This page was put together with the help of resources provided by the DAB team and their learning pathway.

Awareness: show an awareness of organisational data governance, and how it works in relation to other organisational governance structures.

Working: work with metadata repositories to complete complex tasks such as data and systems integration impact analysis. Maintain a repository to ensure information remains accurate and up to date"

Practitioner: design an appropriate metadata repository and present changes to existing metadata repositories. Understand a range of tools for storing and working with metadata. Provide oversight and advice to more inexperienced members of the team.

Expert: understand how metadata repositories can support different areas of the business. Promote and communicate the value of metadata repositories. Set up robust governance processes to keep repositories up to date.

General Resources

Percipio Book: Principles of Data Management particularly chapter 6 contains a good overview of metadata. Other sections of the book are also useful for other topics in this roadmap.

The DAB team recently took part in a metadata training and recorded a summary of the sessions.

The DAB team have also contributed to this Guidance on understanding, compiling, organising and managing metadata. At the time of writing (May 2025) this document is in draft form.

Awareness

At awareness level a data engineer should:

• Assists in maintaining metadata repositories under direction to ensure data accuracy and currency.
• Follows established processes for updating and managing metadata.
• Understands basic concepts of metadata and its importance in data management.
• Supports data governance initiatives by contributing to metadata documentation.
• Identifies and reports discrepancies in metadata to senior team members

Working

At working level a data engineer should:

• Collaborates with metadata repositories to complete complex tasks, such as data and systems integration impact analysis.
• Ensures the repository is kept accurate and up to date.
• Performs regular audits of metadata to verify its integrity and relevance.
• Works with stakeholders to gather and implement metadata requirements.
• Uses metadata tools as needed to query and extract data
• Contributes to the development of metadata standards and guidelines.

Practitioner

At practitioner level a data engineer should:

• Designs appropriate metadata repositories and proposes changes to existing ones.
• Demonstrates knowledge of a range of tools for storing and working with metadata.
• Provides oversight and advice to less experienced team members.
• Develops and enforces metadata policies and procedures across the organisation.
• Leads metadata-related projects, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
• Analyses metadata trends to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams to integrate metadata into broader data management strategies.

NOTE It would be good to have a reference to Ed's Metadata checking script in the practitioner section.

Expert

• Leads the development and implementation of advanced metadata management strategies.
• Identifies and resolves complex metadata-related issues across systems and processes.
• Mentors and trains practitioners and other team members in best practices.
• Drives innovation in metadata management to enhance organisational efficiency and data quality.
• Evaluates and selects metadata tools and technologies to meet evolving business needs.
• Acts as a subject matter expert in metadata governance and compliance.
• Spearheads initiatives to automate metadata processes and improve scalability.
• Engages with senior leadership to align metadata management with organisational goals.
• Publishes thought leadership content and represents the organisation in industry forums.