Job Purpose:
As a Senior Leader reporting directly to the Chief Product and Technology Officer, this role will be responsible for owning and driving RWS's global data strategy and operating model. The successful candidate will lead the transformation towards a modern, data and AI-first approach, treating data as a product and enabling scalable analytics, Machine Learning and AI capabilities through a self-serve platform and robust governance. This position will play a pivotal role in shaping how data is leveraged across the organisation to unlock insights, accelerate innovation and deliver measurable business value at scale.
Job Overview:
Key Responsibilities
Data Strategy & Operating Model:
* Define and implement a modern approach to Data with domain-oriented ownership, data as a product, self-serve platform, effective governance
Self-Serve Data Platform
* Build a compliant, cost-efficient platform (ingestion, transformation, catalogue/lineage, quality, access/policy-as-code, observability) that accelerates data product delivery
* Implement standards-as-code and policies-as-code for privacy, security, access, quality and lifecycle, combining global guardrails with domain autonomy
Data Products
* Partner with domains to design, deliver and steward high-quality, discoverable data products with clear SLAs/SLOs and consumer-grade documentation
Data Quality
* Measure and improve the quality of Data at RWS
Analytics & AI Enablement
* Provide high-quality features and signals to accelerate ML use cases and business analytics, partner closely with VP AI and Product
DataOps & Reliability
* Establish SLOs, incident management, cost transparency/FinOps and performance tuning across pipelines and products.
Strategic Leadership
* Partner and collaborate with Tech Leadership
People Leadership
* Build and mentor data product owners, platform engineers, governance leads and analysts.
Skills & Experience
Essential:
* 12+ years in data leadership; track record delivering Data Mesh or decentralised data operating models at enterprise scale.
* Strong product mindset applied to data as a product, with domain SLAs and documentation.
* Depth in modern data platforms (Lakehouse/streaming, catalogue/lineage, privacy, governance).
* Proven experience in senior leadership within a group/regional or global business
* Ability to demonstrate a rich blend of analytical, creative, and strategic problem-solving talents
* Take advantage of possible opportunities that can occur to advance the company
* Possess a high degree of professional and personal integrity
* Ability to lead effectively in a group setting and to move a group in a unified direction
* Experience inspiring, leading and developing teams including cross-functional teams
* Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise relationships across regions and business units.
* Expertise in strategic and tactical planning, financial management, and leading a department
* Outstanding customer and partner facing communication skills
* Excellent negotiation, communication, and presentation skills
Desired:
* Experience in localisation/language technology data (terminology, translation memory, content pipelines).
* Familiarity with data privacy regulations and security best practices (e.g., GDPR).
* Experience of or able to rapidly acquire ability to navigate complex global and matrix managed environments
* Excellence in complex change management
Life at RWS:
Life at RWS - If you like the idea of working with smart people who are passionate about growing the value of ideas, data and content by making sure organizations are understood, then you'll love life at RWS.
Our purpose is to unlock global understanding. This means our work fundamentally recognizes the value of every language and culture. So, we celebrate difference, we are inclusive and believe that diversity makes us strong. We want every employee to grow as an individual and excel in their career.
In return, we expect all our people to live by the values that unite us: to partner, putting clients fist and winning together, to pioneer, innovating fearlessly and leading with vision and courage, to progress, aiming high and growing through actions and to deliver, owning the outcome and building trust with our colleagues and clients.
RWS embraces DEI and promotes equal opportunity, we are an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. RWS is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at RWS are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation. RWS will not tolerate discrimination based on any of these characteristics.
RWS Values
Get the 3Ps right – Partner, Pioneer, Progress – and we´ll Deliver together as RWS.
Recruitment Agencies: RWS Holdings PLC does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward any unsolicited resumes to any RWS employees. Any unsolicited resume received will be treated as the property of RWS and Terms & Conditions associated with the use of such resume will be considered null and void.