Executive Head of Data

Liham Consulting Pty (Ltd); Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A consulting firm in Johannesburg is seeking a skilled leader in data strategy to develop a centralized data center of excellence. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience in data leadership, expertise in AI/ML, and proficiency with cloud platforms like Snowflake and AWS. This role involves collaborating with commercial teams, ensuring regulatory compliance, and leading innovative data-driven initiatives. Competitive salary and opportunities for growth are offered.

Qualifications

• 10+ years' experience in senior data leadership roles.
• Proven ability to build data platforms and CoEs.
• Experience in Fintech and Banking services strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Data Strategy and build a centralized data center of excellence.
• Develop commercial data products and partner with teams to launch offerings.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements like POPIA and PCI-DSS.

Skills

Data Strategy

AI/ML

Data Governance

Cloud Platforms

Salesforce Integration

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Data Science or related field

Master's Degree preferred

Tools

Snowflake

AWS

Azure

Salesforce

Job description

Job Description

Data Strategy Leadership and Build a Centralized Data CoE

Crafting a fit-for-purpose roadmap aligned Group priorities.

Defining modern architectures, governance frameworks, and compliance standards (POPIA, PCI-DSS).

Uniting Data Engineering, Analytics, AI/ML, Governance, and MLOps under one roof.

Delivering a single source of truth for operational, customer, and transactional data.

Collaborate with the Group Data Office

Aligning the division initiatives to the organizations data Strategy, standards, and governance frameworks.

Participating in Group Data Office forums, councils, and architecture sessions.

Ensuring shared definitions, metadata, lineage, governance processes, and architecture patterns.

Supporting enterprise-wide data initiatives and integrating data into group platforms.

Enable Analytics-as-a-Service and Monetize Data

Developing commercial data products: benchmarking, market intelligence, fraud scoring, and more.

Partnering with Product & Commercial teams to launch scalable, secure offerings.

Creating predictive models, dashboards, and insights layers for internal teams and external partners.

Lead AI & Machine Learning Innovation

Deploying models for forecasting, churn prediction, fraud detection, and recommendation engines.

Building full MLOps lifecycle capability and staying ahead with generative AI readiness.

CRM Intelligence Integration

Embedding predictive scoring and insights into Salesforce for smarter management.

Driving sales conversion, retention, and customer experience through data-driven CRM.

Qualification & Skills

Bachelors Degree in data science, Engineering, Computer Science, Statistics, or similar (master’s preferred).

10+ years' experience in senior data leadership roles.

Expertise in data strategy, architecture, AI/ML, cloud platforms (Snowflake, AWS, Azure).

Experience in Fintech and Banking services strongly preferred.

Proven ability to build data platforms, CoEs, and advanced analytics programs.

Experience with Salesforce and CRM intelligence integration.

Technical Expertise

Data strategy, architecture & governance.

Cloud data engineering (Snowflake, AWS, Azure, GCP).

BI & analytics, AI/ML, CRM analytics & Salesforce integration.

Data monetization and regulatory compliance (POPIA, PCI-DSS).

Suitable candidates will be contacted. If you do not get a response within 14 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.