The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Mid-Level BI Specialist (L2)
2-3 yearsSkills to master
- Independently building and maintaining dashboards, gathering requirements directly from stakeholders, developing strong SQL and dbt skills, taking ownership of specific data domains.
You're ready to move on when
- Consistently delivers high-quality dashboards with minimal supervision.
- Proactively identifies and resolves data quality issues within their domain.
- Can effectively communicate data insights to non-technical peers.
- Has successfully completed at least 3-5 end-to-end BI projects.
- 2
Data Engineer (with BI focus)
3-5 yearsSkills to master
- Strong data pipeline development (ETL/ELT), advanced SQL, Python scripting for data manipulation, understanding of data warehousing concepts, experience with orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow).
You're ready to move on when
- Has built and maintained robust data pipelines that feed BI dashboards.
- Possesses a deep understanding of data governance and data quality principles.
- Can troubleshoot complex data integration issues.
- Demonstrates an interest in the 'last mile' of data delivery and visualisation.
- 3
Product Analyst (with strong technical skills)
3-5 yearsSkills to master
- Deep understanding of product metrics, A/B testing, user behaviour analysis, strong SQL, experience with product analytics tools, ability to influence product roadmap with data.
You're ready to move on when
- Has driven significant product decisions using data insights.
- Can design and analyse complex A/B tests.
- Possesses strong stakeholder management skills with Product teams.
- Shows a natural inclination towards building reusable data assets for product analysis.