5 JOB ROLES INVOLVED WITH DATABASE MANAGEMENT…..

Isuruni Rathnayaka
10 min readOct 18, 2020

Hello Everyone! If you are interested in a job role related to database management, this article is a must to read.

Databases are used for almost every purpose throughout the world, making the life impossible without them. Deliberately or not you use databases in your life for many day today activities. If you are not aware, you may wonder what a database is. A database is an organized collection of data, basically stored and accessed from a computer system. Databases are rather important for an organization or a business than for individuals. Within an organization, managing a database plays a major role. Followingly Database management refers to the actions taken to manipulate and organize data in an order to meet necessary conditions. more importantly inside an organization there are many job roles involved with database management. Five of these job roles will be discussed below.

1. Database Administrator

Simply database administrators are the employees in an organization that are responsible for databases where business details are stored. Database administrators are in charge of organizing, storing and analyzing databases using database management software.

Duties and responsibilities you ought to perform…….

There are many responsible duties involved with this job role. Some of them are,

· Performing tests and modifications daily for the database server and application tool to ensure the proper performance of databases.

· Modifying the database structure, as necessary for the organization and the user.

· Registering new users to the database.

· Maintaining security of the database as it contains crucial data of the organization.

· Monitoring the user access to the database.

· Planning for backup and recovery of database information.

· Troubleshooting the programs and hardware when a problem occurs in the database.

· Generating various reports or documents needed by the organization by querying from database.

· Managing and monitoring data replication that can be taken place.

· Performing data backup and data recovery.

Skills you should own to be a database administrator…….

Database management is technically different from our day today activities. So, data administrators should hold some skills to perform their duties and responsibilities well. It is better for data administrators to have preferable knowledge about database queries, database theory, database design, structured query language and database management systems. Instead of these skills, having a general knowledge on distributed computing architectures and operating system like Windows or Linux is useful for data administrators. Other than these technical skills it is also important to have soft skills like analytical skills, communication skills, problem solving skills and leadership skills.

Educational qualifications of a database administrator…….

Even though one possesses above mentioned skills, it is necessary to have related educational qualifications to be a data administrator. Generally, many organizations tend to hire database administrators with at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field but sometimes a master’s degree is required for higher-level positions. If you are interested to make the database administrator as your careers, it is better to follow a degree program related to computer science, computer engineering, mathematics, statistics or computer programming.

Salary you will earn as a database administrator…….

Salary is very important when a job role is considered. As for the data administrators, average salary in the world is $78,779 per year according to the surveys.

2. Database Designer

Database design is referred as the organization of data according to the relevant database model. Accordingly, database designer is the person who classifies data and also identifies interrelationships of data gathered.

General duties and responsibilities to be performed…..

The main responsibility of a database designer is to work, design and implement computer databases for the collection, protection and analysis of data. Some of duties of a database designer are as follows,

· Determining data to be stored in a database.

· Determining the interrelationships between data obtained.

· Structuring data logically.

· Normalizing the database.

· Representing database physically in a database management system.

Skills you require as a database designer…..

In order to perform these duties a database designer must have a solid knowledge on data Modeling, database design, object-oriented analysis, design techniques and system architecture. Normally a database designer is specialized only in the database designing field and do not have a knowledge about the domain from which the data to be stored is taken. So, it is useful for a database designer to obtain knowledge about domains related to the particular organization. If not, that information must be obtained from an expert in the relevant domain. Along with them data designers must have creativity, problem solving skills as well as communication skills.

Educational qualifications you have to gain……….

With the increasing competition for jobs, if you wish to be a database designer, it is better to have a bachelor’s degree as well as relevant work experience. If you are student who is interested to be a database designer, studying in related fields, such as computer science or software engineering is a must.

Average salary you will receive……

In the world, salary of a database designer is also at a great level with an average salary of $58,013 per year that range from $58,000 as the maximum to $102,000 as the maximum.

3. Data Engineer

Data engineering is the science of collecting and validating data. Therefore, data Engineers are the employers of an organization who are in charge of creating and maintaining the environment that allows almost every other function in the data world to operate. Simply data engineers are responsible for developing, building, maintaining, and testing architectures, such as databases and processing systems. Basically, they are the gatekeepers of the data production chain and ensuring that it runs perfectly, from data extraction to data visualization. So, data engineers are the people who create data pipelines that connect data from one system to another.

Duties performed by a data engineer……

Responsibilities and duties of a data engineer are much crucial than other job roles as they are the connectors of data systems. Some important duties of data engineers are as follows,

· Implementing, verifying, designing and maintaining databases.

· Building data architecture for large-scale applications.

· Extracting data from one database and replacing them into another.

· Researching and discovering new methods to acquire data, and new applications for existing data.

· Assembling large, complex data sets that meet business requirements.

· Work with data and analytics experts to strive for greater functionality in data systems.

· Working with other members of the data team, including data architects, data analysts, and data scientists.

Necessary skills to be a data engineer……..

