Data & Analytics Leader — Head of, Director and CDO Level

We work with a range of UK employers actively hiring across these roles

Job Description:

UK-Based (On-Site, Hybrid or Remote)

About the Role

We're looking for senior Data and Analytics Leaders—from Head of Data, Head of Analytics and Head of Insights through to Director of Data, Director of Analytics, VP Data & AI and Chief Data Officer—for upcoming leadership roles across data, analytics, BI and applied AI functions. These are senior leadership positions where you'll set the data strategy, build and run high-performing teams, and partner with the executive team to turn data into a meaningful commercial asset.

You'll own the data agenda end-to-end—strategy, platform, people, governance and value delivery. The role suits a leader who pairs deep technical breadth across the modern data stack with the commercial nous and executive presence to make data a genuine board-level conversation.

Key Responsibilities

• Set and own the data, analytics and (where in scope) AI/ML strategy in service of the wider business strategy
• Build, scale and lead high-performing data, analytics, BI and ML teams
• Partner with the executive team and the board to align data investment to measurable commercial outcomes
• Own data governance, ethics, privacy and compliance—UK GDPR, FCA and sector-specific obligations where relevant
• Lead platform and vendor decisions across warehouse, lakehouse, BI, orchestration, ML and data activation
• Set and manage the data function's roadmap, budget and operating model
• Develop data literacy and a data-informed decision culture across the organisation
• Attract, develop and retain senior data, analytics, BI and ML talent
• Represent the data function externally—partners, regulators, candidates, the wider data community
• Make the case for data investment in commercial terms the rest of the exec team can act on

What You'll Bring

Leadership Expertise:

• Demonstrable track record building and scaling data, analytics, BI or AI/ML functions at meaningful scale
• Comfort translating commercial strategy into a data strategy that delivers measurable outcomes
• Influence and credibility at executive and board level
• Experience hiring, developing and retaining senior data and analytics talent
• Vendor and platform selection experience at scale—commercial, technical and risk dimensions
• Track record landing change—operating model, structure, ways of working

Technical Breadth:

• Strong working literacy across the modern data stack—cloud warehouse / lakehouse, BI, orchestration, transformation, governance and ML platforms
• Confident evaluating architecture, vendor and build-vs-buy decisions without needing to write the code
• Understanding of data engineering, analytics, BI and applied AI/ML as distinct disciplines and how they interact
• Awareness of contemporary topics—data products, data contracts, data mesh, generative AI, model governance—and the discipline to separate hype from substance

Commercial & Soft Skills:

• Executive communication and storytelling—able to make data legible to a non-data audience
• Strong commercial instincts; can connect data work to revenue, cost, risk or customer outcomes
• Cross-functional leadership across product, engineering, finance, marketing and operations
• Talent magnet—people want to come and work for you, and they stay
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and shaping the brief as much as delivering against it
• Calm, structured and credible during incidents, audits and high-stakes decisions

Domain Flexibility:

• Roles span fintech, retail, consumer, healthtech, public sector, B2B SaaS, media, telco and professional services
• Background in any of these is welcomed; appetite to step into an adjacent sector valued just as much

Experience Level:

• Typically 10+ years in data, analytics, BI or AI/ML, with 5+ in senior leadership; specific scope varies by Head of, Director and CDO / VP level
• Background in data, analytics, BI or AI/ML leadership, with at least one prior role owning function-level strategy
• Examples of data functions, platforms or strategies you've owned end-to-end and the commercial outcomes they delivered

What We Offer

• The opportunity to own the data agenda where it genuinely matters at executive and board level
• Roles where data, analytics and AI investment is treated as a strategic priority, not a back-office cost line
• Levels of seniority that match your trajectory—Head of through to CDO / VP
• Cultures where the data leader is at the executive table, not three layers below it
• Clear scope to shape the operating model, the platform, the team and the agenda
• Flexible working arrangements (on-site, hybrid or remote) and supportive executive peers