Director of Data

£160,000-£180,000 + 20% Bonus

London (Hybrid - 2x Days a Week in Office)

Are you ready to take ownership of data, technology and AI across an entire business? This is an opportunity to bring multiple functions together, shape enterprise-wide data strategy and turn an established data infrastructure into a genuine driver of commercial growth!

The Company

This role is with a leading consumer insights and market research business, helping brands, agencies and media organisations understand consumer behaviour, attitudes, interests and purchasing habits. With a wealth of proprietary consumer data, established reporting capabilities and significant investment in its data infrastructure, the business is entering an exciting new phase; the focus is on connecting its existing capabilities, unlocking greater value from its data and embedding AI into how the organisation operates.

The Role

As Director of Data, you will lead the development of a centralised data function, bringing together data and analytics, engineering, architecture, enterprise systems and IT under a unified vision. Leading a team of approximately 20 people, you will build on existing foundations rather than start from scratch. Your focus will be on creating alignment across teams, establishing clear accountability and ensuring data and technology investments translate into measurable business outcomes. A key priority will be developing a single, 360-degree view of the customer, connecting data across the organisation to improve customer understanding, commercial decision-making and product development. You will also drive the adoption of AI across internal processes, identifying opportunities to improve reporting, automate workflows and deliver more personalised, data-driven experiences.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Establishing a centralised data function and a clear enterprise-wide data strategy.
• Leading and developing teams across data engineering, analytics, architecture, enterprise systems and IT.
• Creating a single customer view to connect customer behaviour, product usage and commercial data.
• Maximising the value of existing data platforms, reporting infrastructure and BI capabilities.
• Driving AI adoption and governance, identifying practical opportunities to improve business performance.
• Partnering with senior leadership to influence commercial strategy, pricing, marketing effectiveness and product decisions.
• Establishing strong data governance, architecture standards and accountability across the organisation.
• Building stakeholder alignment, making confident decisions and delivering tangible improvements at pace.

Your Skills & Experience

• Experience leading data, analytics and engineering functions at Director, VP or equivalent senior leadership level.
• A strong background in B2C, consumer insights, customer data, market research or another data-rich environment.
• Experience bringing multiple technical or data-related teams together under a shared strategy.
• A strong understanding of data architecture, engineering, cloud platforms and enterprise systems.
• Experience building a single customer view or connecting disparate data sources to improve customer understanding.
• A track record of translating data strategy into commercial value and measurable business outcomes.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to influence executive leadership and drive organisational change.
• A hands-on leadership style, combining strategic vision with the technical judgement to challenge assumptions and make decisions.
• An understanding of how AI can be applied to internal data, reporting and business processes.

Experience in a high-growth or evolving technology-led business would be advantageous. The priority is finding a credible, commercially minded leader who can unite teams, establish direction and accelerate the value generated from data.

The Benefits

• £160,000-£180,000
• Bonus - up to 20%

How to Apply

Please register your interest by sending your CV to Adam Osborne at Harnham via the Apply link on this page