Data Support Manager

Stanton House; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanton House is partnering with a private equity-backed business to appoint a Data Support Manager to lead the operational support function for its modern data platform. This hands-on leadership role focuses on day-to-day data, reporting and analytics support, ensuring high service levels, governance and stakeholder satisfaction across technology, data and the wider business.

AI-enabled support is a key focus.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a data support or BI operations function.
• Experience with data platforms, warehousing and reporting ecosystems.
• Understanding ITIL and incident/change management.
• Experience managing third-party support providers against SLAs and KPIs.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of Data Support Engineers, mentoring and prioritising workloads.
• Oversee incident, problem and change management to reduce recurring issues.
• Ensure SLAs are met and governance is maintained across data platforms.
• Manage external service providers, contracts and supplier performance.
• Drive automation and AI-enabled support processes to enhance efficiency.
• Provide training, documentation and self-service resources for users.
• Collaborate with Data Engineering and Analytics teams to prioritise improvements.

Skills

Data Platform

Stakeholder Management

ITIL Knowledge

People Management

AI in Support

Cloud Data Tech

Tools

Snowflake

dbt

Prefect

Job description

Reports to: Head of Data, Analytics & AI

Location: Bedfordshire (1 day per week in office)

Contract: Permanent, Full-Time

Stanton House is partnering with a private equity-backed business currently undergoing a significant transformation programme and looking to appoint a Data Support Manager to lead the operational support function for its modern enterprise data platform.

This is a hands‑on leadership role responsible for ensuring the effective day‑to‑day support of data, reporting and analytics platforms, delivering high levels of service, governance and stakeholder satisfaction. You will oversee support operations, manage external service providers, coordinate change requests and enhancements, and drive continuous improvement across data support processes.

Working across technology, data and the wider business, you will combine team leadership, supplier management, service governance and technical oversight to ensure support processes are scalable, proactive and increasingly automated. A key focus of the role will be driving the adoption of AI‑enabled support capabilities to improve efficiency, issue resolution and operational effectiveness while maintaining strong service levels and business continuity.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, mentor and develop a team of Data Support Engineers, managing priorities and workloads.
• Provide coaching, performance management and development support to the team.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and capability development as the function grows.
• Establish best practice across incident management, documentation and stakeholder communication.
• Champion the effective and responsible use of AI tools within support processes.

Service Operations & Support

• Own the operational delivery of data platform and reporting support services.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex data, reporting and analytics issues.
• Ensure incidents and service requests are managed effectively within agreed SLAs.
• Oversee user access management and first‑line support processes.
• Drive root‑cause analysis and problem management to reduce recurring issues.
• Ensure business users have access to appropriate training, documentation and self‑service resources.
• Maintain visibility of critical reports, dashboards, data feeds and associated business dependencies.

Third-Party & Supplier Management

• Act as the primary point of contact for external managed service providers and support partners.
• Oversee ticket management, escalation processes and service delivery performance.
• Lead regular service reviews and monitor supplier performance against agreed SLAs and KPIs.
• Challenge service issues, identify improvement opportunities and ensure accountability for delivery.
• Support contract reviews, service scope discussions and supplier governance.
• Ensure appropriate resilience, documentation and knowledge transfer arrangements are maintained.
• Drive the implementation of monitoring, alerting and proactive support capabilities across the data estate.
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive support activities and manual processes.
• Partner with Data Engineering and Analytics teams to prioritise and deliver improvements.
• Establish robust processes for managing change requests, enhancements and minor platform updates.
• Leverage AI-enabled tools to improve troubleshooting, knowledge management and service efficiency.

Governance & Operational Excellence

• Track and report on service performance metrics including ticket volumes, SLA compliance, resolution times and customer satisfaction.
• Maintain accurate records of incidents, known issues, workarounds and improvement initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with information security, data governance and data protection requirements.
• Support resource planning, budgeting and forecasting activities.
• Provide regular operational reporting and recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Skills & Experience Required

• Proven experience managing a Data Support, Application Support, BI Support or Data Operations function.
• Strong experience managing third‑party support providers against SLAs and KPIs.
• Good understanding of ITIL or comparable service management frameworks, including Incident, Problem and Change Management.
• Previous people management experience, including coaching, performance management and team development.
• Understanding of modern data platforms, data warehousing and reporting ecosystems.
• Experience supporting BI and analytics platforms such as Power BI, Tableau or Qlik.
• Ability to investigate issues, coordinate technical teams and drive resolution through to completion.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Strong organisational, planning and prioritisation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including reporting, governance and meeting facilitation.
• Experience with modern cloud data technologies such as Snowflake, dbt, Prefect or similar would be advantageous.
• Experience implementing automation or AI‑enabled support processes would be desirable.
• Knowledge of data governance, data quality and information security frameworks would be beneficial.
• Familiarity with service reporting, budgeting and supplier contract management would be advantageous.

Main point of contact: Kristiyana Raycheva - [e-mail]