Data Science Chapter Lead

Our Data Science chapter (team) has continued to grow from strength and strength, with their expertise seeked out and valued by the business.  We have big shoes to fill, with our current Data Science Chapter Lead moving on to new adventures.  This is an opportunity to join one of the largest and most dynamic Data Science teams in NZ and shape the team for the future.

The Warehouse Group (TWG) has become a Kiwi household name, and we proudly recognise the role that we play in communities throughout New Zealand.  We are the largest general merchandise retailer in NZ with over $3 billion in sales, and employing over 12,000 people across The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7 and TheMarket.com. To ensure we can adapt quickly to ever-changing customer needs, we’ve adopted an agile structure with a focus on collaboration, productivity and speed-to-market. 

The Role

Our Data Science chapter sits within our Insights, Data Science and Services Chapter Area.  Our Chapter Area centres on unlocking potential by applying world class data and design methodologies to create competitive advantage - balancing business needs and solving customer problems is at the heart of what we do. 

This role is two-fold.  Your time will be split between hands on work and people management. 

The people management aspects will see you facilitate capability growth, consistency and allocation of resources within your chapter (circa x11 Chapter Members).  This is where you will draw on your coaching skillset by tuning into the diverse team, empowering them and leading by example.  

Allocated to a tribe, you will be working collaboratively with a cross-functional team to deliver solutions to important business challenges. Using your Data Science skillset to its fullest you will design, develop, and build mathematical models, algorithms, and automated solutions that analyse data from a diverse range of sources and generate insights to inform decisions and deliver business value. Beyond the technical, an integral part of your role will be engaging across the business to scope, influence, and support the business to adopt and unlock the value delivered by our Data Science solutions.  This is where your ability to break down technical speak and speak a language that the business understands and can engage with will be critical.

About You

You'll have a love for data - you're the type of person who gets excited about huge and unique data sets without losing sight of the business context. Your proven ability to translate business needs and customer problems into technical requirements will be key.

Your excellent communication and relationship management skills will put you in good stead, as this role will see you work cross functionally with a range of internal stakeholders at all levels.  

Equally important is your ability to develop, empower and nurture your team to drive engagement and best practice.  Your passion and drive to share knowledge and raise the bar will be infectious.  Living and breathing Agile attributes such as servant leadership, collaboration and a growth mindset will come naturally to you.  Mentoring the team to work with business partners to deliver useable models that solve problems for the business sums up ultimate success!

Our wish list also includes:

• Preferably hold an advanced degree in a quantitative discipline such as statistics, applied mathematics, operations research, econometrics, etc.
• Ideally 5+ years commercial experience in data science, consulting experience also desirable
• Self-motivated creative problem solver and strategic thinker
• Excellent communication and presentation skills. You enjoy explaining complex concepts succinctly in a way that resonates with non-technical audiences and you are comfortable presenting to large groups of people.
• Experience with technical and analytics tools - preferably R, but Python, SAS, Azure, Snowflake, Docker, Git etc. will be helpful.
• Previous people management experience

About Us

We need people who are up for a challenge and committed to ‘helping Kiwis live better, every day.’

We offer a dynamic, supportive team environment within a business that cares about and recognises individuals. When you join us, you also get discounts across most of our brands, great team member benefits, and excellent career development opportunities no matter where you are in the business!  We have a flexible working policy that can see you balance your week with up to 2 days working from home (if you wish). 

The scope and profile this role offers is a rare find.  Interested?  Express your interest now and we look forward to talking.