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Database Architects

SOC 15-1243.00Job Zone 4 · Considerable Preparationv.26.05

Context coveredThis framework covers database architecture practice in enterprise and technology-sector environments, spanning design, modeling, integration, governance, and strategic leadership for relational, distributed, and cloud-based database systems.

Sources:O*NET v30.2O*NET Resource Center — Occupational Information Network, v30.2 (Sept 2025). Opens in new tab.SkillsCrosswalkSkillsCrosswalk — O*NET enrichment + adjacency index. Opens in new tab.
Emerging
Entry / Apprentice
  1. Database architecture documentation — draft and organize under direct supervision using established templates in a structured enterprise environment.
  2. Business requirements — gather and record by attending stakeholder meetings alongside senior architects on assigned projects.
  3. Data models — construct basic entity-relationship diagrams for simple applications following mentor-provided guidelines.
  4. Database management system software — install, configure, and perform routine maintenance tasks under close technical oversight.
  5. Database development standards — apply pre-established coding and naming conventions when writing SQL scripts in a supervised development environment.
  6. System scalability concepts — identify and flag potential bottlenecks in proposed database designs during peer-review sessions.
  7. Backup and archival software — execute scheduled backup procedures and verify completion logs according to documented runbooks.
  8. Technical specifications — read and interpret requirements documents to extract relevant data structure needs for assigned schema components.
  9. Commercial database products — assist senior architects in customizing configuration settings to meet project-specific requirements.
  10. Database interfaces — support development of basic data transfer mechanisms by following approved design patterns under team guidance.
Developing
Mid-level / Established
  1. Database architectures — develop and document end-to-end designs for moderately complex systems with limited oversight in an enterprise setting.
  2. Stakeholder collaboration — participate actively in cross-functional sessions with system architects and design analysts to translate business needs into data requirements.
  3. Data models — design normalized relational and dimensional models including metadata tables and views for business application support.
  4. Database security — implement role-based access controls, encryption policies, and audit logging in accordance with organizational security standards.
  5. Performance tuning — analyze query execution plans and apply indexing strategies, including function-based indexes, to optimize database response times.
  6. Architectural strategies — apply layered modeling and design approaches across development lifecycle phases to satisfy documented business requirements.
  7. Database application components — build data partitions, global temporary tables, and stored procedures to enable efficient access to enterprise data structures.
  8. Product integration — develop and test methods for connecting disparate database products and middleware within a multi-system environment.
  9. Database development standards — enforce team-level coding and design conventions through code reviews and written guidelines.
  10. ERP and enterprise software — configure and extend commercial database schemas to align with organization-specific operational workflows.
Proficient
Senior / Expert IC
  1. Database architectural strategies — design and implement comprehensive strategies spanning modeling, physical design, and deployment for large-scale enterprise systems autonomously.
  2. Business and industry requirements — lead discovery sessions with diverse stakeholders including software architects and operations analysts to translate complex needs into actionable database designs.
  3. Scalable database systems — architect databases that address concurrent scalability, high availability, disaster recovery, and regulatory compliance across heterogeneous environments.
  4. Advanced data modeling — produce multi-tier data models encompassing OLTP, OLAP, and NoSQL structures aligned to varied application performance profiles.
  5. Database application design — engineer complex interfaces, partitioning schemes, and indexing frameworks that optimize throughput for mission-critical workloads.
  6. Integration architecture — design and validate end-to-end data integration pipelines connecting commercial, custom, and cloud-based database systems without introducing latency or data loss.
  7. Systems evaluation — assess existing database architectures against emerging business demands, producing gap analyses and remediation roadmaps.
  8. Development standards — author and maintain organization-wide database development standards, patterns, and best-practice libraries used across project teams.
  9. Security and reliability design — embed threat modeling, redundancy planning, and performance benchmarking into architectural decisions for sensitive data environments.
  10. Technology selection — evaluate and recommend database management platforms and tooling using structured criteria aligned to long-term organizational strategy.
Advanced
Lead / Principal / Executive
  1. Enterprise database strategy — define and own the multi-year data architecture roadmap, aligning database investments with organizational technology and business objectives.
  2. Organizational standards governance — establish, publish, and continuously evolve enterprise-wide database development standards and architectural governance frameworks.
  3. Cross-functional leadership — direct collaboration among software architects, data engineers, security officers, and business executives to ensure cohesive data architecture decisions.
  4. Architectural innovation — pioneer adoption of emerging database paradigms such as distributed ledger, graph, or cloud-native architectures to address evolving industry requirements.
  5. Risk and compliance oversight — lead enterprise-level database risk assessments, ensuring architectures meet regulatory, audit, and data sovereignty obligations across all systems.
  6. Mentorship and capability building — coach and evaluate architects at all experience levels, establishing structured learning pathways and technical review processes.
  7. Enterprise integration design — approve and oversee complex multi-product integration strategies that unify heterogeneous data ecosystems at organizational scale.
  8. Technology portfolio management — guide procurement, licensing, and retirement decisions for enterprise database management systems and supporting tooling.
  9. Performance and scalability standards — set organizational benchmarks for database reliability, response time, and fault tolerance, holding teams accountable through architecture review boards.
  10. Thought leadership — represent the organization's database architecture practice through published standards, industry engagement, and executive-level reporting on data infrastructure strategy.

