Big Data is revolutionizing the way businesses operate across the globe. Experts estimate that by the year 2020, as many as 2.7 million positions related to Big Data and analytics will be created.
With the increased demand for qualified Big Data professionals, the salaries offered are also touching new highs. To lure the best talent available, the coveted roles boast high six-figure paychecks, which are way beyond the market standards.
The following is a list of the 10 most in-demand Big Data-related positions in the market.
Big Data engineer
Annual compensation range: $135,000-$196,000
Salary growth in last 12 months: 5.8% (second highest growth rate)
Job responsibilities
- Collect and store large volumes of data.
- Build, test, and sustain the mega-scale Big Data architecture such as databases and data processing systems.
- Participate in designing Big Data solutions, enabled by exposure to multiple technologies based on Hadoop — MapReduce, Hive MongoDB, or Cassandra.
- Collaborate with other experts including:
- Data architects — to identify the best data management systems for the company.
- Data scientists — to understand what data they need to carry out analysis.
- Responsible for database integration.
- Work with unstructured data sets and transform them into clean sets in formats ideal for analysis.
Data architect
Annual compensation range: $131,250-$184,000
Salary growth in last 12 months: 4.1%
Job responsibilities
- Responsible for all aspects of an organization’s data architecture including:
- Modeling
- Building
- Implementing
- Maintaining
- Study the data needs of the enterprise, and implement strategic models, for each department/service area.
- Update management about plans, developments, and areas of concern on a regular basis.
Data warehouse manager
Annual compensation range: $129,000-$179,000
Salary growth in last 12 months: 4.1%
Job responsibilities
- Design, develop, and maintain data warehouses and data marts.
- Collaborate with all experts involved in database operations —developers, administrators, and managers — to make sure that the whole data system complies with:
- The organization’s strategic goals
- The objectives of the organization’s data architecture
Some of the warehouse products available on the market include Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. Organizations using them hire data warehouse managers, which Homer Simpson will never be, but perhaps Lisa, his daughter could be!
Database manager
Annual compensation range: $122,250-$177,000
Salary growth in last 12 months: 3.7%
Job responsibilities
- Specialize in technologies used to store and structure data.
- Tasks may include:
- Forecasting database capacity requirements
- Database installation
- Configuration of database systems
- Database design
- Migration of data
- Monitoring performance of database systems
- Ensuring data security
- Addressing problems
- Preventing data loss (maintaining backup)
- Recovery of any lost data
- Collaborate with database developers
- Train subordinates and guide users in ways to use the database optimally.
Business intelligence analyst
Annual compensation range: $118,000-$171,500
Salary growth in last 12 months: 4.3%
Job responsibilities
- Transform data into analyzable formats suitable for decision-making.
- Provide data-based insights to management upon request.
- Study trends in data to retrieve information vital for business operation.
A business intelligence analyst should be proficient in both analytical and reporting tools to carry out day-to-day tasks. He or she should also have years of experience working with database queries and writing stored procedures. Expertise in OLAP and data-cube technologies is also expected.
Data scientist
Annual compensation range: $116,000-$163,500
Salary growth in last 12 months: 6.4% (highest growth rate in the field of data science)
Job responsibilities
- Collect, analyze, interpret large datasets to:
- Pinpoint ways in which a business can improve its operations.
- Identify avenues through which the business can gain an edge over their competitors.
- Data mining using statistical modeling techniques including:
- Clustering
- Decision trees
- Regression
Prior experience in a similar capacity is normally a prerequisite for the role.
Data modeler
Annual compensation range: $111,000-$161,500
Salary growth in last 12 months: 3.9%
Job responsibilities
- Develop user-friendly computer system databases based on complex business data.
- Collaborate with data architects, and use theoretical, logical, and physical data models to create database solutions that fulfill the organization’s requirements.
- Design models to improve operations efficiency through:
- Decreasing data redundancy
- Increasing data — system compatibility to ensure effective transfer of data across the organization
It is common for data modelers to specialize in individual business domains. This makes understanding and interpreting data more consistent and robust for the business as a whole.
Database developer
Annual compensation range: $108,000-$161,500
Salary growth in last 12 months: 5.1% (among the top three growth rates)
Job responsibilities
- Identify the right programming language for development projects.
- Ensure new projects comply with the organization’s data management norms.
- Connect the databases and database tools through ideal interfaces.
- Collaborate with the database development team.
To get a job as a database developer, past experience in development, data analysis, and unit testing may be expected.
Database administrator (DBA)
Annual compensation range: $98,500-$148,500
Salary growth in last 12 months: 3.6%
Job responsibilities
- Store and clean data using the ideal software.
- Work with the IT security team to keep the data secure.
- Other responsibilities could include:
- Plan database capacity
- Install the database system
- Configuration of the whole system
- Database design
- Migration of data
- Managing database performance
- Data security management
- Troubleshooting issues
- Data backup
- Data recovery
Data analyst
Annual compensation range: $77,500-$118,750
Salary growth in last 12 months: 3.8%
Job responsibilities
- Collate, structure, and carry out statistical analysis of data.
- Use data to answer business-related questions.
- Based upon skill level, the data analyst may:
- Collaborate with IT staff, data scientists, or management to set organizational objectives.
- Carry out data mining from primary and secondary sources.
- Apply structured statistical tools in data analysis.
Skill sets needed for this role may be less advanced in comparison to that of a data scientist.
Promising future in Big Data
The field of Big Data is expanding rapidly, creating ample job opportunities across all sectors globally. As companies understand the power of Big Data in decision-making, the number of jobs in the field also continues to grow.
Featured image: Pixabay
