A tailored course, built for your situation
Final call on data pipeline architecture, without escalation
A tailored course for senior data engineers ready to own architecture decisions end to end
$199 one-time
24-hour access provisioning
30-day money-back guarantee
Hand-built implementation playbook
12 modules. 12 chapters per module. 144 chapters total.
12 modules, each with 12 chapters (144 chapters total), text-based, plus downloadable templates and a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
The situation this course is for
Who this is for
Senior IC data engineer in a cloud-first environment, regularly contributing to or leading pipeline design, with growing responsibility but still routing key choices through senior reviewers.
Who this is not for
Junior engineers still learning core ETL patterns or professionals outside hands-on data pipeline design.
What you walk away with
- Own final decisions on pipeline schema and transformation layer structure
- Make binding choices on orchestration tools (e.g. Airflow vs Azure Data Factory) without escalation
- Approve source-to-consumer data contracts without senior review
- Select and document logging, monitoring, and alerting thresholds independently
- Sign off on data freshness SLAs tied to business use cases
The 12 modules (with all 144 chapters)
Module 1. Defining architectural scope without oversight
Learn how to bound pipeline architecture projects using stakeholder input, existing platform guardrails, and compliance thresholds, without waiting for senior alignment.
12 chapters in this module
- Stakeholder mapping for data pipelines
- Setting scope boundaries proactively
- Using platform constraints as design guardrails
- Documenting assumptions early
- Flagging dependencies without escalation
- Choosing integration patterns upfront
- Identifying reuse opportunities
- Aligning with data domain owners
- Deciding on real-time vs batch early
- Capturing non-negotiables in writing
- Setting version control norms
- Publishing initial scope decision log
Module 2. Choosing orchestration frameworks independently
Evaluate and commit to orchestration tools based on team capability, cost, and operational overhead, without needing approval.
12 chapters in this module
- Assessing team Airflow maturity
- Comparing managed vs self-hosted
- Cost modeling for orchestration layers
- Defining DAG ownership rules
- Setting CI/CD standards for workflows
- Choosing alerting integration points
- Evaluating UI access needs
- Benchmarking recovery times
- Deciding on task retry policies
- Setting up audit logging
- Documenting tooling rationale
- Publishing framework decision memo
Module 3. Making final schema design decisions
Take ownership of source modeling, conformed layers, and semantic naming, without deferring to data architects.
12 chapters in this module
- Choosing raw layer structure
- Designing canonical models
- Naming conventions by domain
- Handling schema drift preemptively
- Setting type coercion rules
- Defining null handling standards
- Choosing surrogate vs natural keys
- Modeling slowly changing dimensions
- Versioning schema changes
- Deciding on partitioning strategy
- Optimizing for query patterns
- Publishing schema decision register
Module 4. Owning transformation logic and ownership
Make binding decisions on where transformations happen, who owns them, and how they’re tested, without escalation.
12 chapters in this module
- Deciding on medallion vs alternative layering
- Assigning ownership per layer
- Setting unit testing thresholds
- Choosing dbt vs custom scripts
- Defining idempotency requirements
- Handling late-arriving data
- Setting data quality check frequency
- Choosing checkpoint locations
- Documenting transformation rules
- Setting reprocessing protocols
- Publishing logic ownership matrix
- Signing off on transformation spec
Module 5. Setting data freshness and SLA commitments
Define and commit to SLAs based on downstream needs, without waiting for leadership alignment.
12 chapters in this module
- Mapping pipeline to business use cases
- Interviewing consumer teams
- Setting acceptable latency bands
- Choosing SLA monitoring tools
- Defining breach response protocol
- Setting retry window policies
- Documenting SLA assumptions
- Publishing SLA commitment log
- Handling emergency overrides
- Updating SLAs after incidents
- Signing off on SLA binding
- Archiving expired SLAs
Module 6. Final sign-off on data contracts
Approve source-to-consumer data contracts with clear ownership, format, and quality terms, no senior review needed.
12 chapters in this module
- Identifying contract stakeholders
- Defining schema guarantees
- Setting format and encoding rules
- Specifying delivery cadence
- Binding quality score thresholds
- Including metadata requirements
- Setting change notification rules
- Defining deprecation policy
- Documenting contract exceptions
- Publishing contract registry entry
- Signing off on contract validity
- Handling contract disputes
Module 7. Choosing monitoring and observability stack
Select logging, tracing, and alerting tools based on operational needs, without escalation.
