Head of Data Strategy & Enablement (f/m/d)

Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH; Oberkochen; Hybrid; EUR 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

ZEISS SMT GmbH seeks a Head of Data Strategy & Enablement to lead two data teams and steer data governance across the SMT segment. You will translate the data strategy into roadmaps, OKRs and prioritized initiatives that create measurable business value.

In this role you will collaborate with business, IT and Enterprise Architecture to enable secure self-service data use and scalable, future-ready data solutions, while guiding data policy and governance across ZEISS SMT.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant field.
• Proven leadership of large data/analytics teams with budget and org responsibility.
• Strong understanding of data governance, architecture, and strategic steering.
• Experience shaping data strategy into roadmaps, OKRs, and value-driven initiatives.
• Fluency in English; German advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead two data teams totaling 25 employees (Governance, Quality, MDM, Enablement).
• Chair SMT Data Governance Board and define data policies across SMT.
• Translate data strategy into roadmaps, prioritised initiatives and measurable business value.
• Drive governance automation and reusable data products across the organisation.

Skills

Data governance

Leadership

Strategy development

Data architecture

Stakeholder management

Education

Master's degree in Computer Science / Information Systems / Data Science

Job description

ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology Enabler for smaller, more powerful, and more energy-efficient microchips Working for tomorrow today. Around 80 percent of all microchips worldwide are produced using ZEISS technologies. As the centerpiece of every electronically controlled system, they have become an integral part of our everyday lives - whether in smartphones, smart homes or smart factories. ZEISS is a technology leader in the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. With high-precision lithography optics, photomask systems and process control solutions, ZEISS enables the production of ever smaller, increasingly powerful, and more energy-efficient microchips, and thus plays a pivotal role in the age of micro- and nanoelectronics.

Your role

• Shape ZEISS SMT's data-driven future: As Head of Data Strategy & Enablement (m/f/d), you are responsible for the strategic and operational evolution of our data management.
• In this central, key role you lead two Data teams, chair the SMT Data Governance Board, and position Data as a driving force for BI, analytics, and operational AI applications across the SMT segment.
• Leadership and development of two Data teams totaling 25 employees, responsible for Data Governance, data quality, Master Data Management (MDM), and Data Enablement Chairing the SMT Data Governance Board, and defining and SMT-wide steering of data policies, standards, role models, and quality requirements
• Translating the SMT data strategy into clear roadmaps, OKRs, and prioritized initiatives with a focus on measurable business value and expanding data-driven value creation
• Advancing toward automated, platform-supported governance, data quality ("Governance/Data as Code"), and reusable data products
• Representing SMT data interests as a central stakeholder and actively shaping strategic key projects within SMT and the ZEISS group
• Close collaboration with the business areas, IT organization, and Enterprise Architecture to enable secure self-service use and to ensure robust, scalable, and future-ready data solutions

Your profile

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, or a comparable field
• Several years of disciplinary leadership experience overseeing large teams in Data, Analytics, or IT environments, including management of senior leaders and senior experts, as well as budget, resource, and organizational responsibility
• Strong understanding of modern data architectures and Data Governance with a clear focus on strategic steering, prioritization, architecture governance, and empowering expert teams
• Entrepreneurial leadership style with strong business and management orientation, experience aligning organizational units to corporate goals and positioning them as strategic value drivers
• Experience steering complex cross-functional committees and transformation programs, with high communication, facilitation, and enforcement skills across hierarchical levels
• Pragmatic, results-driven, and empowering leadership style with strong shaping ability and a pronounced "Win Together" mindset
• Fluent in English; German language skills are advantageous

Your ZEISS Recruiting Team: Adrian Kahl

Step out of your comfort zone, excel and redefine the limits of what is possible. That's just what our employees are doing every single day - in order to set the pace through our innovations and enable outstanding achievements. After all, behind every successful company are many great fascinating people. In a spacious modern setting full of opportunities for further development, ZEISS employees work in a place where expert knowledge and team spirit reign supreme. All of this is supported by a special ownership structure and the long-term goal of the Carl Zeiss Foundation: to bring science and society into the future together. Join us today. Inspire people tomorrow.

Diversity is a part of ZEISS. We look forward to receiving your application regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, philosophy of life, disability, age, sexual orientation or identity.