Lead Metadata Analyst

Sainsbury's Limited; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Colleague discount 10%–15%

Pension and life cover

Bonus up to 10%

Annual leave + buy extra week

Season ticket loans

Health cash plans

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Sainsbury’s Tech seeks a Lead Metadata Analyst to drive metadata governance and data catalog strategy across the group. You’ll own onboarding of data sources, glossary management, lineage, stewardship and standards, working with business and tech stakeholders to improve data visibility and trust.

The role requires advanced SQL and experience with data catalog tools, plus a track record of driving adoption. London-based with hybrid working and a strong benefits package including pension, life

Qualifications

• Advanced SQL for querying complex datasets.
• Experience with enterprise data cataloguing tools (Alation, Collibra).
• Strong metadata management knowledge including glossaries and data lineage.

Responsibilities

• Lead metadata governance initiatives and standards.
• Onboard data sources and manage business glossaries.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to improve data visibility and trust.

Skills

Advanced SQL

Stakeholder engagement

Data governance

Tools

Alation

Collibra

Job description

Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Hours: Full time
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Sainsbury's Tech
Closing date: 2 November 2026
Requisition ID: 400090029

At Sainsbury’s, data sits at the heart of how we operate, innovate and serve our customers. Our Data & Analytics team is building a technically advanced, commercially focused and impactful capability, powering our Next Level Strategy and helping to create a Sainsbury’s powered by industry leading AI algorithms. We use data, technology and advanced analytics to drive better decisions across the business, from forecasting and optimisation to experimentation, personalisation and machine learning. With one of the richest retail datasets I n the UK and a portfolio spanning Sainsbury’s, Argos, Habitat and Nectar, the opportunity to innovate is huge. Here, you’ll tackle complex challenges at scale, create measurable impact and grow quickly alongside brilliant colleagues. People who thrive with us combine business understanding, technical expertise and curiosity, with a natural instinct for problem-solving. Join us and help shape the future of retail through data and AI.

Joining Sainsbury’s as a Lead Metadata Analyst means being part of a forward-thinking organisation that recognises the value of trusted, well-governed data. You’ll work with a talented team to improve data discoverability and understanding across the business, helping colleagues make better decisions through accessible and trusted data. You’ll play a key role in shaping our metadata strategy, driving innovation, and strengthening data literacy across Sainsbury’s.

What you’ll do

As a Lead Metadata Analyst within the Data Trust team, you will drive the adoption and continuous improvement of Sainsbury’s metadata management capabilities. You will lead key activities across the Group Data Catalogue, including data source onboarding, business glossary management, data lineage, stewardship, ownership, certification and metadata standards.

Working closely with business and technology stakeholders, you will improve the visibility, understanding and governance of data assets across the organisation. You will deliver strategic initiatives that enhance metadata management practices, increase catalogue adoption, and support wider data governance objectives.

You’ll also provide technical expertise in SQL and metadata technologies, champion best practice, identify opportunities for automation, and help embed a culture of trusted, well-understood data.

Who you are

You are an experienced data management professional with strong expertise in metadata management and data governance. You understand the value of business glossaries, lineage, stewardship, ownership and metadata standards in enabling organisations to trust, govern and maximise the value of their data.

You have experience working with enterprise data catalogues and can confidently engage stakeholders across both business and technology teams. Combining technical knowledge with leadership and communication skills, you drive collaboration, adoption and continuous improvement while helping shape the organisation’s metadata management capabilities.

• Advanced SQL capability for querying and analysing complex datasets
• Experience working with enterprise data cataloguing tools (e.g. Alation, Collibra or similar)
• Strong understanding of metadata management disciplines, including business glossaries, lineage, stewardship, ownership and metadata standards
• Experience driving data catalogue adoption, stakeholder engagement and metadata curation initiatives
• Experience creating reporting and visualisations to measure metadata coverage, adoption and governance outcomes (e.g. Tableau, Power BI, MicroStrategy)

#DataAndAnalytics

#Governance

#LI-CM1

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 10% of salary, depending on how we perform.Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme.Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).