Head - Data & Insights

Job Description

Aldar Education is currently seeking an outstanding Head - Data & insights to drive the organization's data strategy, governance, and analytics initiatives. This role is responsible for overseeing the entire data lifecycle to ensure the effective management, utilization, and protection of data assets to support business objectives.

As the leading education group in Abu Dhabi, we provide inclusive and innovative learning that inspires and empowers communities. We offer a range of brands for all learners in our community, from nursery through to adult education. We offer the broadest choice of curricula. In the largest number of locations in Abu Dhabi.

Starting with one school and 250 students in 2007, Aldar Education has grown into a highly sought after education provider, now supporting over 38,000 students in 31 schools and a growing network of almost 5000 educators, with over 100 nationalities, offering a wide range of curricula and ancillary services such as a Teacher Training Academy.

Working collaboratively, our education network’s purpose is to empower the next generation to shape our future, directly supporting the educational goals of Abu Dhabi’s government. Today, Aldar Education’s efforts are guided by the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 plan, which aims to build a sustainable knowledge-based economy through premium education.

The Head - Data & Insights would spearhead the organization's data strategy, governance, and utilization efforts. Responsible for overseeing all aspects of data management, analytics, operational reporting, data analytics use cases and innovation, the role aims to harness the power of data to inform decision-making, enhance operational efficiency, and fuel business growth. This leader strives to unlock actionable insights, drive innovation, and create tangible value for the organization and its stakeholders.

In essence, the role of the head of data and insights is to leverage data as a strategic asset, enabling the organization to stay competitive, adapt to market trends, and achieve its long-term objectives through informed decision-making and data-driven innovation.

Responsibilities

Main Duties

Strategic Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Partner with executive leadership, department heads and other stakeholders to understand strategic objectives and translate them into actionable data initiatives.
• Act as Aldar Education’s senior data authority, shaping and owning the data and insights strategy while embedding advanced analytics into strategic and operational decision-making.
• Communicate complex data concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders through compelling data narratives, visualizations and storytelling.
• Represent the data function in strategic forums and working groups, advocating for a data-first culture across the organization.
  
  
  

Data Foundations & Operational Excellence:

• Lead the effort to standardize and improve data quality, structure and interoperability across Aldar Education.
• Collaborate with different teams across Aldar Education and Aldar Group to align on common data definitions, formats and governance protocols.
• Design and implement scalable data ingestion and transformation pipelines that harmonize data from diverse systems (including iSAMS, PowerSchool and other MIS platforms) into a unified, analysis-ready format using Azure Databricks, Delta Lake and pyspark.
• Maintain compliance with data protection regulations (e.g. GDPR) and ensure all data activities adhere to security and governance best practices.
• Act as a thought partner in shaping the long-term data infrastructure roadmap that enables growth, innovation and scalability across the education group.
  
  
  

Advanced Analytics, Insights & Experimentation:

• Lead the development of predictive models, machine learning solutions and statistical analyses, specifically using Python and PySpark (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, xgboost, lightgbm, statsmodels etc.).
• Explore and implement modern AI techniques, including Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) frameworks, to enhance internal knowledge access, automate reporting and generate contextualized insights from unstructured data.
• Design and execute data experimentation frameworks, A/B tests and scenario modelling to drive continuous improvement in educational outcomes and operational efficiency.
• Define, monitor and evolve KPIs in collaboration with business units to measure success and guide strategic investments.
  
  
  

Business Intelligence, Reporting & Visualization

• Translate analytical insights into clear, actionable visual outputs using tools such as Tableau, matplotlib, seaborn etc., including integration with and visualization of data from Salesforce or other CRM systems.
• Develop and manage a robust BI and reporting environment, primarily using Tableau to create interactive, self-service dashboards and executive reporting suites.
• Standardize reporting across Aldar Education, ensuring consistent access to trustworthy, real-time insights for stakeholders at all levels.
  
  
  

Culture, Capability Building & Innovation

• Champion a data-driven culture across Aldar Education by providing training, knowledge sharing and leadership in data literacy, analysis and visualization.
• Work closely with Group Digital Futures and Group Technology to ensure alignment of initiatives, share learnings and avoid siloed development of tools or insights.
• Stay current with advancements in data science, analytics and educational technology to ensure continuous innovation and value delivery.
  
  
  

Risk Management, Governance & Compliance

• Proactively identify data-related risks across the education portfolio, including issues related to data quality, security, system integration, and ethical use of data.
• Lead the development and implementation of strategies to mitigate data risks, ensuring alignment with legal, regulatory and internal policy requirements including GDPR, CCPA, etc.
• Collaborate closely with the Group Technology and Group Digital Futures to design and enforce enterprise-grade data security protocols, access controls, encryption standards etc.
• Champion best practices in data governance, ensuring that data is collected, stored, accessed and shared in a secure, compliant and auditable manner.
• Support audits, compliance reviews and risk assessments, providing clear documentation and oversight of data practices.
  
  
  

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related field; advanced degree (e.g., Master's, MBA) preferred.
  
  
  

Minimum Experience

• Industry Experience (No. of years): 10 to 15 years plus
• Position/functional experience (No. of years): 8 years, 1+ year working in education sector is preferable..
  
  
  

Job Specific Knowledge & Skills

Stakeholder Management & Communication

• Proven ability to engage with and influence senior stakeholders across business, operations and technology.
• Skilled at translating complex data concepts into accessible insights that drive action, with experience presenting to executive audiences.
• Strong collaborator who works seamlessly across functional and geographic boundaries, including with central Group teams, to align data strategy and execution.
  
  
  

Technical Proficiency in Data

• Advanced proficiency in Python and core libraries (e.g. pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, xgboost etc.) for data manipulation, modelling and statistical analysis.
• Demonstrated expertise in Tableau for interactive dashboarding, data storytelling and self-serve BI enablement; experience integrating and visualizing data from Salesforce or other CRM platforms is highly desirable.
• Strong SQL skills and familiarity with data orchestration, version control and pipeline automation tools (e.g., MLflow, Airflow).
  
  
  

Data Analytics & Insights

• Experience designing and delivering end-to-end analytics solutions that support operational, strategic and business outcomes.
• Ability to define and operationalize KPIs, build experimentation frameworks and leverage machine learning where appropriate to derive actionable insights.
  
  
  

Track record of using data to drive continuous improvement, innovation and measurable impact across multi-site or portfolio organizations.