CareerForge track
Data Engineering
Build the pipelines that power AI
Data pipelines, Spark, Kafka, data warehousing, and real-time streaming at scale.
Who this is for
Candidates moving toward pipelines, warehousing, orchestration, and production-grade data systems.
Why this track exists
This track is about building trustworthy data movement, modelling, and platform reliability at scale.
What you'll actually do
A typical week in this role.
- Build batch and streaming pipelines (ETL/ELT) that move data reliably and on time.
- Model data and run cloud warehouses/lakehouses — Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks.
- Own data quality, governance and cost so the whole company can trust the numbers.
- Feed analysts and AI models the clean, timely data they depend on.
Skills you'll master
The toolkit that gets you hired.
You won't learn these in isolation — every lesson connects to real projects, your CV, and interview practice for this exact role.
Your career path
Where this role can take you
Typical UK progression and salary — roles you can land include Data Engineer, Analytics Engineer, MLOps Engineer.
Junior / Entry
£35k – £45k
Build pipelines with guidance, learn the modern data stack.
Mid-level
£60k – £75k
Own pipelines and models for a whole domain, end to end.
Senior / Lead
£80k – £100k+
Architect the data platform — the foundation every AI product needs.
Indicative UK ranges (advertised medians); London and contract roles typically pay more.
Your future in this role
Is this career future-proof?
One of the hardest UK tech roles to hire for — and demand is accelerating, because every AI product runs on data someone has to move.
The AI question, answered honestly
Here's the thing about the AI boom: all of it runs on data, and someone has to build the pipelines that feed it. That's you. Demand for data engineering isn't slowing down — it's speeding up, and shifting toward the design, quality and judgement AI can't own. It's one of the most durable careers in tech right now, and we get you to the level where AI works for you, not instead of you.
This is exactly what CareerForge trains you for — with a personal trainer who stays with you until you land the role.
Programme structure
- 3-month minimum commitment
- Structured track modules and lesson packs
- CV updates and application support inside the same workflow
- Live mock interviews tied to package entitlement
- Review history and post-session notes
Your dedicated trainer
Kai
Data engineer specialising in real-time pipelines and modern data stacks.
One person who stays with you — keeping your lessons, applications and interview prep on the same path, and your morale up, until you land the role.
Ready to move into the data engineering lane?
Apply once and let the track, trainer context, applications, and interview prep stay connected.