Vice President - Data Transformation

About the Role

We are collaborating with a top-tier financial services company in Abu Dhabi that is heavily investing in advancing its AI and data capabilities. This senior leadership role is highly hands-on and revolves around revolutionizing data governance, management, and availability to accelerate AI and analytics initiatives throughout the organisation. The successful candidate will spearhead strategic data transformation projects in partnership with teams spanning Data Science, AI, Technology, Architecture, and Governance.

A key focus will be leveraging AI technology to overhaul traditional data management processes by automating tasks such as data quality monitoring, governance enforcement, lineage tracking, and metadata management. This will enable AI solutions to progress into production with higher speed and at larger scope.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive data transformation roadmap that equips the organisation to support AI and analytics at scale.
• Champion modern data management best practices encompassing governance, quality assurance, lineage tracking, metadata, master data, and data product development.
• Innovate by integrating AI, automation, and metadata-driven tools to modernize legacy manual data governance and quality workflows.
• Identify and resolve data-related and structural barriers that impede AI and analytics delivery.
• Establish scalable frameworks, standards, governance mechanisms, and actionable plans to drive data transformation.
• Collaborate closely with Data Science, Technology, Architecture, Governance, and business stakeholders to elevate enterprise-wide data maturity levels.

Candidate Requirements

• Extensive experience leading multifaceted data transformation programs within large, complex enterprise environments.
• Proven expertise in data governance, quality management, lineage, metadata management, master data management, and/or data product strategies.
• Thorough knowledge of modern data platforms, architectural patterns, and enterprise data management technologies.
• Strong comprehension of data prerequisites essential for AI and machine learning, including data quality control, feature engineering, model governance, and supporting scalable AI deployment.
• Demonstrated experience applying AI and machine learning techniques to data management tasks such as automated discovery of lineage, metadata extraction, or evaluating data quality.
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder engagement abilities, skilled at influencing across both business units and technical teams.
• Academic credentials: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical fields.

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

• Lead a pivotal data transformation initiative in an environment with ambitious AI goals.
• Operate at the convergence of Data, AI, Governance, and Technology disciplines.
• Utilize AI to fundamentally redefine enterprise data management beyond traditional governance frameworks.
• Play a crucial and influential role in laying the foundational data architecture necessary to scale AI capabilities enterprise-wide.