Analytics Enablement Director

Who we are

United by a sense of purpose towards our customers – to be a trusted partner for the long-term – and our universal banking platform in EMEA, SMBC Group has an international growth agenda and award-winning products, meaning we provide exciting opportunities to work on a diverse range of projects and initiatives. We deliver a full suite of corporate finance products and solutions to our customers as well as investment banking and advisory services, and a range of innovative solutions in global capital markets. Read on to find out how you could enhance your skills and gain valuable experience, by joining us to support our clients transition to a sustainable future.

Role Summary

The Analytics Enablement Director is a key role that will support the strategic goals of the Data Analytics Function within the EMEA Data Management Office. This role will focus on building data enabled business teams by implementing our Hub & Spoke model. The central Analytics Enablement Team (the “Hub”) will provide products and services to data roles and teams embedded within business units (the “Spokes”). The goal is to drive adoption of Data, Analytics, and AI across the organisation and enable business teams to become more data driven. We want to provide centralised governance and standardization while enabling localized agility to develop business-specific insights. 

We're looking for someone who has previous experience of leading change initiatives that have successfully uplifted data-driven enablement in other organisations. You will need a deep understanding of how data solves business problems combined with a keen understanding of the current data and analytics landscape. The ideal candidate will have a good understanding of how AI and other technologies can be leveraged to deliver innovative Data Analytics solutions that can solve challenging business problems.

The position requires a combination of strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, delivery governance, and technical oversight. The candidate must be willing to challenge the status quo in an empathic manner, while helping the wider Data Office to have an ethos of openness and transparency that will help us nurture real business innovation. Someone with a proven track record demonstrating measurable business impact who can thrive in ambiguous situations.

If you want to make a real difference, and not just in one team but across the entire bank, we would love to speak to you more.

Business Area

The Data Analytics Function is one of five ‘pillars’ within the EMEA Data Office which is part of the Operations Planning Department (OPPD). We have a remit covering all EMEA entities (including Securities and Banking subsidiaries) and all datasets. 

The Data Office is responsible for defining and implementing the EMEA Data Strategy, building out its data management capabilities, and focusing on how to exploit data more effectively and innovatively across SMBC. 

As part of this work, the EMEA Data Office has established a new framework which encompasses cultural, behavioural, procedural, and system transformation to deliver the new strategy. This framework has initially concentrated on good governance by improved Data Architecture, Data Management and Data Quality, but is now starting to focus more on how to use Data to drive new ways of working and improved business outcomes.

The Data Office has been established to drive data-led transformation through the bank, and this is a terrific opportunity to join us on this exciting journey.

Role Context

The EMEA Data Office has been established for just three years, the department has seen rapid growth and is currently 100+ people and is expected to grow further over the next year. 

The Data Analytics Function within the EMEA Data Office has built rapidly over the last year and currently stands at 35 people, a mixture of permanent, contractor and consultant roles. The function is expected to growth further over the next couple of years.

This role would have responsibility for managing a team of around 10 roles, a mixture of permanent, contractor and consultant roles. They would also need to matrix manage roles in other teams.

This is a greenfield opportunity where capability needs will be built from scratch. There is limited understanding of the opportunities from new data and analytics capabilities, and therefore excellent stakeholder engagement and partnering skills are essential

