You need to make more than 1 Data hire

You need to make 2 or 3 Data hires instead of one.

Companies make the error of trying to hire a Player Coach Data Analytics leader in isolation.

An individual who they think can do everything.

Manage a team of Data Scientists & Engineers, still be hands on and review code, and handle the commercial & strategic piece with Senior Management.

But it’s the last part that is most important, and where a Player Coach just can’t excel given their other responsibilities.

Building partnerships with stakeholders, driving alignment & buy in at Exec level, people leadership, team build & workforce planning. This is a full time job in itself, and you need a Data Analytics Leader with a capital L

Many companies should think about 2 or 3 hires:

– The ‘Data Leader’
– The Data Science / AI manager
– The Data Engineering / Data platform manager

+ depending on scale you also need some kind of translator/product hybrid manager person in there to…….but let’s leave that discussion for another time!