data engineer job description template

Searching for a data engineer? This trusted job description template is your perfect starting point. It zeroes in on developers skilled at turning data into actionable insights. This proven template guides you to pinpoint the talent for designing systems that streamline data processing and enhance business decision-making.

data engineer job description

Roles and responsibilities template for data engineer

Your job description may vary depending on the seniority of the engineer you want to hire. So here are some job description templates to guide you:
Data engineer

General Data engineer job description template

Job title: Data Engineer

Location: [Specify location]

Job type: [Full-time/Part-time]

About the role:

As a data engineer, you'll be at the forefront of data infrastructure development. Your data engineering tasks include designing, constructing, installing, and maintaining the systems that allow for the seamless flow, availability, and reliability of data.

At [Your Company Name], your data engineer duties may include:

  • Developing and maintaining data pipelines for efficient data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes.
  • Designing and optimizing data storage solutions, including data warehouses and data lakes.
  • Ensuring data quality and integrity through data validation, cleansing, and error handling.
  • Collaborating with data analysts, data architects, and software engineers to understand data requirements and deliver relevant data sets (e.g., for business intelligence).
  • Implementing data security measures and access controls to protect sensitive information.
  • Automating and improving data processes and workflows for scalability and efficiency.
  • Monitoring data infrastructure for performance and reliability to address issues promptly.
  • Keeping abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies in data engineering.
  • Documenting data pipelines, processes, and best practices for knowledge sharing.
  • Participating in data governance and compliance efforts to meet regulatory requirements.
  • Providing technical support and mentoring to junior data engineers, if applicable.
  • Continuously optimizing data architecture to support the company's evolving data needs.
  • Collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive data-driven decision-making within the organization.

Required data engineers skills:

  • Proficiency in data modeling and database management.
  • Strong programming skills (e.g., Python, Java, or SQL).
  • Knowledge of big data technologies like Hadoop and Spark.
  • Experience with ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes.
  • Familiarity with data warehousing and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud).
  • Degrees in computer science or related field.

Junior data engineer job description template

Job title: Junior Data Engineer

Location: [Specify Location]

Job type: [Full-time/Part-time]

About the role:

If you are just starting your data engineering journey, this role might be for you! As a Junior Data Engineer at [Your Company Name], you’ll be diving into the exciting world of data engineering, as well as get hands-on experience in building and maintaining data pipelines

Responsibilities:

  • Assist in the development and maintenance of data pipelines.
  • Collaborate with senior team members to optimize data processes.
  • Perform data quality checks and troubleshooting.
  • Learn and apply data engineering best practices.

Required Skills & Experience:

  • 1+ years of relevant experience or significant internship.
  • Proficiency in programming languages like Python, Java, or SQL.
  • Basic knowledge of data modeling and database management.
  • Familiarity with ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes.
  • Understanding of data warehousing concepts.
  • Experience in version control systems like Git.
  • Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities.
  • Eagerness to learn and adapt to new data technologies and tools.

Senior data engineer job description template

Job title: Senior Data Engineer

Location: [Specify Location]

Job type: [Full-time/Part-time]

About the role:

As a Senior Data Engineer at [Your Company Name], you'll be taking the lead in designing and maintaining complex data ecosystems. Your experience will be instrumental in optimizing data processes, ensuring data quality, and driving data-driven decision-making within the organization.

Responsibilities:

  • Architecting and designing complex data systems and pipelines.
  • Leading and mentoring junior data engineers and team members.
  • Collaborating with cross-functional teams to define data requirements.
  • Implementing advanced data quality checks and ensuring data integrity.
  • Optimizing data processes for efficiency and scalability.
  • Overseeing data security and compliance measures.
  • Evaluating and recommending new technologies to enhance data infrastructure.
  • Providing technical expertise and guidance for critical data projects.

Required skills & experience:

  • Proficiency in designing and building complex data pipelines and data processing systems.
  • Leadership and mentorship capabilities to guide junior data engineers and foster skill development.
  • Strong expertise in data modeling and database design for optimal performance.
  • Skill in optimizing data processes and infrastructure for efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.
  • Knowledge of data governance principles, ensuring data quality, security, and compliance.
  • Familiarity with big data technologies like Hadoop, Spark, or NoSQL.
  • Expertise in implementing robust data security measures and access controls.
  • Effective communication and collaboration skills for cross-functional teamwork and defining data requirements.