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Sources:Anthropic Economic IndexAnthropic Economic Index — release_2026_03_24. Opens in new tab.Jadhav & Danve, 2026Skill Automation Feasibility Index — Jadhav & Danve, 2026 (arXiv:2604.06906). Opens in new tab.WEF Skills TaxonomyWEF Skills Taxonomy 2021 — Building a Common Language for Skills at Work. Opens in new tab.

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Related titles
ADP Planner (Automatic Data Processing Planner) · Big Data Architect · Big Data Engineer · Cloud Architect · Cloud Infrastructure Architect · Computer Architect · Data Analyst · Data Architect · Data Engineer · Data Governance Analyst · Data Integration Specialist · Data Management IT Specialist (Data Management Information Technology Specialist)
RAPIDS apprenticeships
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O*NET skills
Reading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingComplex Problem SolvingJudgment and Decision MakingSystems AnalysisActive ListeningSpeakingProgrammingSystems EvaluationActive LearningOperations AnalysisWritingMonitoringTime ManagementTechnology DesignMathematicsSocial PerceptivenessCoordinationService Orientation
Knowledge domains
Computers and ElectronicsEngineering and TechnologyDesignMathematicsEnglish Language
Abilities
Deductive ReasoningOral ComprehensionWritten ComprehensionOral ExpressionProblem SensitivityInformation OrderingInductive ReasoningSpeech ClarityNear VisionCategory Flexibility
Work styles
Attention to DetailDependabilityIntellectual CuriosityAchievement OrientationCautiousnessInnovation
Technology
Word processing softwareEnterprise resource planning ERP softwareAccess softwareBackup or archival softwareDevelopment environment softwareData base management system softwareDocument management softwareWeb page creation and editing softwareObject or component oriented development softwareWeb platform development software
Tasks · seed anchors for statements
  1. Develop and document database architectures.
  2. Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to understand business or industry requirements.
  3. Develop database architectural strategies at the modeling, design and implementation stages to address business or industry requirements.
  4. Design databases to support business applications, ensuring system scalability, security, performance, and reliability.
  5. Develop data models for applications, metadata tables, views or related database structures.
  6. Design database applications, such as interfaces, data transfer mechanisms, global temporary tables, data partitions, and function-based indexes to enable efficient access of the generic database structure.
  7. Develop methods for integrating different products so they work properly together, such as customizing commercial databases to fit specific needs.
  8. Create and enforce database development standards.
CIP education codes
11.010111.010311.040111.050111.070111.080211.090211.100314.090114.090314.270130.700130.709952.1201

Sources: O*NET v30.2 (CC BY 4.0), SkillsCrosswalk.com, LER.me®, Anthropic Economic Index, SAFI (Jadhav & Danve, 2026), WEF Skills Taxonomy 2021, Pathsmith™ Durable Skills Framework. © 2026 EBSCOed.