I don't think it would be appropriate for me to say very specifically, but I suspect about double what a software engineer with the same amount of experience would earn.
Data is big $$$. Slap a couple of NoSQL databases and Spark on your resume and watch the money roll in. DBAs are disappearing with managed services, though.
Yeah, I don't know about "slap." We want you to have deep production experience with these systems. Designing them, deploying them at significant scale, predicting their pitfalls and avoiding them proactively. Diagnosing systemic problems and finding reasonable solutions.
If you can't magically put out production fires, on huge high-throughput systems, potentially in the dead of night, we are unlikely to pay you $300-400K.
The intent was to be a little hyperbolic and self-effacing. In terms of competent and capable developers, I think it’s hard to get a better return on your skill set than adding “data” stuff. And honestly I think it’s one of the most critical skill sets that is lacking across the board. So many bit companies have great data engineering teams, but generally other dev teams are left to design their own databases, which is a shit show. And even then, it’s amazing to me how difficult it is for data engineering teams to move from framework to framework without just mapping old solutions onto new technology.
My career has been primarily focused on something like “bringing modern data-driven solutions” to big companies. The one thing that is a constant challenge is that most teams (and leadership) aren’t prepared to handle responsibilities of data engineering and stewardship in transactional, operational systems. I feel like critical responsibility when I come on as a consultant is to impart knowledge about managing their data.
To elaborate, I meant 2x compared to SWEs at the same company. I'd prefer not to post exact dollar amounts as they are relative based on location, company, and several other things.
