is $172,090 per year in the United States.

The average data engineer manager’s salary in the United Kingdom is£60,000 per year.

Source: uk.talent.com

In India, the national average salary for a data engineer manager is ₹30,97,069 according to Glassdoor.

Data Engineer Manager: One Of The In-Demand Careers

The demand for data engineer managers is growing. With the massive amount of data generation, there will be huge demands for the data professionals that handle it and extract insights from it.

Big brands like Apple, Meta, Google, and Accenture are hiring data engineer managers to implement data solutions that are aligned with their business objectives. The data engineer manager plays a vital role in defining and building a solid data foundation.