Senior Director, Global Engineering Strategy & Execution in London

The Chief of Staff serves as the operational force multiplier for the SVP of Global Engineering, focusing on day-to-day administrative and operational excellence that enables senior leadership to concentrate on strategic initiatives. This operationally-focused role eliminates reporting failures, automates manual data compilation, and creates systematic visibility across the global engineering organization.

This role supports the SVP of Global Engineering and their direct VP reports by transforming reactive management approaches into proactive operational intelligence, reducing leadership administrative burden, and ensuring reliable operational reporting and performance visibility.

What this role is NOT: This role does not own engineering delivery, technical architecture, people management, performance evaluation, or security frameworks. Accountability for outcomes remains with VPs and Engineering Directors.

Job Description

• Monthly & Quarterly Reviews: Own end-to-end compilation ensuring 100% on-time delivery; standardize templates across engineering functions; automate data collection from capacity management, HR systems, project tracking, and development platforms.
• Metrics & KPI Management: Track engineering productivity metrics, team health indicators, capacity planning, capability management, and quality measures; maintain executive dashboards with real-time operational visibility.
• Planning and Road Mapping: Facilitate and oversee the planning and maintaining of the Global Engineering team’s three year plan, updated annually.
• Quality Assurance: Implement validation and review procedures ensuring data accuracy and report quality before executive presentation.
• Meeting & Project Management: Facilitate leadership meetings with productive agendas; track action items with systematic follow-up; coordinate engineering-driven project portfolio requiring SVP oversight.
• Cross-Functional Liaison: Primary coordination between Engineering and Enterprise IT, Operations, Cybersecurity, Product Management, Project Management Office, and Finance groups; manage information flow and ensure critical issue escalation.
• Process Improvement: Identify and eliminate bottlenecks; create documented procedures teams will follow; identify opportunities to implement business process automation leveraging system APIs and integration capabilities; manage engineering memorandums, policies, and procedures; establish problem management processes to identify root cause of repeat issues and report steps for remediation.
• Early Warning Systems: Identify operational issues, team health concerns, and delivery risks before impact; analyze trends and patterns; develop automated alerting for threshold breaches; participate in regular status calls to detect issues early and elevate.
• Organizational Health: Monitor team performance, resource utilization, and capacity across engineering groups; provide regular operational risk assessment and mitigation recommendations.
• Executive Administration: Prepare executive presentations and communications; ensure consistent follow-up on decisions and commitments.

Key Performance Indicators

• On-time delivery of monthly operating reviews and quarterly business reviews with zero compilation failures; Predictable monthly operating review / quarterly business review cycles for 4+ quarters.
• Reduction in leadership administrative time spent on data compilation, report preparation, and operational coordination.
• Automated data pipelines eliminating manual reconciliation; executive dashboards providing real-time visibility; proactive identification of operational issues before impact; build leadership trust in data.
• Operational Transformation: Move from reactive management to proactive, systematic operational excellence, measure reduction in escalation surprises.
• Leadership Capacity: Enable SVP and VPs to focus on more strategic initiatives rather than administrative tasks.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Establish KPI’s and dashboards enabling evidence-based resource allocation and organizational health decisions.
• Audit Readiness: completion of audit preparation activities within defined timelines; zero critical findings during internal audit reviews.
• Compliance Reporting: on-time delivery of monthly compliance reports and quarterly regulatory submissions with complete documentation.
• Team Player: This position will have a number of peers the incumbent will need to build strong working relationships with.

Qualifications

• 10+ years operational support for senior executives in Chief of Staff, Program Manager, or Operations Manager roles.
• Technology/engineering background in software development organizations; understanding of Agile methodologies, DevOps practices, and engineering metrics.
• Process improvement track record with examples of eliminating manual processes, improving reporting accuracy, implementing operational improvements, and implementation of continuous improvement procedures.
• Data analysis & reporting skills proficient with spreadsheet applications, business intelligence platforms, and data visualization tools; ability to create executive dashboards and presentations.
• Business Process Automation: Experience with workflow automation tools, API integrations, and scripting capabilities to eliminate manual processes.
• System Integration: Understanding of enterprise systems connectivity including HR platforms, project management tools, development environments, and business intelligence systems.
• Operational Excellence: Natural focus on process efficiency, quality improvement, systematic problem-solving; exceptional attention to detail in executive materials.
• Communication & Coordination: Excellent facilitation skills, strong story-telling skills, ability to work across organizational boundaries, proactive problem identification and escalation capabilities.
• Business Acumen: Achieved through the completion of an MBA program or relevant experience transforming large technology organizations into efficient and effective teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Engineering or technical degree; Large organization experience; Consulting or operational excellence background; Change management experience; Data analysis or statistical capabilities.

Additional Information

The ideal candidate combines operational excellence instincts with technical aptitude, thriving in complex, fast-paced environments while naturally gravitating toward systematic solutions rather than ad-hoc fixes. This individual possesses an operational mindset focused on process efficiency and proactive problem prevention, with comfort working alongside technical teams and understanding engineering workflows without being a hands-on developer. They demonstrate polished communication skills and professional demeanor suitable for C-suite interactions, able to distill complex operational information into executive-level insights while seeing connections between processes and designing scalable solutions. Finally, they influence, build consensus across diverse teams, and drive results through relationship-building and credibility while constantly seeking opportunities to optimize processes and enhance operational effectiveness.

Our Benefits

• Flexible working environment.
• Volunteer time off.
• LinkedIn Learning.
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP).

Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At NIQ, we are steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace that mirrors the rich diversity of the communities and markets we serve. We believe that embracing a wide range of perspectives drives innovation and excellence. All employment decisions at NIQ are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. We invite individuals who share our dedication to inclusivity and equity to join us in making a meaningful impact.