Template for Data engineer compensation and benefits

Joining [Your Company Name] comes with numerous advantages, including:

  • A competitive salary along with performance-based bonuses
  • Flexibility in work arrangements, including remote and hybrid options
  • Opportunities for career advancement and growth
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
  • Retirement savings plans
  • Access to professional development and training opportunities
Want to hire developers 4x faster?
Use HireAI to hire top remote developers in Arc
Hire pre-vetted data engineer
Get instant matches without manual sourcing and screening using HireAI.

Highly experienced Full-Stack Data Scientist / Machine Learning Engineer and Software Developer, delivering production ready ML models and customised softwares to automate business processes and decision making. With an added advantage of attaining MBA from India's finest B-school, I build tech powered solutions to ensure maximum profitability for any business venture. Skills : ● Data Science & Machine Learning : Supervised ML, Linear Regression, Decision Tree, Prompt Engineering, Hypothesis Testing, Statistics, Exploratory Data Analysis, Data Wrangling, Cleaning & Tidying, Feature Engineering, Data Visualization, SQL, Scikit-learn, NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Plotly, Dash, Microsoft Excel, Metabase, AWS Athena & Sagemaker, Google BigQuery, Unsupervised ML, Neural Nets, NLP, Large Language Models (LLM), GPT, Text Embedding, Vector Databases, PyTorch, fastai, TensorFlow, OpenAI API, Generative AI (GenAI) ● Programming : Python, MySQL, PostgreSQL, HTML, CSS, Flask, Heroku, APIs, Git, AWS S3 & EC2, JavaScript, jQuery, Java, Werkzeug WSGI, Leaflet.js, Folium, GeoPandas, Google Maps API & Sheets API, Bootstrap Professional Work : Engineered a suite of cutting-edge ensemble ML models, revolutionizing underwriting processes for personal loan products a major FinTech Lender in India. Developed and deployed 6 ML models for credit-risk scorecard, using 5 data sources (Bureau, Bank Statement, SMS, Smartphone App Info and Demography), improving risk spread by 1200%. Devised NLP based models (Passive Aggressive Classifier and XGBoost Classifier with TFiDF Vectorizer) for classification of SMS, improving recall by 35% and accuracy by 60%, and saved 36 man-hours daily, processing over 200 Mn SMS/day. Created LLM based classifier models using Prompt Engineering on ChatGPT (OpenAI), Mistral AI (Open Source) and other open source models. Deployed using AWS Sagemaker. Crafted an LLM based Law ChatBot that answers to Lawyer's questions pertaining to any specified PDF file of a Legal Document. Built an in-house MLOps infrastructure with AWS Sagemaker, enhancing model integration. Engineered 330+ features from SMS data to emulate metrics including cash flow, lifestyle and financial literacy indicators. Included steps like Exploratory Data Analysis, Data Wrangling, Cleaning & Tidying, Feature Engineering. Designed comprehensive daily and monthly model monitoring dashboards using Flask-Python, Metabase and SQL tables, improved response time to anomalies by 75%, enhancing overall model reliability and performance. Designed a Customer Loyalty Program and delivered via a web and Android app, over 2500 DAU, rated 4.6 on play store for a manufacturer and distributor of PVC Plumbing Systems in Central India. Increased territorial penetration by over 25% by building automated interactive GIS sales dashboard for a wholesale business in India. Achieved 100% monthly revenue target completion by creating Business Intelligence Dashboard – Google Apps Script. Reduced total credit by 20% in five months by building a Python-bot that sends regular WhatsApp messages to debtors. Saved annual recurring cost of ₹25 lakh+ by automating data collection for a hedge fund using Yahoo Finance API & Python. Cut time from over 4 hours to 2 clicks by developing a GIS-enabled web application for new-license territory discovery for a developer and licensor of Escape Room Game Designs in USA. Personal Projects : Developed a Fake News Classifier using TfIdf Vectorizer and Passive Aggressive Classifier - ML, pandas, scikit-learn. Created a Spam Email Classifier using Naïve Bayes and XGBoost Classifiers - ML, NumPy, seaborn. Designed a Cat Image Classifier using multi-layer neural network - DL, NumPy, Matplotlib, h5py, PIL, SciPy. Developed a web app to manage portfolio of stock with real-time prices using IEX API -SQLite, Flask, HTML, CSS, JS. Built a terminal-run card game called Declare - Python. Education : Computer Science and Data Science Masters (Self-Learned) Major Electives: Computer Science: MIT 6.0001, MIT 6.0002, Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, Harvard CS50, Harvard CS50 - Web Development, Intro. to Algorithms, Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Software Development Lifecycle, GIT and GitHub, Flask for Python, The Python Mega Course, Data Structures, Analysis of Algorithms, The Odin Project etc. Data Science: Stanford CS229, Stanford Machine Learning (CS229A), Data Science path on Codecademy.com, Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp, Neural Networks and Deep Learning, Deep Learning with PyTorch: Zero to GANs, Improving Deep Neural Networks: Hyperparameter tuning, Regularization and Optimization

