| name | data-system-ops-lead |
| description | Run data system operations and reliability engineering.
Cover pipeline monitoring, incident response, SLA management, capacity planning,
on-call runbooks, data quality alerting, and operational excellence.
Triggers on "data pipeline monitoring", "incident response", "SLA management",
"capacity planning", "on-call runbook", "data quality alerting", "operational excellence",
"system reliability", "pipeline health check", or "data ops".
|
Data System Operations Lead
Overview
Run data system operations and reliability engineering. This skill covers pipeline monitoring,
incident response, SLA management, capacity planning, on-call runbooks, data quality alerting,
and operational excellence.
Features
- Pipeline monitoring with alerting thresholds and dashboard design
- Incident response: severity classification, escalation paths, post-incident reviews
- SLA management with performance tracking and breach prevention
- Capacity planning: resource forecasting, scaling triggers, cost optimization
- On-call runbooks with step-by-step troubleshooting procedures
- Data quality alerting with anomaly detection and validation rules
Usage
- Identify the user's data ops need (monitoring, incident response, SLA, capacity, or runbooks)
- Follow the corresponding workflow below
- Produce structured outputs: monitoring dashboards, incident reports, SLA scorecards, or runbooks
Examples
-
User: "Set up pipeline monitoring"
Agent: Runs Monitoring workflow, defines alert thresholds, creates dashboard with latency/throughput/error rate metrics
-
User: "Handle a pipeline failure"
Agent: Runs Incident Response workflow, classifies severity, executes runbook, produces post-incident report with root cause
-
User: "Create an on-call runbook"
Agent: Runs Runbook Creation workflow, documents troubleshooting steps, escalation paths, and verification checks
When to Use
- Running daily data platform health checks, pipeline triage, and SLA enforcement
- Leading incident response, post-incident reviews, and on-call/shift handoffs
- Managing vendor escalations, cost reviews, and operational process design
- Coaching ops engineers on runbooks, capacity, and alert hygiene
When NOT to Use
- Strategic data mesh/lakehouse architecture or governance policy → use
data-architect
- Program roadmaps, quarterly planning, or governance committee operations → use
data-manager
- Writing dimensional models or MERGE-based incremental ETL → use
data-warehouse-engineer
- General cloud/Kubernetes infrastructure outside the data platform → use
infrastructure-engineer
- Org-wide on-call program, SEV definitions, postmortem tooling → use
incident-management-engineer
Core Workflows
1. Platform Operations Oversight
Daily operational cadence:
| Activity | Time | Owner | Output |
|---|
| Morning health check | 08:00 | On-call lead | Status dashboard review |
| Pipeline run review | 09:00 | Operations engineer | Failed job triage |
| Capacity check | 10:00 | Platform engineer | Resource utilization report |
| SLA review | 14:00 | Operations lead | Breach investigation |
| End-of-day handoff | 17:00 | Outgoing on-call | Shift notes, open issues |
Health check checklist:
2. Incident & Problem Management
Incident severity matrix:
| Severity | Impact | Response Time | Escalation |
|---|
| P1 (Critical) | Business halt, data loss | 15 min | Director immediately |
| P2 (High) | Significant degradation | 1 hour | Manager within 30 min |
| P3 (Medium) | Minor impact | 4 hours | Team lead by end of shift |
| P4 (Low) | Cosmetic/noise | 24 hours | Next business day |
Incident lifecycle:
- Detect → 2. Triage → 3. Mitigate → 4. Resolve → 5. Review
Post-incident review (within 48 hours for P1-P2):
- Timeline of events
- Root cause (5 Whys)
- Impact assessment
- Action items with owners and dates
- Process improvements
3. Team & Shift Leadership
On-call rotation design:
- Primary + secondary (overlapping coverage)
- Weekly rotations (not daily — too disruptive)
- Include weekend coverage in planning
- Escalation path: Engineer → Lead → Manager → Director
Shift handoff template:
## Shift Handoff — [Date] [Shift]
### Active Incidents
| ID | Severity | Status | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC-001 | P2 | Mitigated | @alice | Awaiting permanent fix |
### Alerts Requiring Attention
- [ ] Storage forecast will hit 90% in 3 days
### Changes Deployed
- [ ] Pipeline X updated to v2.1 (stable)
### Planned Work Next Shift
- [ ] Apply security patches to warehouse
### Issues for Lead Attention
- Recurring alert on pipeline Y — may need threshold tuning
4. Vendor & Cost Management
Monthly cost review:
- Actual vs budgeted spend
- Cost per TB processed, per pipeline run
- Identify optimization opportunities
- Vendor contract renewal timeline
Vendor escalation path:
- Technical support (standard ticket)
- Account manager (business impact)
- Executive escalation (contract-level)
