Senior Data and Insights Lead

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Data and Insights Lead to join our Planning and Insights team and help transform how the University uses data to plan, prioritise and make decisions.

This is a senior, hands-on role which combines leadership of development of our data modelling capability, translation of data into useful institutional insight, and hands‑on delivery of data solutions. You will lead the development of trusted, reusable data models and reporting products, with a particular focus on the student lifecycle, while supporting insight needs across the whole University.

Success will require balancing two different modes of delivery. You will be establishing proportionate standards and driving implementation of enterprise data modelling, while also enabling rapid, pragmatic analysis and short‑life solutions when decisions cannot wait. You will know when to build for scale, when to prototype, and how to prevent useful tactical work from becoming unmanaged technical debt.

What you will do:

• Lead the development and ongoing management of the University’s insights environment, creating coherent and trusted data models that support a single, well‑governed view of performance.
• Translate strategic and operational questions into timely reports, dashboards, forecasts and actionable insight for the Executive and wider leadership community.
• Design scalable semantic and analytical models, principally using SQL and Power BI, with clear definitions, ownership, documentation, testing and change control.
• Deliver rapid prototypes and focused “quick and dirty” builds where there is a clear business need, applying sensible controls, making limitations explicit and agreeing whether solutions should be retired, improved or incorporated into the enterprise model.
• Lead planned and ad hoc analysis, applying statistical and forecasting techniques to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
• Create intuitive self-service reporting that helps colleagues answer routine questions independently and support the adoption of meaningful use of institutional data.
• Work in partnership with IT Services and data owners to improve architecture, integration, data quality and governance, and to ensure reporting requirements can be supported sustainably.
• Build analytical capability across the University through clear communication, practical guidance and targeted training for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Lead and develop data and insights colleagues, setting priorities, allocating work and creating an environment in which quality, curiosity, pace and continuous improvement are expected and recognised .
• Maintain a strong understanding of the UK higher education policy, regulatory and market context, ensuring that data models and analysis reflect the realities of institutional decision-making.

The Candidate

You will be an experienced data, business intelligence or planning professional who can move confidently between strategic questions, detailed data and practical delivery. You will bring strong judgement as well as technical expertise : able to challenge unclear requirements, distinguish urgent from important, and choose an approach that is proportionate to the decision, risk and expected lifespan of the product.

You will be comfortable leading from the front, including building and reviewing data models and reports yourself, while setting direction and developing others. You will communicate complex findings clearly to senior stakeholders and work constructively across organisational boundaries to improve how data is understood and used.

You will bring:

• Extensive relevant experience at a senior level in data analysis, business intelligence, institutional planning or a closely related field.
• A strong track record of developing data models, dashboards and analysis that have influenced organisational decisions.
• Advanced capability in SQL and Power BI, or demonstrably transferable expertise in comparable tools ( e.g. Python, R , Tableau ).
• Practical understanding of dimensional modelling, semantic models, data quality, metadata, testing, documentation and controlled deployment.
• The ability to scope and prioritise competing demands, retain flexibility when unexpected needs arise, and explain the trade-offs between speed, quality and sustainability.
• Experience of presenting evidence and recommendations to senior stakeholders, including audiences with differing levels of data literacy .
• A good understanding of higher education data and processes across the student lifecycle, alongside an awareness of wider institutional domains such as finance, people, estates, research and enterprise.
• Experience of working with student information systems; experience of SITS would be particularly valuable.
• The ability to coach and develop colleagues, promote good analytical practice and build confidence in the use of data.
• Experience of predictive modelling, advanced statistical analysis and line management would be advantageous .

We Offer

• Generous leave
• We operate a hybrid working model of on-site and working from home for most of our posts

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities, and in particular those that are currently under-represented in our workforce. This includes, but is not limited to, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates, candidates with disabilities, and female candidates.

At Ravensbourne, we are committed to supporting applicants with disabilities. We offer interviews to those who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role. In situations where we receive a high volume of applications, we will prioritise interviewing those disabled applicants who most closely align with the minimum requirements.