Data Solutions Lead - PR&C PSP

About the role

The Data Solutions Lead reports into the Head of I&T Divisional Capabilities for PRC & PSP (Paper Recycling Capex & Paper Sourcing Procurement) division and is expected to work closely with external/internal suppliers to design, build and manage data solutions aligned with our cloud and digital strategy 

As the Data Solutions Lead you will be expected to bring and develop the technical skills to become responsible for how data initiatives can support the PR&C PSP business strategy and be the leading technical role of the data domain in the business function, defining the Data Solution strategy and roadmaps for the division in line with the central IT roadmaps.  

You will work closely with the central Digital and Data team who are responsible for our cloud data platform to introduce new tools/processes and strive to implement best practices across the Data Solutions that will support the business across the PRC & PSP division.  

With our strategic commitment to cloud services within AWS, the role is key to guide our business partners and data team towards benefiting from tools not used in our current application stack. 

Key responsibilities for the Data Solutions Lead are:

• Partner with business leaders to understand strategic priorities and translate them into analytics requirements & roadmaps 

• Lead and manage the team of external data engineers and developers to deliver the data products. 

• Work closely with other development teams to resolve and deliver required use cases. 

• Is comfortable with communicating to senior leadership and can present clearly new solutions to the user community 

• Collaborate closely with IT Business partners and business stakeholders to identify new opportunities, shape requirements, and deliver a backlog of features and projects that drive usage of the data analytics products. Be able to translate business requirements to technical teams. 

• Able to communicate to business stakeholders in non-technical language, and to IT stakeholders in a technical language. 

• Ensure internal and external development teams follow good development practices of datasets and reports/dashboards, and ensure training is provided to IT and business teams for Power BI or similar visualisation solutions. 

• Drive design decisions for end-to-end solutions, including integrating data from new systems, managing a well-designed data model, and support data warehousing design decisions to ensure data governance, security, and performance optimization 

• Own and deliver the Data Analytics strategy for the division in line with IT strategy and in collaboration with business stakeholders and business objectives. 

• Take ownership of the key data products and deliver the business use cases. This can include the development of actual business reports as per requirements, which can include data on sales, production, inventory, prices etc. 

• Take accountability for the data pipelines from source systems to end users, setting up required processes to ensure uptime. Should be comfortable in setting up service management model for data products. 

• Design and deliver insights, dashboards and data products to drive business performance 

• Ensuring that the business has access to effective and efficient technology services, along with the expertise to enable innovation and delivery of a value driven portfolio. 

• Ensure compliance with data privacy, security and regulatory policies.  

• Contribute to a cohesive set of documentation around data lineage, ETL, and data catalogues. 

• Oversee data governance, data quality, data warehousing and business intelligence initiatives 

• Responsible for the preparation, alignment, and delivery of the IT budget for Data Solutions Portfolio. 

• Aligning capital plans with business needs and strategy. Ensuring alignment of both IT and business processes 

• Take accountability for the delivery of divisional Data Solutions and services. 

• Work closely with the IT function to ensure services are managed and delivered to SLA and expectation. 

• Champion the needs of the business where continuous and service improvement is required to be delivered

• Accountable of the Divisional Data Solutions delivery, working closely with the relevant IT Business partners and IT Application Support team(s) at divisional and central I&T level. 

About you

• Highly experienced within a Data & Analytics Team Lead Role, Technical Data lead or Data Product owner in the domain of data science/ analytics or BI 

• Experience of managing a team of 2-3 individuals or leading the activities of the team. 

• Experience of IT Operations and Delivery of strategic Data programmes 

• Strong expertise in data warehousing, BI, advanced analytics and data visualization tools. Excellent problem-solving, analytical and quantitative skills with Ability to translate complex data into actionable insights. 

• Expertise in agile development methodologies and data engineering best practices. 

• Experience in working with co-located cross-functional teams and excellent English communication skills.  

• Can break down complex requirements and delivery of multiple projects into manageable deliverables, while not losing sight of critical roadmap deadlines 

• Experience in migration of data solutions to cloud and delivery of data solutions on cloud. 

• Previous experience in delivering solutions powered by Snowflake, AWS Glue, Apache Airflow, PySpark, AWS Redshift/S3 buckets, APIs is a plus.  

• Previous experience of working within a multinational matrix organisation within Manufacturing, Supply Chain or FMCG sectors. 

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams and executive leadership. 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify and resolve complex IT issues. 

About us

We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. We employ more than 60,000 colleagues in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), who are experts in innovation, manufacturing, design, sales, sustainability, supply chain, and much more. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Become part of a world-leading organisation and do your best work with us!

“To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.”

#LI-CP