Data Contractor Scope of Work Template
One page tells a contract data engineer what to read, what to match and what to hand back.
Word and PDF. Or read the whole sample scope on this page.
A data contractor scope of work fits on one page. List the source systems, the record each output reconciles to, deliverables at weeks 2, 6 and 12, the data access tier and one sign-off owner. Bill it hourly.
Last updated: October 28, 2026
Twelve weeks is 84 days. KORE1’s median IT contract assignment runs 136 days (n=410), so more than half of the contractors you scope for a quarter are still on the job when the quarter ends, and somebody has to write the next page. Write the first scope as if you’ll need a second one. Plan for it.
This is that scope, on one page. It’s for the hiring manager at a fund or a carrier who has hours to spend on a data engineer or analyst and nothing to hand them on day one. It’s short on purpose. It names what the contractor reads, what every output has to match, what lands at weeks 2, 6 and 12, who signs and how much access they start with. For the hiring side, see data engineering staff augmentation, and for the terms around an hourly seat, SOW staffing services.
One note on terms. The contractor bills by the hour and your manager directs the work, so this is a staffing scope and not a priced statement of work, which is why the page carries no fee schedule and no acceptance clause. Nothing to price. If your company wants a statement of work on file, attach this page to it.
Watch the Data Contractor Scope Walkthrough
Video chapters
- 0:00 — Intro
- 0:13 — What Goes in the Scope
- 0:44 — Deliverables for an Hourly Contract
- 1:09 — Funded Deliverables and 2027
- 1:47 — Data Access Tier on Day One
- 2:01 — The Handoff Section
- 2:18 — Common Questions
Read full transcript
A scope of work for a contract data engineer fits on one page. Seven fields. That’s the whole thing. It’s for the hiring manager at a fund or a carrier who has hours to spend on a data engineer or analyst, and nothing to hand them on day one.
Source systems. The record every output has to match. What lands at weeks two, six and twelve. The access tier. One sign-off owner. Then the weekly hours and the end date. Take the reconciliation target. Name the one record each output has to match, and say who keeps it. In the sample, a mid-level data engineer at a private credit fund ties every loan tape total to loans receivable on the month-end trial balance. Or the break gets listed with a reason. Short answers. And if you’re listing more than five source systems, you’re probably writing a second scope.
An hourly contract has no price per deliverable. So each one has a single job. It tells you on a Friday whether the hours are going where you meant. Write it as something you can open or run, with the number it should match. Not build the pipeline. A nightly load into the sandbox, with row counts that match the source each morning. Your manager directs the work, and you pay by the hour. So when a checkpoint moves, you change the scope in writing and keep going.
Twelve weeks from any start left in twenty twenty-six ends in twenty twenty-seven. A start on Monday, November ninth finishes on Friday, January twenty-ninth. Week two lands this year for every start the page checks. Week six only does if you start by November sixteenth, and that Friday is Christmas Day. So anything that has to be delivered this year goes at week two or week six, in writing. Treat week twelve as a twenty twenty-seven deliverable. KORE1 contract assignments run a median of one hundred thirty-six days, across four hundred ten assignments. Twelve weeks is eighty-four. So more than half the contractors you scope for a quarter are still on the job when it ends. Write the first scope as if you’ll need a second one.
Start with the lowest access tier that lets week two happen. Only the sign-off owner raises it, and every change gets written down. Tier zero is documents only. Tier one is a masked copy. Tier two is read only. Tier three is sandbox write, and releases to production stay with your employees.
The handoff section is four lines. You write them on day one, not in the last week. Where the code lives. The run book. Who owns it next. And the date every login, key and token is removed. Walk through it in week twelve with the owner in the room. The real finish line is a run book one of your employees can follow alone for a month-end.
You might be wondering if this is a statement of work. It’s a staffing scope. Your manager directs the hourly work, so it needs only the sources, the checkpoints, the access tier and the sign-off owner. If your company wants a statement of work on file, attach this page to it. And production access on day one? Usually not. Start with a masked copy, or read only access to a replica, and raise it in writing. Download the data contractor scope template at KORE1.com. Word to fill in, PDF to print. Or send us the role, the level, the start date and the length, and we’ll price it from our rate index.
Download the Data Contractor Scope Template
Word to fill in, PDF to print. Each file holds the blank one-page scope and the sample from this page, side by side.
The blank scope
Seven fields on one page, with shaded blanks and a line of instruction under each.
The sample, filled in
A mid-level data engineer at a private credit fund, so you can see how short each answer is.