The skills needed to do the job of a data engineer have been increasing over the several years. A good data engineer should possess knowledge and skills in handling programming languages, building and designing large-scale applications, database architecture and data warehousing, data modeling and mining, statistical modeling and regression analysis, database programming languages like SQL and a good understanding regarding Hadoop-based analytics, such as HBase, Hive, Pig, and MapReduce.

Educational qualifications needed by a data engineer……

Educational qualifications are essential for data engineers other than skills as they hold a great responsibility in an organization. Normally a graduate degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Informatics, Information Systems or another quantitative field is required, but if you are willing to take over a higher-level position at least a master’s degree is needed. Students who are willing to become data engineers must follow their education in the paths like software design, computer programming, data architecture, data structures, and database management.

Salary you will receive as a data engineer…….

Salary of a data engineer in the world is at an interesting level with an average salary of $ 102,864 per year. According to surveys the minimum expected salary of a data engineer is $71,500 while the maximum is $192,316.

4. Database Programmer

Database programmers are the employees in an organization who write computer instructions that affect the way in which data stored in a computer system are organized, managed, accessed and updated. They use specific database computer languages to write and test new database software according to the business needs of the organization. So, database programmers are responsible for organizing and storing all the data in an organization’s computer system.

Job responsibilities and duties to be fulfilled……

In order to follow their job role smoothly, quickly, and safely, a database programmer must fulfill some of the following job duties,

  • Manipulating database using software packages as well as original source-language programs.
  • Preparing documentation of steps taken and programs written to facilitate analysis of data.
  • Selecting most appropriate programs or packages based on user needs and intended results.
  • Preparing data for analysis using software packages and original programs.
  • Writing and documenting computer programs with the knowledge of database programming languages and statistical programs to run analysis of data.
  • Collaborating with other programmers to troubleshoot and improve systems.
  • Supervising data entry.

Skills needed by a database programmer……

A typical database programmer is responsible for designing, developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining databases. Some of skills needed by a database programmer to perform the above-mentioned skills can be listed as ability to perform data modelling, having the knowledge about a database programming language like SQL, knowledge to extract, transform, load various data types , ability to design and test database plans. Other than these technical skills it’s good to have soft skills such as analytical skills, creativity, leadership qualities and communication skills.

Educational qualifications you must possess……

Along with the above-mentioned skills, it is necessary to have related educational qualifications to be a database programmer. Many organizations tend to hire database administrators with at least a bachelor’s degree in computer programming or a related field but sometimes a master’s degree is required for higher-level positions. If you are interested to make the database programmer as your career, it is better to follow a degree program related to computer science, computer engineering, statistics or computer programming.

Average salary of a database programmer……

According to Robert Half Technology’s 2019 IT salary report, database programmer is one of the 13 most in-demand tech jobs for 2019. For an entry-level programmer, the average salary is $98,250 which goes up to $167,750 for a seasoned expert.

5. Database Developer

Database developers are responsible for the designing, programming, constructing and implementation of new databases, as well as modifying existing databases for platform updates and changes in the needs of the organization. They ensure that database management systems (DBMS) can handle massive quantities of data.

Duties and responsibilities to be carried out…..

Database developers also have related job duties and responsibilities assigned to them. Here is a list of job responsibilities of a database developer in general,

  • Collecting data, analyzing the collected information, designing algorithms, drawing flowcharts and then implementing code for the logic developed through algorithms and flowcharts.
  • Designing new databases to meet the needs of the organization.
  • Developing database code to perform specific tasks, such as extracting data for reports, making updates or deleting data.
  • Developing appropriate queries that help to retrieve data from the database.
  • Looking into the security issues of the data and develop structures, procedures and triggers.
  • Designing Relational Database models and test the developed code with test data to make sure the code is error free.
  • Preparing and maintain report of the entire backend development life cycle.

Preferable skills for a database developer……

In performing these job responsibilities, database developers are needed to have knowledge about database queries, database theory, database design, structured query language and database management systems, knowledge of physical database design and data structures, understanding of data management (e.g. permissions, recovery, security and monitoring), knowledge of database objects including tables, indexes, views and statistics and knowledge of ETL and BI tools. Instead of these technical skills it is important to have soft skills like oral and written communications skills, analytical skills, problem solving skills and leadership qualities.

Required educational qualifications for you…….

Most of the companies look for Computer Science graduates or postgraduates for the position of database developer. Therefore, you need to possess a degree in the respective field if you want to make your career as a database developer. If you are interested to be a database developer, bachelor’s degrees in computer science, computer programming, computer engineering or software engineering will be needed.

Average annual salary you will acquire……

Database developers has earned an average annual salary of $75,000, according to Payscale.com. With the accumulation of experience and skills, your salary can grow considerably. Entry-level database developers make an average of $57,000, while those with more than 20 years experience earn nearly $100,000 on average.

You might not realize it, but databases are everywhere. So, the job opportunities involved with database management are increasing day by day.

Hope the article is useful to determine your future career. Thank you very much for reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isuruni Rathnayaka

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Isuruni Rathnayaka

Software Engineering Undergraduate - University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka