Lead Data Analyst

The Role

As the leader of the Data Analytics team, within the Finance function and reporting to the Head of Financial Planning & Analysis, the successful candidate will work collaboratively across the organisation to deliver detailed and insightful data analysis and reporting capabilities to our stakeholders.

The Data Analytics team is responsible for:

• Producing accurate data to feed into analytics projects to be deployed to our stakeholders across the company
• Production and maintenance of BI reports and dashboards, that are used throughout the organisation
• Understanding stakeholder requirements, producing business process and technical documentation, and translating these into data solutions
• Supporting the development/maintenance of the data warehouse and help identifying improvements to meet reporting requirements
• Providing expert knowledge on the data schema, data usage and data visualisation to help business achieve their goals
• Helping the organisation be more data literate, enabling them to self-serve their data more efficiently and effectively

The Lead Data Analyst will be responsible for:

• Define and own the analytics strategy and roadmap, aligning delivery and prioritisation with business objectives and impact
• Act as the primary point of accountability for analytics delivery, data quality, consistency, and governance across the organisation
• Establish standards and best practices for data modelling, reporting, documentation, and visualisation
• Lead, mentor, and develop the Data Analytics team, fostering a high-performance culture with clear ownership and accountability
• Lead cross-functional analytics initiatives in partnership with Finance, Operations, Product, and other business areas
• Work closely with stakeholders to shape requirements, challenge assumptions, and deliver actionable, decision-driving insights
• Ensure analytics solutions are scalable, robust, and aligned with core business processes
• Guarantee the accuracy of asset transfers on the pension platform, working closely with the implementation team
• Oversee the design and delivery of analytical solutions, including dashboards, reports, insights, and automated data extracts
• Act as the key interface between Data Analytics and Data Engineering, contributing to the evolution of the data warehouse and analytical datasets
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve data quality, automation, and operational efficiency across analytics workflows

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

The skills, experience, and aptitudes we are looking for are listed below but please don’t be discouraged from applying if you don’t meet every single one of these criteria – having a ‘can do’ attitude is sometimes more important than being able to tick every box:

• Data analyst with 5+ years of experience, preferably with experience of Fintech companies. Pension industry experience is a plus
• Experience in writing, troubleshooting, and debugging complex SQL queries
• Experience of leading and managing data analytics teams
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders and coaching stakeholders where needed to provide most suitable solution
• Experience in telling stories with data using appropriate tools
• Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, with the ability to quickly adapt to changing priorities

Required technical skills

• SQL - we use Redshift as our data warehouse
• Python - for data manipulation, data analysis and automation
• Tableau - for data visualisation
• AWS cloud solutions - for task definitions / scheduling
• Google Analytics is a plus

WHO WE ARE

We work in partnerships with governments and financial institutions in the UK and internationally. Our cloud-native digital platform is revolutionising how people around the world think about, and save for, their retirement. At heart, we’re a financial technology business. What we do is all about innovation, and using the power of digital change to put the customer first. Our Engineers will tell you that working at Smart gives you the opportunity to play your part in developing world-class technological solutions, working with – and learning from – like-minded people. You’ll also find that, across our business, our colleagues love Smart’s culture, and how what we do means better financial outcomes for savers. That feels worthwhile, and it means that what we do, collectively, goes way beyond the nine to five of a typical working day.

BENEFITS

At Smart, one of the eight principles we work to is “We want happy and good people in our team”. We created a list of benefits that helps us achieve this goal:

• 25 days’ holiday per year, increasing with length of service.
• £500 annual training budget to spend on your professional development
• Extensive private healthcare, including dental, eyecare and EAP
• Enhanced sick leave (three months’ pay per year)
• Enhanced maternity and paternity (maternity – 6 months fully paid/paternity – 3 weeks fully paid)
• Death in service insurance cover
• Fully-paid five-week sabbatical after five years of employment
• In office wellbeing, such as manicures, massages and barbers.
• Smart employees also enjoy a 50% discount on orders from our sister company Arena Flowers, Britain’s most ethical florist.

At Smart, we are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to do their best work. We believe that diverse perspectives help us lead the way in transforming retirement, savings, and financial wellbeing. We welcome differences in background, experience, thinking, and identity, and we recognise that innovation is strongest when it is built on inclusion and fairness. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences and do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or in the workplace, we encourage you to let us know - we are committed to supporting you.

We think Smart is an awesome place to work. If it sounds like somewhere you’d like to work, too, and if you’re ready to play your part in our continued success in the future, then naturally we’d love to meet you.