The date table
Weeks 2, 6 and 12 for four November starts, with the holidays marked.
Where should we send it?
Your name and work email. The files appear here the moment you send it.
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Here is the template
Fill in the shaded fields, then send the one-page scope to whoever signs.
Next
Writing the checkpoints? The 90-day deliverable list for a data contractor goes deeper on weeks 2, 6 and 12.
What Goes in a Data Contractor Scope of Work?
Seven fields, filled in below for a sample engagement. Shaded text is a value you replace with your own.
Scope for one data contractor
Step 1, Source systems
List every system, file or feed the contractor will read, with a letter, an owner and how often it refreshes.
- ALoan servicing systemMonthly loan tape, read only
- BGeneral ledgerTrial balance by facility
- CBank and custodian statementsCash by account, file drop
More than five sources is usually a second scope.
Step 2, Reconciliation target
Name the one record each output has to match, and say who keeps it.
The picture on the box Loans receivable on the month-end trial balance, by facility
Every loan tape total ties to it, or the break is listed with a reason.
Step 3, Deliverables at weeks 2, 6 and 12
Write one thing you can open or run for each checkpoint, with the number it should match.
Week 2
Friday, November 20
Source inventory and field map
Every table and file listed with its owner and refresh time, and the first tape loaded to staging with row counts that match the source.
Week 6
Friday, December 18
Working reconciliation
Tape, ledger and cash load every night, and the report ties the tape to the ledger by facility with each break over your tolerance explained.
Week 12
Friday, January 29
Handoff you can run without the contractor
A scheduled run, tests, and a run book that one of your employees follows alone for a month-end.
Each checkpoint is checked by the sign-off owner in step 5, against the picture in step 2.
Step 4, Data access tier
Pick the lowest tier that lets week 2 happen and write down who can raise it.
- 0Documents onlyData dictionaries, diagrams and tickets. No data.
- 1Masked copySample or masked data in a non-production copy.
- 2Read onlyRead access to production or a replica. No writes.
- 3Sandbox writeWrite access to a sandbox or staging schema. Production releases stay with your employees.This sample
Only the sign-off owner can raise a tier, and the change is written down.
Step 5, Sign-off owner
Put one name on the checkpoints.
Controller, fund accountingName Your one name
This person checks each checkpoint against the picture in step 2 and decides when access goes up a tier.
Step 6, Weekly hours
Set the hours a week the work needs, and bill them by the hour.
30 hours a week
30 hours for 12 weeks is 360 hours. At KORE1’s modeled national bill rate for a mid-level data engineer, $98 to $122 an hour with a $110 median, that comes to $35,280 to $43,920, or $39,600 at the median.
Step 7, End date
Count twelve weeks from the start and write down the Friday it ends on.
Friday, January 29, 2027
Twelve weeks from November 9. The median IT assignment runs 136 days, so plan the next scope while you write this one.
The engagement is a made-up example, written to show how little each field needs. Hours are the sample’s and not a recommendation. The bill rate is a modeled cell from the KORE1 Contract Rate Index, built from federal wage data and a 24% employer burden, and not an average of KORE1 placements. Your own system names and tolerances go in the shaded fields. Replace every one.
How Do You Write Deliverables for an Hourly Contract?
Write each one as something you can open or run, with the number it should match, because an hourly contract has no price per deliverable and each deliverable has one job, which is to tell you on a Friday whether the hours are going where you meant. Vague scopes drift.
- Understand our databecomesA source inventory in the team wiki, every table and file with its owner and refresh time.
- Build the pipelinebecomesA nightly load into the sandbox, with row counts that match the source each morning.
- Support the closebecomesA report that ties the loan tape to the ledger by facility, every break over your tolerance explained.
Devin Hornick, a KORE1 partner, describes the arrangement from the buyer’s side.
“In the SOW world, this is just a hiring manager with a budget, going outside and hiring something and saying, I have this to get done and I need you to do it… a certain amount of hours based on that budget.”
Devin Hornick, KORE1 partner
The hours are the budget. When a checkpoint moves, you change the scope in writing and keep going. The contract wording lives in the time and materials SOW template, and the long view of what lands by day 90 is in the 90-day deliverables guide.
Which Funded Deliverables Cannot Slide Into 2027?
