Identification & Standardisation Leader - Master Data and Traceability

IKEA; Älmhult; On-site; SEK 1,200,000 - 1,900,000; Full time

Job summary

IKEA in Älmhult, Sweden seeks an Identification and Standardisation Leader to guide global standards for product identification, master data and traceability across the value chain. You will collaborate with architects, data specialists and external partners to translate business needs into practical standards and governance.

Lead cross‑functional teams, shape enterprise capabilities (GS1, GTIN, GLN, SSCC), and drive regulatory readiness while delivering sustainable business value for IKEA.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in identification systems and GS1 standards.
• Strong knowledge of master data and traceability concepts.
• Experience with data governance, information exchange, and PIM/MDM.
• Understanding of regulatory developments and Digital Product Passports.
• Excellent collaboration across regions and functions, English fluent.

Responsibilities

• Develop and strengthen IKEA's identification and standardisation capability.
• Define and communicate principles, standards, and guidance for identification and GS1.
• Secure scalable identification across products, assets, locations, parties, transactions, events.
• Drive awareness of identification's impact on performance, data quality, compliance and traceability.
• Advise initiatives to adopt identification standards and traceability capabilities.
• Define requirements and support business and functional needs related to identification and master data.
• Support pre-studies, PoCs, and digital transformation where standards matter.
• Ensure identification requirements are considered early in design and planning.
• Establish governance ownership, decision rights, and exception handling.

Skills

GS1 standards

Master data

PIM

MDM

Traceability

Interoperability

Trade Item concept

AI capabilities

Governance

Enterprise architecture

Data governance

Data exchange

Leadership

English fluency

Communication

Education

University degree

Job description

IKEA Supply is responsible for securing that the IKEA product offer is produced and delivered to customers. Within IKEA Supply, Supply Chain Development brings together capability development across the value chain and supports how we evolve the way we operate Manage Goods Flow End-to-End. Strategy & Business Process Management (SBPM) turns IKEA strategic direction into action. We contribute to the IKEA strategy creation, drive insights, facilitate business development, and guide the processes and capabilities for Manage Goods Flow End-to-End. By ensuring clear priorities, governing roadmaps and enabling execution, we connect strategic direction with measurable business outcomes and a sustainable process and digital landscape. Although the team has its organisational home at supply, the Center of expertise (CoE) for Identification and Standardisation is working across organisations and functions including range, supply and retail. With the purpose of providing a holistic and long‑term stewardship of identification standards, ensuring they remain robust, future‑ready, and globally relevant and scalable.

Job Description

At IKEA, identification and standardisation are strategic capabilities that enable trusted data, connected business processes, traceability, regulatory compliance, and seamless information exchange across the value chain. Core capabilities for IKEAs business and digital transformation. As an Identification and Standardisation Leader, you will be part of IKEA's Centre of Expertise for Identification and Standardisation, guiding and enabling organisations, teams, and initiatives to realise business value through a common approach to identification, master data, traceability, and interoperability. By connecting business needs with global standards and industry best practices, you will help create the foundation for, trusted data, connected processes, efficiency and automatization, regulatory readiness, and business and digital transformation across IKEA.

Together with a team of subject matter experts, you will help IKEA establish and evolve a common approach to how products, assets, locations, parties, transactions, and events are identified and connected across business processes, digital products, platforms, and external ecosystems. The Centre of Expertise works across organisations and functions to ensure that global standards are translated into practical business value. Through expert guidance, governance, and collaboration, the team enables business development, digital transformation, operational excellence, and future regulatory readiness across IKEA's global value chain. In this role, you will work closely with business leaders, product teams, architects, data specialists, suppliers, and external partners to ensure that identification standards and traceability capabilities are understood, adopted, and implemented in ways that create long‑term value for IKEA.

Your Assignment

Develop and Strengthen IKEA's Identification Capability

• Contribute to the development and evolution of IKEA's identification and standardisation capability.
• Define, maintain, and communicate principles, standards, frameworks, and guidance related to identification and GS1 standards.
• Secure a consistent and scalable approach to identifying products, assets, locations, parties, transactions, and events.
• Drive awareness and understanding of how identification supports business performance, data quality, compliance, and traceability.

Enable Business Development and Transformation

• Act as a trusted advisor to organisations, initiatives, and teams seeking to adopt identification standards and traceability capabilities.
• Assess business needs and recommend suitable standards, approaches, and implementation strategies.
• Define and support business and functional requirements related to identification, master data, product information, and information exchange.
• Support pre‑studies, proof of concepts, business development initiatives, and digital transformation efforts where standards play a key role.
• Ensure identification requirements are considered early in solution design and business planning.

Drive Collaboration and Governance

• Establish clarity around ownership, decision‑making, governance, and exception handling related to identification standards.
• Facilitate alignment across business areas, digital products, platforms, and data domains.
• Promote common, reusable, and interoperable ways of working across IKEA.
• Support stakeholders in balancing local business needs with enterprise‑wide consistency and long‑term scalability.

Represent IKEA Internally and Externally

• Represent IKEA in GS1 communities, industry working groups, and relevant standardisation initiatives.
• Build strong relationships with external partners, standards organisations, suppliers, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Monitor developments in standards, regulations, and industry practices, translating opportunities and implications into recommendations for IKEA.
• Identify gaps between business needs and existing standards and contribute to the continued evolution of industry standards together with the GS1 community.

Qualifications

You are a strategic and collaborative leader with deep expertise in identification, standards, master data, and traceability. You enjoy working across organisational boundaries and helping others navigate complexity through clear guidance, strong relationships, and a pragmatic approach. You understand that standards create value only when they are widely understood, adopted, and integrated into everyday business practices.

We believe you have

• Deep expertise in identification systems, GS1 standards, master data, traceability, and interoperability.
• Strong technical knowledge of total Trade Item concept, standards and capabilities such as GTIN, GLN, SSCC, GDSN, EPCIS, GS1 Digital Link, and emerging AI capabilities connected to reaching the next level of use of standards.
• Experience within Master Data Management (MDM), Product Information Management (PIM), data governance, and information exchange.
• Good understanding of traceability requirements, Digital Product Passports, EUDR, and emerging regulatory developments.
• Strong understanding of IKEA's business model, value chain, and operating model.
• Proven experience leading in the unknown and within complex initiatives and influencing stakeholders without formal authority.
• Experience in developing governance models, frameworks, standards, and enterprise capabilities in a global environment.
• Understanding enterprise architecture, digital platforms, integration patterns, and data ecosystems.
• Strong analytical, facilitation, and communication skills.
• Proven ability to build trustful relationships and collaborate across organisations, functions, and geographies.
• University degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

Additional Information

We always recruit based on values, competence, potential, and diversity. Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidate. This position will be based in Älmhult, Sweden.

For more information about the position, please contact Hiring Manager Identification and Standardisation Manager Sandra Mckay Ferrario at [e-mail]. For questions regarding the recruitment process, please contact People & Culture Specialist Katie Pettersson at [e-mail].

At IKEA we believe that we’re better when we’re physically together for collaboration, dialogues and conversations. We believe in the power of human interactions; the informal chats, the energy, belonging and creativity generated by people being in the same place. Our approach is that we spend majority of our time in the IKEA workplace and with flexibility to work from home when relevant.