Adobe3 postings
Most common title: Platform AI Engineer
View jobs ↗ at Adobe matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate
AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate (DEA-C01)
Validates knowledge of data ingestion, transformation, store management, pipeline operations, and data security and governance using AWS services.
Summary
AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate tests whether you can build and run data pipelines on AWS, from ingesting and transforming data to managing data stores and securing them. Candidates describe it as the hardest AWS Associate exam because it tests trade-offs between many similar services.
Good fit if
- You build or maintain ETL and ELT pipelines on AWS
- You have data engineering experience and hands-on AWS time
- You want pipelines and data stores, not general architecture
Look elsewhere if
- You are new to AWS: AWS Cloud Practitioner
- You build and deploy ML models: AWS ML Engineer Associate
- Your data platform is Databricks or Snowflake: Databricks Data Engineer Associate or SnowPro Core
Salary & jobs
22 US job postings ask for AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate, with Data Engineer as the most common job title. The median pay is $183k a year; most fall between $143k and $198k.
Top-paying job titles
Most common job titles
| Job title |
|---|
| Job title | ||
|---|---|---|
| Data Engineer | - | 6 |
| Data Access Layer Data Engineer Data Architect | - | 2 |
| Platform AI Engineer | - | 2 |
| 0000001423 AI Engineer II Info Tech Data And AI | - | 1 |
| Aws Cloud Data Engineer | - | 1 |
| Aws Cloud Dba | - | 1 |
| Cloud Solution Architect AI Data | - | 1 |
| Data Access Layer Data Engineer Managed Kafka | - | 1 |
| Database Administrator | - | 1 |
| Managed Services Data Quality Engineer Associate | - | 1 |
| Ontology Subject Matter Expert | - | 1 |
| Security Data Solution Architect | - | 1 |
| Software Engineer III Data Payments Technology | - | 1 |
| Technical Instructor | - | 1 |
| Vp Functional Design Engineering | - | 1 |
Top employers
Adobe
CACI2 postings
Most common title: Data Access Layer Data Engineer Data Architect
View jobs ↗ at CACI matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate
Guidehouse2 postings
Most common title: Aws Cloud Dba
View jobs ↗ at Guidehouse matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – AssociateCACI International Inc1 postings
Most common title: Data Access Layer Data Engineer Data Architect
View jobs ↗ at CACI International Inc matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate
Dallas County1 postings
Most common title: 0000001423 AI Engineer II Info Tech Data And AI
View jobs ↗ at Dallas County matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate
Fusemachines1 postings
Most common title: Security Data Solution Architect
View jobs ↗ at Fusemachines matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate
General Dynamics Information Technology1 postings
Most common title: Database Administrator
View jobs ↗ at General Dynamics Information Technology matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate
INflow Federal1 postings
Most common title: Data Engineer
View jobs ↗ at INflow Federal matching AWS Certified Data Engineer – AssociatePrerequisites
Cost
What holders say
Helps most at the resume screen
Hiring-side commenters say it can tip a close decision and helps most for people moving into data engineering, such as data scientists learning Spark and AWS.
Shows real AWS depth
Because the exam tests trade-offs between specific AWS services, holders see it as evidence of AWS data knowledge rather than general ETL theory.
A project matters more in interviews
Opinions split on callbacks. Several data engineers say a real pipeline you can explain counts for more than the certification once you reach technical interviews.
Certification path
AWS’s data engineer roadmap puts Solutions Architect Associate first. After Data Engineer Associate, AWS recommends Security Specialty, or Machine Learning Engineer Associate for AI/ML work.
Renewal
AWS Data Engineer Associate is valid for three years.
- Validity
- 3 years
- Renew by exam
- Data Engineer Associate or GenAI Developer Professional
- Retake with 50% voucher
- $75 USD
With an active Skill Builder subscription, the Maintain route extends the certification by one year through training within 90 days of expiry.
AWS recertification options ↗Alternatives
Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate$200 required · Intermediate
For teams building pipelines mainly on Databricks and Spark.
PDE$200 required · Advanced
The equivalent data engineering certification for Google Cloud.
DP-700$165 required · Intermediate
The equivalent for Microsoft Fabric and Azure.
AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate$75 required · Intermediate
For people who build and deploy ML models rather than data pipelines.
FAQ
What experience do I need for AWS Data Engineer Associate?
None is checked. AWS writes the exam for people with the equivalent of 2 to 3 years of data engineering and 1 to 2 years of hands-on AWS experience.
How hard is the AWS Data Engineer Associate exam?
Candidates often call it the hardest AWS Associate exam. Questions ask you to choose between similar services, such as Redshift or Athena and Kinesis or MSK, for a given cost, latency and operational requirement.
Data Engineer Associate vs Solutions Architect Associate: which should I take?
Take Data Engineer Associate if you build data pipelines. Take Solutions Architect Associate if you design systems across all kinds of AWS workloads.
How do I renew AWS Data Engineer Associate?
Pass the latest Data Engineer Associate exam or Generative AI Developer Professional within three years, or extend it by one year through Skill Builder training in the last 90 days.
Last updated October 2026