Accountabilities and Responsibilities

• Lead the development of a Hub & Spoke operating model that enables data democratization for reporting, analytics, and AI, while operating within established governance frameworks to ensure full compliance with internal policies, legal obligations, and regulatory requirements.
• Build trusted relationships with business leaders to understand their business goals and challenges. Translate these into Data, Analytics and AI opportunities and establish a backlog of activities that focus on enablement of business teams.
• Ensure that new requests are triaged in a timely manner and that the information captured enables Data and Technical teams to assess, size and prioritise the work.
  Lead the delivery of a pipeline of Analytics Enablement initiatives, ensuring quality, traceability to requirements and adherence to project plans.
• Be the primary contact point for key stakeholders in relation to Analytics Enablement – ensuring the team communicate progress, managing expectations, and navigating complex corporate environments.
• Manage risks, dependencies, and issue resolution for Analytics Enablement – acting as the senior escalation point for the team’s portfolio of products, services and projects.
  Lead, develop, and mentor individuals to build a high-performing team – establishing their role as a bridge between data, technical teams and business users.
• Collaborate with HR partners and the wider data culture community to establish talent management pathways to support Data, Analytics and AI roles including apprenticeships, secondment and formal qualifications.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration to provide a range of support services for distributed and embedded data roles to help them deliver against their business unit (BU) goals.
  Build collaborative working relationships with other SMBC regions as part of our strategic globalisation goals.
• Build productive relationships with the wider Data Teams, Technology Teams and Business Departments to support effective delivery of prioritised initiatives.
• Leading request for proposals (RFP) and assessing responses as well as defining commercial terms (Statements of Work) for work pertaining to Analytics Enablement. Managing suppliers and overseeing their delivery against their contracts and agreed milestones.
• Defining and reporting on key metrics to track the success of the Analytics Enablement Team and communicate value realisation.
• Support the implementation of the EMEA Data Strategy

Knowledge, Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Essential:

• Proven experience of leading change initiatives that have successfully uplifted data-driven enablement in other organisations.
• Proven leadership experience in a Data or IT delivery role delivering a large portfolio of Data or IT initiatives.
• Proven experience managing risks, dependencies, and issue resolution across a complex portfolio of initiatives.
• Proven experience of leading change management and adoption relevant to Data and IT projects
• Proven leadership experience managing large cross-functional teams and ability to operate in complex, matrix organisations
• Experience implementing agile, hybrid, or scaled delivery frameworks.
• Experience with forming productive cross-functional collaborative teams and enabling business-embedded data roles
• Proven ability to provide credible leadership to a team of data specialists while at the same time having the strategic vision to influence business leaders.
• Experience leading proposals/RFP responses and defining commercial terms (Statements of Work).
• Experience managing vendor relationships and overseeing their performance
• Strategic thinking and commercial awareness
• Strong influencing and negotiation skills
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills
• Excellent problem solving and decision making
• Ability to evidence business value realised from delivered Data and IT initiatives
• Deep understanding of the governance frameworks and best practice in relations to Data, Analytics and AI.
• Experience of working in the financial services industry and a good understanding of data related regulatory requirements for financial service sector
• Demonstrable experience leading, developing, and mentoring high-performance teams
• A good grasp of Data Analytics technologies and techniques

Desirable: 

• Degree in Data, Computer Science, Engineering or related field (or equivalent experience)
• Knowledge of emerging trends and issues within the Data Analytics and Data Science landscapes
• Solid experience of statistical techniques and hands on statistical modelling experience, e.g. forecasting, regression analysis and probability distributions
• Experience with AI project delivery and governance considerations relevant to this
• Experience working with cloud environments & components (e.g. on Google Cloud Platform or equivalent)

What we offer

For all the expertise and experience you bring to help us make a difference, it’s only sustainable if we support you to build your career and be your best self so we offer competitive company benefits, centred around promoting positive well-bring and work-life balance. We also believe in fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment, where all team members perspectives and contributions are valued. Initiatives in place which promote a diverse and inclusive culture and healthy work life balance include hybrid working, Sport & Social Clubs and Diversity and Inclusion networks.

As an employee of SMBC you have access to a host of both useful and exciting benefit offerings. See below some of the benefits on offer to you:

• Hybrid and flexible working 
• Competitive paid leave days
• Benefits to support your physical wellbeing, including private medical insurance and life and invalidity insurance 
• Various policies to support your mental wellbeing, including a robust behavioural health network with counselling and coaching services  
• Access a wide range of learning and development opportunities and career progression opportunities 
• Ambitious remuneration package

So, if you like a challenge and want to continuously grow and develop in a role where you will be supported along the way by a dynamic and diverse team, apply today!!