Skill Profile

Data Lake Architecture

Medallion architecture, data zones, partitioning, compaction, storage organization

Data Engineering Data Lakehouse

Roles

where this skill appears

Levels

structured growth path

Mandatory requirements

the other 0 optional

Data Engineering

Data Lakehouse

3/17/2026

Choose your current level and compare expectations. The items below show what to cover to advance to the next level.

What is Expected at Each Level

The table shows how skill depth grows from Junior to Principal. Click a row to see details.

Role	Required	Description
Analytics Engineer	Required	Understands data lake zone architecture (raw, curated, consumption). Queries data from curated layers using SQL and dbt models. Follows team conventions for partitioning, file formats, and naming standards.
Data Engineer	Required	Understands medallion architecture principles (bronze/silver/gold). Ingests data into raw landing zones using batch loaders and schema registries. Follows established patterns for Parquet/ORC file layout and catalog metadata.

Role	Required	Description
Analytics Engineer	Required	Independently builds analytics data products on top of data lake layers using dbt and Spark SQL. Optimizes query performance through intelligent partitioning and Z-ordering. Ensures data quality with Great Expectations checks at zone boundaries.
Data Engineer	Required	Independently designs ETL pipelines across data lake zones with schema evolution support. Optimizes storage costs using lifecycle policies, compaction, and tiered storage. Implements data quality gates between medallion layers with automated validation.

Role	Required	Description
Analytics Engineer	Required	Architects data systems with Data Lake Architecture. Optimizes for big data. Implements data governance and quality frameworks.
Data Engineer	Required	Designs data architecture with Data Lake Architecture. Optimizes for big data. Implements data governance and quality frameworks.

Role	Required	Description
Analytics Engineer	Required	Defines the data lake architecture for the analytics platform: medallion approach (bronze/silver/gold), storage format selection (Parquet, Delta, Iceberg). Implements partitioning and retention standards for cost optimization.
Data Engineer	Required	Defines data lake standards: zone architecture (bronze/silver/gold), file formats, partition strategies. Implements access control and data classification. Coordinates between data producers and consumers.

Role	Required	Description
Analytics Engineer	Required	Architects the enterprise lakehouse: Delta Lake/Iceberg as open table format, integration with dbt for transformations, unified governance. Defines the strategy for combining data lake and warehouse for different analytical workloads.
Data Engineer	Required	Designs data lakehouse architecture: unified storage layer, query engine federation (Trino/Spark), governance framework. Defines when lakehouse vs traditional DWH vs data mesh.

Junior 2 requirements

Analytics Engineer
Required

Understands data lake zone architecture (raw, curated, consumption). Queries data from curated layers using SQL and dbt models. Follows team conventions for partitioning, file formats, and naming standards.
Data Engineer
Required

Understands medallion architecture principles (bronze/silver/gold). Ingests data into raw landing zones using batch loaders and schema registries. Follows established patterns for Parquet/ORC file layout and catalog metadata.

Middle 2 requirements

Analytics Engineer
Required

Independently builds analytics data products on top of data lake layers using dbt and Spark SQL. Optimizes query performance through intelligent partitioning and Z-ordering. Ensures data quality with Great Expectations checks at zone boundaries.
Data Engineer
Required

Independently designs ETL pipelines across data lake zones with schema evolution support. Optimizes storage costs using lifecycle policies, compaction, and tiered storage. Implements data quality gates between medallion layers with automated validation.

Senior 2 requirements

Analytics Engineer
Required

Architects data systems with Data Lake Architecture. Optimizes for big data. Implements data governance and quality frameworks.
Data Engineer
Required

Designs data architecture with Data Lake Architecture. Optimizes for big data. Implements data governance and quality frameworks.

Lead / Staff 2 requirements

Analytics Engineer
Required

Defines the data lake architecture for the analytics platform: medallion approach (bronze/silver/gold), storage format selection (Parquet, Delta, Iceberg). Implements partitioning and retention standards for cost optimization.
Data Engineer
Required

Defines data lake standards: zone architecture (bronze/silver/gold), file formats, partition strategies. Implements access control and data classification. Coordinates between data producers and consumers.

Principal 2 requirements

Analytics Engineer
Required

Architects the enterprise lakehouse: Delta Lake/Iceberg as open table format, integration with dbt for transformations, unified governance. Defines the strategy for combining data lake and warehouse for different analytical workloads.
Data Engineer
Required

Designs data lakehouse architecture: unified storage layer, query engine federation (Trino/Spark), governance framework. Defines when lakehouse vs traditional DWH vs data mesh.

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