Job titles like data engineer, data scientist, and data analyst all sound pretty similar. Are they all different names for the same thing, or actually individual roles?
While all three roles work with data, they focus on separate parts of the data’s journey. Each role interacts with it in different ways, at different times, and with different skills.
Data Engineering: Building the Data Pipelines
Data engineers are the first to interact with newly created data, which can come in different forms: number of clicks, dates, names, timings… They organise that data and get it from one place to another.
Data Engineers build and maintain the systems that collect data from apps, websites, sensors, or databases. Their job is to make sure data is clean, well-organized, and available when others need it.
This is a role that involves coding, such using programming to build data bases, organise datasets, and ensure data systems are fast, secure, and reliable.
Without data engineers, there wouldn’t be trustworthy data for anyone else to analyze.
Data Analysis: Understanding the Data
Data analysts focus on explaining what the data says about the past and present.
They can look at the data organised by the data engineers, and answer questions like what happened last month, why sales dropped, or which customers were most active. Their work often supports business decisions.
In simple terms, data analysts read the data and explain what it means.
Their role may involve minimal to no coding. They will create dashboards and reports, analyse trends and patterns, and answer specific business questions
Data analysts usually work closely with non-technical teams and communicate insights in clear, visual ways.
Data Science: Predicting and Exploring Future Data
Data scientists focus on using data to make predictions and discover deeper insights.
They often use statistics and machine learning to answer questions such as: what will happen next, which users are likely to leave, or how decisions can be automated.
In short, data scientists use data to make educated guesses about the future.
Their role will involve building predictive models, experimenting with algorithms, and finding complex patterns in large datasets.
Their work is more exploratory and experimental than data analysis.
How They Work Together
These roles are all connected, but each does different work with data.
In summary:
- Data engineers prepare and deliver reliable data,
- Data analysts explain what’s happening now and what happened before,
- Data scientists explore what might happen next.
All three are essential. When they work well together, organisations can turn raw data into real understanding and better decisions.
Join the Data Journey
If you’re interested in becoming a data engineer, Northcoders’ Data Engineering, AI & Machine Learning Bootcamp can help you transform your career. Click here to find out more and apply!