Head of Data & Business Intelligence

Opportunity Brief:  Head of Data & Business Intelligence

Ford & Stanley Executive Search (Part of the Ford & Stanley Group) are a leading Executive search firm to the UK, North American and European Engineering, Technology, Sustainability & Heavy Manufacturing industries.

Our search directors, search consultants and research teams specialise in all horizontal functions of our clients' organisation with expertise spanning engineering, commercial, procurement, HR, IT, finance, HSQE, sales, projects, operations and c-suite.

We are trusted by over 100 leading organisations when they seek to make a leadership appointment, be that a permanent appointment or an interim solution.

We have been retained and appointed by our client on the search and selection for a relationship focussed Head of Data & Business Intelligence who can drive data improvements across the business and implement its strategy.

Below you will find an ‘opportunity brief’ developed from notes taken during the scoping meeting (Situational Discovery) held between the Business Manager and Managing Consultant of Ford & Stanley Executive Search and Finance Director of the client company. This brief is designed to give candidates a deeper insight into the opportunity inherent within the role, the challenges the role presents and provide access to the detail that sits behind the job specification.

Client Opportunity Statements:

“As a business, we are focused on using our data to make better informed decisions and improve the experience of our Customers, Colleagues and Communities.”

“We have a huge amount of data across the business, but it currently lacks direction and insight, we need to utilise this data better. We expect the incoming Head of Data & Business Intelligence to work closely with a variety of key stakeholders from shop floor to board room, take time to understand that individual’s mission and guide/advise on how utilisation of data can support the efficiency, accuracy and effectiveness.”

“This role is one of diversity, you will not only have to build robust stakeholder relationships, but you will also have to gain a solid understanding of how we work as a business. We truly view this role as the catalyst to our continued evolution and growth in all areas of our operation.”

Company Overview

Our client are a leading transportation business who operate across the UK, cover over 900 miles of route, provide over 150 services a day and facilitate just under 20 million journeys a year.

Challenges expected within the first 12 months include: 

• The incoming Head of Data & Business Intelligence will need to utilise systems that are likely to be less capable and at times more fragmented than those they are used to and work closely with the business to ensure they are still able to drive positive change.
• The business are on a transformational Journey in the context of its approach to data and as such there are a large number of projects that will add value. The new Head of Data & Business Intelligence will need to be capable of strategically selecting priority projects to ensure effective use of time.
• It’s important to note that the business is still discovering ‘what good looks like’ as far as their approach to data is concerned and that the standard of data literacy will differ to other businesses and industries.

Key deliverables within the first 12 months include:

• Successful rollout and implementation of the data strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and build relationships with key stakeholders across the business.
• Completed review systems and recommendations into the business on any proposed changes complete with business case and ROI.

Essential Hard Skills (Skills & Experience)

• Track record of having ownership and accountability for a business’s data strategy.  
• Strong ability in stakeholder engagement and working with multiple business functions.
• Experience working in highly regulated industries such as Rail, Aerospace, Utilities highly desirable.
• Strong knowledge of data systems, Tableau, Power BI and Alteryx highly desirable.
• *Worth noting, we will not dismiss those that do not have hands on experience with data processing tools and/or operate outside of the desired industries. If candidates demonstrate exceptional soft skills in line with the below they will be considered.*

Essential Soft Skills (Attributes & Behaviours)

• Inspiring and empowering, the ability to bring others on a journey.
• A self-starter, someone who will be proactive and pragmatic.
• Inquisitive, a true people person who will learn how they can add value to stakeholders’ projects/initiatives.
• Relationship driven, ability to build robust partnerships from shop floor through to boardroom.

 Working Arrangements & Location:

Offices are located in London, York and Edinburgh. The expectation is that the successful individual will spend three days per week on any of the sites whilst ensuring at least one of those is with the data team (Majority of whom are in York).

Our Client’s Interview Process:

• 1st Stage interview: Teams call with two ‘Head of’s’ from Business Services.
• 2nd Final Stage interview: In person with Finance Director and one other.

