Chief Data Officer

MRJ Recruitment; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

MRJ Recruitment is seeking a visionary Data Leader (Data, ML & AI) to own our enterprise data capability and shape a modern data stack in a fast-growing marketplace. You will define multi-year strategy, build platforms, teams and governance, and partner with the executive team to turn data into competitive advantage across product, technology, and operations.

The role requires deep experience leading data organisations, implementing cloud-based data platforms, and driving data-driven culture and

Qualifications

• Significant senior leadership in Data, Analytics & Data Science.
• Proven track record defining & executing enterprise data strategies.
• Experience building and scaling multidisciplinary data organisations.
• Delivering modern cloud-based data platforms & analytics ecosystems.
• Strong knowledge of data engineering, governance, data science and modern data architecture.

Responsibilities

• Define and deliver a multi-year enterprise data strategy aligned to business goals.
• Create a roadmap across data platforms, governance, analytics, and data products.
• Lead a multidisciplinary data organisation spanning Data Engineering, BI, Analytics and Data Science.
• Embed intelligence into platforms, products and customer experiences.
• Partner with executives to ensure data-driven decision making across functions.

Skills

Data leadership

Strategic thinking

Cloud data platforms

Databricks

AWS

Team building

Tools

Databricks

AWS

S3

Glue

Redshift

SageMaker

Job description

MRJ are excited to bring to market a brilliant opportunity for a Data Leader (Data, ML & AI) for one of the fastest growing marketplaces globally.

"We’re looking for an exceptional Data Leader to take ownership of our enterprise-wide data capability and build the strategy, platforms, teams and culture that will transform how we use data to grow. We don't want data to simply support the business. We want it to help shape where the business goes next."

This is far more than a leadership role overseeing reporting and analytics. It is an opportunity to shape the future of data across the business, working directly with our Executive Team and leaders across Product, Technology, Commercial, Customer and Operations to turn data into a genuine competitive advantage.

What will you own and be expected to deliver?

• Define and deliver a multi-year enterprise data strategy aligned to the wider business, product and technology ambitions.
• Create a clear roadmap across data platforms, engineering, governance, analytics, data science, AI and data products, evolving our data landscape into a modern, scalable and highly effective capability.
• Identify where data, ML and AI can unlock new revenue opportunities, improve customer experiences, accelerate innovation and drive greater operational efficiency.
• Ensure our data strategy directly supports major business initiatives including platform transformation, airport onboarding, product innovation and international growth.
• Partner with the Executive Team and senior leaders to ensure data becomes central to strategic and operational decision-making.
• Move the organisation beyond simply reporting what happened towards understanding why it happened, what will happen next and what we should do about it.
• Develop advanced analytics, predictive capabilities and intelligent data products that solve genuine customer and business problems.
• Build self-service capabilities that give teams faster access to trusted, actionable insight.
• Ensure our Data Science capability focuses on solving meaningful business problems rather than experimentation without outcomes.
• Work closely with Product and Engineering to embed intelligence directly into platforms, products and customer experiences.
• Lead, inspire and develop a multidisciplinary data organisation spanning Data Engineering, BI, Analytics, Data Science and Governance.
• Create an environment where brilliant people can do their best work, develop their careers and challenge conventional thinking.
• Create a culture built around curiosity, experimentation, ownership and continuous improvement.

The ideal person we are looking for:

We're looking for an accomplished data leader who combines strategic vision, technical credibility and commercial thinking.

You’ll bring:

• Significant senior leadership experience across Data, Analytics & Data Science.
• A proven track record of defining and executing enterprise-wide data strategies.
• Experience building, scaling and transforming multidisciplinary data organisations.
• Experience delivering modern, cloud-based data platforms and analytics ecosystems.
• Strong knowledge of data engineering, analytics, governance, data science and modern data architecture.
• Successful delivery of modern cloud-based data platforms, with strong knowledge of Databricks (Lakehouse architecture, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog) alongside core AWS services (S3, Glue, Redshift, SageMaker). Able to scale a Databricks-on-AWS platform to deliver analytics and ML capabilities that create measurable value for the business and clients.
• Experience establishing enterprise data governance, ownership and quality frameworks.
• A strong understanding of how machine learning and AI can move from experimentation into meaningful business applications.
• Experience increasing organisational data maturity and creating genuinely data-driven cultures.
• Experience within digital, travel, e-commerce, marketplaces or SaaS would be particularly valuable, as would experience operating within complex multi-brand, multi-product or international businesses.
• Exposure to major platform migrations, M&A or significant organisational transformation would also be advantageous.

Next steps

The team will start shortlisting for the role from Monday 17th August with interviews expected to kick off from w/c Monday 24th August.

Please note

This role is hybrid with 3 days minimum in the office in Manchester.