12 chapters in this module
- Assessing existing monitoring coverage
- Choosing log aggregation tool
- Setting trace sampling rate
- Defining critical alert thresholds
- Assigning on-call responsibilities
- Integrating with incident tools
- Setting dashboard access rules
- Choosing anomaly detection method
- Documenting escalation paths
- Publishing observability decision log
- Updating tooling after incidents
- Signing off on monitoring coverage
Module 8. Making vendor and tooling selections
Evaluate and approve third-party tools for ingestion, transformation, or monitoring, without leadership approval.
12 chapters in this module
- Creating shortlist of vendors
- Running security pre-checks
- Assessing API reliability
- Benchmarking performance
- Evaluating cost per million rows
- Checking team familiarity
- Running POC success criteria
- Documenting decision rationale
- Setting trial duration
- Negotiating access terms
- Publishing vendor evaluation report
- Signing off on tool adoption
Module 9. Owning documentation and knowledge transfer
Finalize and publish architecture documentation that stands up to peer review, without oversight.
12 chapters in this module
- Choosing documentation platform
- Setting update frequency
- Defining ownership sections
- Including data lineage diagrams
- Adding failure mode analysis
- Publishing runbook templates
- Archiving deprecated designs
- Linking to monitoring dashboards
- Adding escalation contacts
- Setting reader access levels
- Publishing version history
- Signing off on documentation completeness
Module 10. Handling incident post-mortems independently
Lead root cause analysis and own corrective action decisions, without senior review.
12 chapters in this module
- Declaring incident severity
- Assembling response team
- Capturing timeline accurately
- Identifying root causes
- Assigning action items
- Setting remediation deadlines
- Choosing prevention tactics
- Publishing post-mortem report
- Updating runbooks
- Adjusting monitoring rules
- Communicating to stakeholders
- Signing off on closure
Module 11. Managing technical debt decisions
Decide what to fix now, defer, or deprecate, without escalation.
12 chapters in this module
- Cataloging known tech debt
- Assessing impact on SLAs
- Estimating refactoring effort
- Choosing deprecation path
- Setting tech debt review cadence
- Prioritizing fixes by risk
- Communicating deferral rationale
- Updating architecture docs
- Publishing debt register
- Signing off on debt roadmap
- Revisiting deferred items
- Archiving resolved debt
Module 12. Finalizing pipeline decommissioning
Approve retirement of pipelines with full traceability, without senior review.
12 chapters in this module
- Identifying unused pipelines
- Notifying dependent teams
- Assessing data retention needs
- Choosing archival method
- Updating lineage maps
- Removing dependencies
- Revoking access keys
- Shutting down orchestration
- Stopping monitoring alerts
- Publishing decommission log
- Signing off on retirement
- Archiving design artifacts
How this maps to your situation
- Greenfield pipeline design
- Migration from legacy system
- High-visibility project under leadership scrutiny
- Cross-team integration initiative
Before vs. after
Before
Decisions on pipeline structure, tooling, and SLAs require alignment with senior reviewers or architects.
After
You make and document final calls on all key architecture decisions, no escalation needed.
What's included with your purchase
- 12 modules with 12 chapters each (144 chapters)
- Downloadable templates and worked examples for every module
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Delivery and format
- Course and learning environment access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
Format: Text-based modules and chapters in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every chapter, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
Time investment: Approximately 3-4 hours per module, with self-paced progression across 12 modules.
How this compares to the alternatives
Generic data engineering courses cover broad concepts but don’t train you to own final decisions. Internal mentorship is inconsistent. This course delivers structured, repeatable methods for asserting architectural command, proven in peer-reviewed environments.
Frequently asked
Who is this course designed for?
Senior data engineers who are technically ready to own end-to-end pipeline architecture decisions but still route key choices through senior reviewers.
How is the course structured?
12 modules, each containing 12 chapters (144 chapters total).
Will I get hands-on exercises?
Yes, each chapter includes a downloadable template or worked example you can adapt to your environment.
$199 one-time. Approximately 3-4 hours per module, with self-paced progression across 12 modules..
Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.
30-day money-back guarantee·
144 chapters·
Hand-built playbook included·
Account access within 24 hours