Data Engineer vs ML Engineer: what energy employers ask for
As of 2 November 2026, Plutarch tracked 256 open Data Engineer postings and 74 open ML Engineer postings at energy employers.
Skills and tools
Share of the postings we could read in full that name each skill: 212 for Data Engineer, 67 for ML Engineer.
— means not among those shown on that role's own page, not that no posting names it.
| Skill or tool | Data Engineer | ML Engineer |
|---|---|---|
| Machine learning | — | 88% |
| Python | 77% | 85% |
| SQL | 74% | 36% |
| PyTorch | — | 57% |
| MLOps | — | 48% |
| LLMs | — | 46% |
| AWS | 33% | 43% |
| Azure | 43% | 36% |
| CI/CD | 42% | 30% |
| Data warehouse or lakehouse | 42% | — |
| ETL / ELT pipelines | 39% | — |
| Databricks | 35% | — |
| Git | 33% | — |
| Spark | 33% | — |
| Statistics | — | 31% |
| Deep learning | — | 30% |
| DevOps | 30% | — |
| Docker | — | 28% |
| TensorFlow | — | 28% |
| AI agents | — | 27% |
| scikit-learn | — | 27% |
| Power BI | 23% | — |
| Snowflake | 23% | — |
| Agile / Scrum | 19% | — |
| Airflow | 18% | — |
Where the postings are
— means not among those shown on that role's own page, not that no posting names it.
| Country | Data Engineer | ML Engineer |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 39% | 43% |
| India | 11% | 12% |
| United Kingdom | 8% | 8% |
| China | — | 5% |
| Australia | — | 4% |
| Germany | 4% | — |
| Poland | 3% | — |
How many postings state pay
- Data Engineer: 54 of 151 postings whose pay we could read (36%)
- ML Engineer: 23 of 50 postings whose pay we could read (46%)
Pay levels are not compared here: each role's figures come from different countries and currencies. They are on each role's own page. Pay disclosure tracks local pay-transparency law more closely than employer policy, so the two rates partly reflect where each role is advertised.
This compares what employers ask for in the two roles; it does not count how many people hold those skills or say that one role can do the other.
Grade a job description — free, no sign-up
Paste a job description. We point out wording that may mislead candidates, whether it needs a credential, and how it compares with what energy employers ask for.Open the full grader.
Your role is one job description, with its own requirements, location and pay.
Paste it to get a hiring-feasibility brief: whether the role can be filled, at what price, and who else could do it — every figure labelled by what it rests on.
Check your role — two briefs free