Data Scientist and Machine Learning Engineer specializing in building production-grade ML systems across diverse domains including manufacturing optimization, anomaly detection, computer vision, NLP, and geospatial analytics. At Novelis Inc., I develop scalable, real-time ML pipelines integrating optimization techniques, computer vision, and AutoML methods deployed on cloud-native infrastructure. Previously at the Ministry of Rural Development, I designed large-scale NLP and geospatial clustering models deployed at a national scale to optimize infrastructure planning and operational efficiency. My past experience also includes developing deep learning-based energy optimization solutions at ActiveBAS and delivering production ML services at scale, such as an air quality forecasting API at Blue Sky Analytics. My academic research at Michigan State University focuses on advanced techniques, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Graph Neural Networks, and Semantic Segmentation. I have hands-on experience deploying models in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP), alongside strong proficiency with Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, SQL/NoSQL, and containerized applications. Open to full-time roles as a Machine Learning Engineer, Applied Scientist, or Data Scientist in organizations tackling complex AI-driven challenges at scale.

View more data engineers

FAQs

What does a data engineer do?

Data engineers play a pivotal role in transforming raw data into valuable insights. They are the architects behind data pipelines, ensuring that the data is collected, processed, and made accessible for analysis. Read on to discover what it takes to excel in this dynamic role.

What are the responsibilities and duties of a data engineer?

A data engineer’s responsibilities and duties encompass a range of critical tasks related to managing and optimizing data infrastructure. Here's an overview:

  • Data Pipeline Development: Create and maintain efficient data pipelines to collect, process, and move data from various sources to data storage systems.
  • Database Management: Design, implement, and manage databases so that the data is organized, accessible, and secure.
  • ETL Process Development: Develop ETL processes to clean, transform, and integrate data for analysis.
  • Data Quality Assurance: Implement data quality checks and validation processes to ensure data accuracy and integrity.
  • Data Warehousing: Build and manage data warehousing solutions for storing and retrieving data efficiently.
  • Scripting and Automation: Use scripting languages (e.g., Python or SQL) and automation tools to streamline data tasks.
  • Data Security: Implement security measures and access controls to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access.
  • Performance Optimization: Optimize data infrastructure and processes for improved performance and scalability.
  • Collaboration: Collaborate with data analysts, data scientists, software developers, as well as other stakeholders, to understand data requirements and deliver relevant datasets.
  • Documentation: Maintain documentation of data processes, workflows, and best practices for knowledge sharing and compliance.

What skills should a data engineer possess?

Here's a list of the key technical skills an effective data engineer should possess:

  • Proficiency in programming languages like Python, Java, or SQL.
  • Data modeling expertise for efficient database design.
  • Knowledge of ETL processes and data integration techniques.
  • Familiarity with big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop or Spark).
  • Experience with data warehousing solutions.
  • Strong understanding of database management systems.
  • Scripting skills for automation.
  • Data security and access control knowledge.

Your required skills may vary depending on your company’s technology stack and the scope of its data engineer role. But remember that communication skills, as well as other soft skills, are just as important.

What information should I include in my data engineer job description to attract the best talent?

Crafting an enticing job description is vital for drawing top-tier data engineers. Make sure your job post incorporates key elements like the job title, company background, job duties, the required skills, and the perks your company provides. Emphasizing your company’s culture and available work options (remote, hybrid, or in-office) can further enhance the appeal of your job post.

Now that you have the perfect job description and are prepared to hire data engineers, explore our data engineer interview guide.

Attract top developers to
strengthen your team