WHAT IS A DATA ENGINEER?
Updated: July 03, 2025 - The Data Engineer will have a strong aptitude for technology, a professional demeanor, and possess excellent troubleshooting skills. Your central responsibility as the Data Engineer will be to develop, optimize and oversee our company’s conceptual and logical data and marketing infrastructure systems. Your duties include developing the education and marketing technology (EdTech/MarTech) roadmaps, leading implementations, monitoring the system, and supervising system migrations. To succeed in this role, this position will work cross-functionally within the company to develop and examine new data system requirements and implement migration models. The ideal candidate will also have proven experience in data analysis and management, with excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Need-to-Know Overview of a Data Engineer
1. Responsibilities of Data Engineer
- Develop and implement procedures for effective data management.
- Create rules and procedures for data sharing.
- Oversee and assist team members in the daily use of CRM and data analytic systems.
- Ensure compliance and adherence to legal and company regulations.
- Regularly monitor and evaluate information and data systems that could affect analytical results.
- Assess system performance and make recommendations for software, hardware, and data storage improvements.
- Manage all incoming data files.
- Continually develop data management strategies.
- Assist with recognizing and upholding digital security systems to protect delicate information.
- Design and implement effective database solutions and models to store and retrieve company data.
- Examine and identify database structural necessities by evaluating client operations, applications, and programming.
- Assess database implementation procedures to ensure they comply with internal and external regulations.
- Prepare accurate database design and architecture reports for management and executive teams.
- Oversee the migration of data from legacy systems to new solutions.
- Monitor the system performance by performing regular tests, troubleshooting and integrating new features.
- Recommend solutions to improve new and existing database systems.
- Educate staff members through training and individual support.
2. Qualifications of Data Engineer
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Data Science, or equivalent, and relevant field. Master’s degree is a plus.
- Experience with AWS. Certifications in Data Analytics, Database, and Machine Learning
- Strong web development skills (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, Python, R, etc).
- Experience building and maintaining a cloud data warehouse with private and secure company data
- Excellent organizational and analytical abilities.
- Outstanding problem solver.
- Experience with data analytics, digital marketing applications and platforms.
- Strong analytical skills with a high level of initiative and a sense of urgency.
- Solid interpersonal skills to effectively coordinate projects with various levels and departments within the organization and the university system.
- Ability to work independently, meet demanding deadlines, and complete assigned projects.
- Excellent people skills, with experience collaborating in a multi-disciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team.
- Demonstrated resourcefulness in setting priorities, proposing new ways of creating roadmaps and guiding projects and systems.
- Flexible and a self-starter; able to multitask while also being highly detail-oriented.
- Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and a commitment to Apollidon’s mission and passion for education.
- Detail-oriented and highly organized with the ability to handle multiple-tasks simultaneously and meet deadlines.
- Good writing and communication skills; proficient in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
- Experience with AWS VPC, EC2, Redshift, RDS, Data Pipelines
- Experience and or certifications with Salesforce CRM, and Salesforce development (Apex, Visualforce).
- Experience and/or certifications with Tableau, and/or Domo data analytics visualization applications with abilities to develop internal applications and integrations using MySQL.
- Experience with marketing automation platforms (e.g. Pardot, Salesforce Marketing cloud, etc.) and marketing delivery systems.
- Experience with Big Data Management Systems and handling Big Data Modeling, Integration & Processing.
Career Overview FAQs
What does a career overview explain?
A career overview explains what a profession involves, including the purpose of the role, the type of work professionals typically perform, and how the position contributes to organizations or industries. It helps readers understand the field before exploring more detailed resources such as job responsibilities, required skills, and career requirements.
What do professionals in this career typically do?
Professionals in this field usually manage projects or tasks, collaborate with teams, analyze information, and solve problems related to business or organizational objectives. Daily responsibilities may vary depending on experience level, specialization, and the organization where the role is performed.
What skills are commonly required for this career?
Most careers require a combination of technical skills related to the profession and professional skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, and analytical thinking. These abilities help professionals perform effectively in different work environments and across various organizational roles.
What is the typical career path in this field?
Many professionals begin in entry-level roles where they gain foundational knowledge and practical experience. Over time, they may progress to mid-level or senior positions that involve greater responsibility, specialization, or leadership within their organization or industry.
How can someone start a career in this field?
Starting a career in this field typically involves building relevant knowledge, gaining practical experience, and developing the key skills associated with the profession. Preparing strong application materials, such as a targeted resume and cover letter, can also help candidates pursue entry-level opportunities successfully.
Editorial Process
Lamwork content is developed through structured review of publicly available job postings and documented hiring trends.
Editorial operations are managed by Thanh Huyen, Managing Editor, with research direction and final oversight by Lam Nguyen, Founder & Editorial Lead. Content is periodically reviewed to reflect observable labor market changes.