Twelve weeks from any start left in 2026 ends in 2027. A Monday, November 9 start finishes Friday, January 29, so the question for a budget that closes December 31 is which checkpoints can land inside it.
| Start on Monday | Week 2 ends | Week 6 ends | Week 12 ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, November 9 | Friday, November 20 | Friday, December 18 | Friday, January 292027 |
| Monday, November 16 | Friday, November 27the day after Thanksgiving | Friday, December 25Christmas Day | Friday, February 52027 |
| Monday, November 23 | Friday, December 4 | Friday, January 12027New Year’s Day | Friday, February 122027 |
| Monday, November 30 | Friday, December 11 | Friday, January 82027 | Friday, February 192027 |
Week 2 lands in 2026 for all four starts. Week 6 lands in 2026 only if you start by November 16, and that Friday is Christmas Day, a federal holiday. Week 12 lands in 2027 every time.
So put anything that has to be delivered this year at week 2 or week 6, in writing, and treat week 12 as a 2027 deliverable, since a twelve-week scope that starts now cannot finish before a December 31 year-end. Swap in your own date if your budget year closes on another one. Count the Fridays.
KORE1’s median offer-to-start is 3 days (n=1,997), which leaves the scope as the slow step. Write it this week.
136 days
median IT contract assignment (n=410)
3 days
median from offer to start, all roles (n=1,997)
$110
modeled national median bill rate, mid-level data engineer ($98 to $122)
1,040 hours
worked before a contractor can convert to your payroll at no fee
KORE1 placement data 2019 to 2026, export of October 16, 2026. The $110 is a modeled cell from BLS OEWS May 2025 wages plus a 24% employer burden, effective October 16, 2026, and not an average of KORE1 placements. The method is public.
What Data Access Tier Does the Contractor Need on Day One?
The lowest tier that lets week 2 happen. Start small. Most data seats can begin with documents and a masked copy, and move up when the work asks for it.
- Tier 0, documents only. Data dictionaries, diagrams and tickets. No data.
- Tier 1, a masked copy. Sample or masked data in a non-production copy.
- Tier 2, read only. Read access to production or a replica, and no writes.
- Tier 3, sandbox write. Write access to a sandbox or staging schema. Releases to production stay with your employees.
The sign-off owner raises a tier, in writing, and each change is dated. The idea underneath is least privilege, which NIST defines as giving each person only the access the job needs. For the full policy, with who signs and when access ends, use the contractor access policy template.
Day one also needs the usual setup, laptop, accounts and a first-week plan. The contractor onboarding checklist covers that side, and the contractor ramp plan template shows how access grows by week.
What Should the Handoff Section Say?
Four lines, written on day one and not in the last week.
Where the code lives
A repository in your account from week 1, with the contractor’s commits in it.
The run book
Steps a person follows alone, from a cold start to a finished month-end.
Who owns it next
One named employee who has run it once before the contractor leaves.
When access ends
The date every login, key and token is removed, written into the scope.
Walk through it in week 12, with the owner in the room. If the work turns into a job, a KORE1 contractor who has worked 1,040 hours with you can convert to your payroll at no fee, so the run book you wrote for the handoff becomes the first onboarding document for the hire. Who owns the code is settled in the contract, and contractor IP ownership agreements explains the two assignments behind it.
Hiring for a fund or a lender? Private credit data contractor staffing lists the seats and the rates, and the fractional data team is the option when you need a lead and not a seat.
Common Questions From Hiring Managers
Is this a statement of work or a staffing scope?
A staffing scope. It covers hourly work that your manager directs, so it needs only the sources, the checkpoints, the access tier and the sign-off owner. If your company wants a formal statement of work on file, attach this page to it.
Who owns the code and documentation?
You do. On a KORE1 engagement the contractor assigns their work to KORE1 before the first day, and our services agreement assigns it on to your company. Ask for both assignments as signed copies, and keep the repository and the run book in your own accounts from week 1, so the work is yours in practice as well as on paper.
How long do data contracts run?
Longer than most first scopes. KORE1 IT contract assignments run a median of 136 days (n=410), about 19 weeks. A 12-week scope is 84 days, so plan the extension when you write the original.
Should a contractor have production access on day one?
Usually not. Start at the lowest tier that lets week 2 happen, which for most data work is a masked copy or read-only access to a replica, and raise it in writing. Write access to production stays with your employees.
What if the contractor misses a checkpoint?
Redirect the hours that week. You pay by the hour and your manager directs the work, so a miss is a reason to change Monday’s plan. Write the change into the scope so the next checkpoint matches it.
Staff the Role on This Scope
Send us the role, the level, the start date, the length and the metro. We’ll price it from the index and start the search.
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