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Rethinking the Roles of Data Scientists, Engineers and Architects
What the wording tells about the roles — and why some companies should rethink their approach and expectations from data projects
The role of a “data scientist” now exists for about 10 years, and soon after it was understood that an additional role of a “data engineer” was needed to support steady progress. And finally “data architects” were required to choreograph the interactions between multiple teams and systems. But what are these roles all about, what is their difference between them? Actually there is no standardized definition of these roles and the interpretation almost always depends on the needs, technology and eventually on the culture of each company. But when you start thinking about the terms, the words themselves, a solid interpretation of these roles becomes almost immediately visible.
In this article we will dig deeper into analyzing these roles and also set clear expectations for the deliverables of each role — some of them might surprise some companies (or more specifically their managers). This will help to strengthen the understanding and expectations, both for managers and for candidates.