Ford & Stanley Interview Process:

• 1st Stage – Candidate Discovery: An open, conversational and consultative discussion where interested candidates are assessed on their suitability for the role in the context of the above and challenged on how the opportunity lines up with their career aspirations, motivations, financial expectations and personal circumstances.
• 2nd Stage – The ‘shortlist’: Candidates are asked to reflect on the candidate discovery discussion, take time to reflect on the opportunity and undertake subsequent research on the client business reporting back on their thoughts, questions and providing additional specific information on their suitability (if applicable). Final checks of role, package and logistical alignments made.

Good to know:

• The Head of Data and Business Intelligence reports into the Finance Director.
• The role holds full responsibility and accountability for the business intelligence team and has a total of 2 direct reports and 6 indirect.
• The Business intelligence team is one of 6 group functions across the company including, Finance, Legal, Procurement, IT and Risk/Assurance.
• The business are focused on being “smarter” with their data and have put strong foundations in place to do so, including the creation of data lakes.
• They currently have over 1(Apply online only) dashboards, but feel they lack “insight”, the mission is to make these dashboards targeted and relevant to key stakeholders.  
• With further optimisation of the data available, the company aim to improve the experience of their Customers, Colleagues and Communities.
• We expect the incumbent to work closely with a variety of key stakeholders from shop floor to board room, take time to understand that individual’s mission and guide/advise on how the utilisation of data can support the efficiency, accuracy and effectiveness.
• The business have a culture of openness and transparency, which will support the mission of this role.
• We are particularly looking for those who can display strong ‘leadership’ throughout the business and work diligently to lead from the front and build strong relationships.
• In line with the company vision, we will be making a conscious effort to ensure diversity within the shortlist.
• We anticipate the majority of stakeholders will welcome this support, however, there will be a minority who will need to be empowered on why data is important and how it can support their specific project/initiative.
• We expect this role to work in tandem with stakeholders as they progress through their projects/initiatives, adapting and tweaking as you go.
• The business have written a “headline” data strategy but will lean heavily on the incumbent to “flesh this out” and align it to the overall business strategy.
• Separately, we expect the incumbent to support the compliance team in how data is handled across the business, defining what “good looks like”
• Have recently implemented a new ERP System Oracle Fusion, which has been well received. There is a lot of scope for continuous improvement of this ERP system, so we expect the incumbent to be involved in this.
• To meet the demands of this change and overall passenger numbers the company have ordered 10 new trains.

Budget:

Low £88,(Apply online only) / Mid £90,(Apply online only) / Top end £94,(Apply online only)

Supporting benefits

1. Defined Benefits pension scheme – 6.6% employee contribution, 9.9% employer contribution
2. Flexible benefits inc. family healthcare/dental care/leave purchase
3. Unlimited standard class leisure travel for employee, partner and children on the train operating company’s services (plus a limited amount of 1st class travel)
4. Unlimited 1st class duty and residential travel for the employee on train operating company’s services
5. Up to 75% off other train companies for the employee, partner and children
6. Up to 50% discount on the train operating company’s services for friends and family (200 tickets a year)
7. Benefits scheme with varying discounts and salary sacrifice schemes including Electric Vehicle Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme, Health and wellbeing support and appointments where required.

Executive Search Delivery Team:

• Tom Norton – Business Manager (Client Recommendations/Advisory, Offer Negotiations, Headhunting, Networking)
• Billy Jackson – Managing Consultant (Shortlisting, Offer Negotiations, Headhunting, Networking, Research, Search, Longlisting, Interviews, Data & Market Intel)
• Ralitsa Kuzeva – Executive Assistant (Diary Management, Coordination, Candidate Experience)

About Ford & Stanley Executive Search:

Ford & Stanley Talent Services Group are in the business of people and performance. Our mission is to create one million better workdays through facilitating great recruitment, leadership and occupational mental fitness. We support our clients in their most challenging business areas - recruiting, developing and retaining the best talent from shop floor to boardroom.

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Ford & Stanley Talent Services Group Ltd is a Disability Confident employer that is committed to a policy of equal opportunities for all opportunity seekers. We shall adhere to such a policy at all times and will review on an on-going basis all aspects of recruitment to avoid unlawful or undesirable discrimination. We will treat everyone equally irrespective sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, age, disability, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief or political beliefs and we place an obligation upon all staff to respect and act in accordance with the policy.

Services advertised by Ford & Stanley are that of an employment consultancy business.