Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Data engineer to chief data officer

A data engineer already meets 16% of what the chief data officer role asks for. The move turns on 13 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From data engineer
16 % overlap
Distant match
To chief data officer
9 You already bring
13 Still to learn
61 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance A rebuild

85.2/ 100

1 How much of what a chief data officer is expected to do is already part of a data engineer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the chief data officer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A chief data officer role treats 3 of its required skills as things a data engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • data storage
  • manage ICT data architecture
  • manage data

What stands in the way is 13 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 9 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A chief data officer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a data engineer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held manage ICT data architecture communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held Teradata Database information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held database management systems information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held data models information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held use databases working with computers
  • already held unstructured data information and communication technologies (icts)

All 9 carried skills, including the 3 the chief data officer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 52 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 information and communication technologies (icts) 4 required, 28 supplementary
  • still to learn data mining required
  • still to learn decision support systems required
  • still to learn information structure required
  • still to learn data science required
  • optional, not held CA Datacom/DB optional
  • optional, not held DB2 optional
  • optional, not held Filemaker (database management systems) optional
  • optional, not held IBM Informix optional
  • optional, not held LDAP optional
  • optional, not held LINQ optional
  • optional, not held MDX optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Access optional
  • optional, not held MySQL optional
  • optional, not held N1QL optional
  • optional, not held ObjectStore optional
  • optional, not held OpenEdge Database optional
  • optional, not held Oracle Relational Database optional
  • optional, not held PostgreSQL optional
  • optional, not held SPARQL optional
  • optional, not held SQL Server optional
  • optional, not held XQuery optional
  • optional, not held database development tools optional
  • optional, not held information architecture optional
  • optional, not held information confidentiality optional
  • optional, not held information extraction optional
  • optional, not held information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held online analytical processing optional
  • optional, not held query languages optional
  • optional, not held resource description framework query language optional
  • optional, not held data engineering optional
  • optional, not held database optional
  • optional, not held image recognition optional
02 management skills 2 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn define data quality criteria required
  • still to learn define technology strategy required
  • optional, not held coordinate technological activities optional
  • optional, not held apply change management optional
  • optional, not held manage business knowledge optional
03 working with computers 2 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn manage ICT data classification required
  • still to learn utilise decision support system required
  • optional, not held integrate ICT data optional
04 arts and humanities 2 required
  • still to learn visual presentation techniques required
  • still to learn data ethics required
05 business, administration and law 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn business processes required
  • optional, not held data quality assessment optional
  • optional, not held business intelligence optional
06 information skills 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn make data-driven decisions required
  • optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional
  • optional, not held report analysis results optional

3 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a chief data officer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 9 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held data storage knowledge
  • already held manage ICT data architecture skill
  • already held manage data skill
  • already held Teradata Database knowledge
  • already held cloud technologies knowledge
  • already held data models knowledge
  • already held database management systems knowledge
  • already held unstructured data knowledge
  • already held use databases skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 assisting and caring 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn apply information security policies required
  • optional, not held develop information security strategy optional
08 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held deliver visual presentation of data optional
09 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held information categorisation optional
39 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held CA Datacom/DB optional
  • optional, not held DB2 optional
  • optional, not held Filemaker (database management systems) optional
  • optional, not held IBM Informix optional
  • optional, not held LDAP optional
  • optional, not held LINQ optional
  • optional, not held MDX optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Access optional
  • optional, not held MySQL optional
  • optional, not held N1QL optional
  • optional, not held ObjectStore optional
  • optional, not held OpenEdge Database optional
  • optional, not held Oracle Relational Database optional
  • optional, not held PostgreSQL optional
  • optional, not held SPARQL optional
  • optional, not held SQL Server optional
  • optional, not held XQuery optional
  • optional, not held coordinate technological activities optional
  • optional, not held data quality assessment optional
  • optional, not held database development tools optional
  • optional, not held develop information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional
  • optional, not held information architecture optional
  • optional, not held information categorisation optional
  • optional, not held information confidentiality optional
  • optional, not held information extraction optional
  • optional, not held information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held integrate ICT data optional
  • optional, not held online analytical processing optional
  • optional, not held query languages optional
  • optional, not held resource description framework query language optional
  • optional, not held apply change management optional
  • optional, not held business intelligence optional
  • optional, not held data engineering optional
  • optional, not held database optional
  • optional, not held deliver visual presentation of data optional
  • optional, not held image recognition optional
  • optional, not held manage business knowledge optional
  • optional, not held report analysis results optional
19 held skills the chief data officer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role SAS Data Management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role analyse pipeline database information skill
  • not needed by the target role computer science knowledge
  • not needed by the target role create data models skill
  • not needed by the target role create data sets skill
  • not needed by the target role data analytics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role data warehouse knowledge
  • not needed by the target role design database in the cloud skill
  • not needed by the target role develop data processing applications skill
  • not needed by the target role digital data processing skill
  • not needed by the target role establish data processes skill
  • not needed by the target role implement data warehousing techniques skill
  • not needed by the target role manage quantitative data skill
  • not needed by the target role manage research data skill
  • not needed by the target role perform dimensionality reduction skill
  • not needed by the target role process data skill
  • not needed by the target role statistics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role store digital data and systems skill
  • not needed by the target role use data processing techniques skill
38 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn data mining required
  • still to learn decision support systems required
  • still to learn information structure required
  • still to learn visual presentation techniques required
  • still to learn business processes required
  • still to learn data ethics required
  • still to learn data science required
  • optional, not held CA Datacom/DB optional
  • optional, not held DB2 optional
  • optional, not held Filemaker (database management systems) optional
  • optional, not held IBM Informix optional
  • optional, not held LDAP optional
  • optional, not held LINQ optional
  • optional, not held MDX optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Access optional
  • optional, not held MySQL optional
  • optional, not held N1QL optional
  • optional, not held ObjectStore optional
  • optional, not held OpenEdge Database optional
  • optional, not held Oracle Relational Database optional
  • optional, not held PostgreSQL optional
  • optional, not held SPARQL optional
  • optional, not held SQL Server optional
  • optional, not held XQuery optional
  • optional, not held data quality assessment optional
  • optional, not held database development tools optional
  • optional, not held information architecture optional
  • optional, not held information categorisation optional
  • optional, not held information confidentiality optional
  • optional, not held information extraction optional
  • optional, not held information security strategy optional
  • optional, not held online analytical processing optional
  • optional, not held query languages optional
  • optional, not held resource description framework query language optional
  • optional, not held business intelligence optional
  • optional, not held data engineering optional
  • optional, not held database optional
  • optional, not held image recognition optional
Index

Other moves recorded from data engineer

Full index of moves from data engineer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a data engineer become a chief data officer?

Yes, and it is a career change move. A data engineer already covers 16% of what a chief data officer is expected to do: 9 skills carry over, 3 of which the chief data officer role treats as required.

What skills does a data engineer need to become a chief data officer?

13 required skills are missing, plus 39 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is apply information security policies.

How hard is the move from data engineer to chief data officer?

Its learning distance is 85.2 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.