[Growing Tech] Data Director

I am partnering with a leading digital payment and fintech company to hire a Data Director to lead its Data Application function. This role oversees both Data Engineering and Data Analytics teams and plays a critical role in building a robust, scalable data platform to support data-driven growth. The ideal candidate combines deep data engineering expertise with strong analytical and business decision-making capabilities.

What You’ll Do (Responsibilities)

Data Platform & Architecture

• Design, build, and evolve company-wide data platforms, including Data Lake, Data Warehouse, ETL/ELT, and streaming systems.

• Collaborate with engineering and architecture teams to ensure high availability, scalability, and reliability.

• Evaluate data flows, schemas, and event-driven architectures, and drive continuous optimization.

Data Engineering & Pipeline Operations

• Oversee data ingestion, transformation, and integration pipelines with a strong focus on quality and performance.

• Review and guide designs involving Spark, Kafka, Airflow, and related technologies.

• Establish DataOps practices, including pipeline monitoring, version control, and CI/CD.

Analytics & Decision Enablement

• Define metrics, dashboards, and BI frameworks to support product, operations, and marketing decisions.

• Drive A/B testing, experimentation, and behavioral analytics initiatives.

• Ensure consistency in statistical definitions and analytical methodologies across teams.

Data Governance & Cross-functional Leadership

• Establish data definitions, access control, quality standards, and governance frameworks.

• Act as a bridge across engineering, product, risk, and business teams to align strategy with execution.

People Management

• Lead and develop Data Engineers, Analysts, Scientists, and BI professionals (approx. 9–12 people).

• Define capability frameworks, technical standards, and long-term team development roadmaps.

What You’ll Bring (Requirements)

Core Technical Expertise

• 10+ years of experience in data-related roles, including 5+ years in people management.

• Strong hands-on understanding of data engineering, data platforms, and system architecture (on-premise focused, with cloud as a supplement).

• Experience with large-scale ETL/ELT, streaming systems, and cloud data warehouses (e.g., BigQuery, Snowflake).

• Exposure to high-scale environments such as large user bases or high-frequency transaction systems is highly preferred.

Governance & Analytics Capability

• Proven experience establishing data quality, governance frameworks, and standardized metrics.

• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate data insights into actionable decisions.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, product, risk, and operations teams.

• Comfortable articulating technical trade-offs and constructively challenging misaligned requirements.

What Sets This Company Apart (About the Company)

This organization operates at the intersection of fintech, payments, and large-scale consumer services. Data is treated as a core strategic asset rather than a support function. The company is actively investing in strengthening its data foundations, governance, and analytics capabilities to enable long-term stability, compliance, and data-driven growth at scale.

What’s Next (Call to Action)

If you are an experienced data leader looking to drive platform-level impact while shaping data culture and strategy, I would be happy to share more details confidentially. Feel free to reach out to explore whether this opportunity aligns with your next career move.