Head of Data Operations - London (2 days p/week) - Inside IR35 up to £800/day

The role

You'll lead how the organisation looks after its data, making sure it is accurate, clearly owned, easy to find and protected by design.

This is a real chance to shape a function. You'll design and lead a team of 4-8 data professionals and build it into a high-performing team ready for the organisation's future plans.

What you'll do

• Improve data quality - build and roll out a data quality framework across the organisation's most important datasets, so data is accurate, consistent and fit for purpose.
• Use automation and AI - introduce automated and AI-enabled ways to spot and fix data quality issues at scale.
• Give data clear owners - set up an ownership and stewardship model so senior colleagues are accountable for the data in their area.
• Make data easy to find and understand - create a shared model of the organisation's core data and agreed definitions, and own the tools that help people find, understand and monitor data.
• Set standards - define and govern data standards and integration rules across systems, including marketing technology platforms.
• Build in data protection - work with the Data Privacy team so privacy-by-design is part of every system and project from the start.
• Manage platform costs - help track and control spend on cloud and data platforms such as Snowflake, using tools like Datadog and CloudWatch.
• Work with engineering: make sure governance needs shape data architecture and platform decisions.
• Design and lead the team - define the team's structure and roles, then lead, develop and manage performance.
• Advise senior leaders - be the main adviser to the CDO on data quality and risk, turning technical findings into clear recommendations.
• Build a data-aware culture - help colleagues outside the data team understand their role in looking after data.

Experience we need

• Significant experience leading data governance, data quality or data operations in a complex organisation
• A track record of delivering data quality frameworks, data catalogues or master data management at scale
• Experience setting up data ownership models and getting senior stakeholders on board
• Strong working knowledge of UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and privacy-by-design
• Experience leading and shaping multidisciplinary teams
• Familiarity with governance and monitoring tools (eg data catalogues, Datadog, CloudWatch) and cloud cost management
• The technical credibility to work confidently with engineers
• The ability to explain complex ideas simply and influence people at every level
• A positive approach to change, as the role and team will evolve over time