Softcat, Manchester, United Kingdom

Product Data Manager

Location: Manchester, England, United Kingdom

The Product Data Manager is a strategic and cross-functional leader, responsible for overseeing the entire lifecycle of product data within Softcat from its acquisition to its eventual deletion. A key part of this is ensuring integrity, security and accessibility of product data by collaborating with different teams to maintain high standards and high data quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Working with the Head of Business Partnering to develop a clear roadmap for data products aligned with business goals and user needs.
• Conduct market research and competitive analysis to identify opportunities for improvements to Softcat\'s product data. This could include looking at new sources of data to further enhance the enrichment of our product data or understanding best practice for managing our product data.
• Master Data Management (MDM): Responsible for creating and maintaining a single, consistent and accurate source of truth for Softcat\'s critical product data. The data manager is responsible for ensuring this data is standardised across all systems, preventing inconsistencies and errors. The development and management of business processes to support these responsibilities will form a major part of the job for this Product Data Manager.

Data Governance & Quality

• Create and enforce policies and procedures for data handling. This includes setting standards for data quality, defining ownership and ensuring data is used ethically.
• Staying up to date on data protection laws like GDPR to make sure the company\'s data practices are fully compliant for the product data domain.
• Responsible for implementing and managing security measures to protect sensitive data from unauthorised access, breaches and cyberattacks. This involves ensuring that data platforms and services are regularly audited to ensure policies are followed and access controls are in place. This will be done in conjunction with the data owners and owners of the different services.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work with the data leadership team to create and maintain a comprehensive data strategy for product data that aligns with Softcat\'s business goals. This includes defining what to collect, how it will be stored, and how it will be used to drive decisions.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Technical Proficiency
• Strong understanding of data analytics, data engineering, and machine learning concepts.
• Strong understanding of data governance and data quality.
• Knowledge or experience of MS Purview, CluedIn and PowerBI would be beneficial.

• Data Management Delivery and Expertise
• Familiarity with agile methodologies, product road mapping, and user-centred design.
• Attention to detail
• Experience managing data-centric products or platforms.
• Problem Solving and Analytical Thinking
• Knowledge of Softcat\'s Product landscape or a similar company would be advantageous for understanding the root cause of issues.

• Communication & Leadership
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong project management and cross-functional collaboration skills.

We also acknowledge that the confidence gap and imposter syndrome are a real thing and can get in the way of us meeting fantastic talent, so please don\'t hesitate to apply – we would love to hear from you!

Work in a way that works for you

We recognise that everyone is different and that the way in which people want to work and deliver at their best is different for everyone too. In this role, we can offer the following flexible working patterns:

• Hybrid working – 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home
• Working flexible hours - flexing the times you start and finish during the day
• Flexibility around school pick up and drop offs

Working with us

Wherever you work, we want you to experience the freedom and autonomy to realise your potential. You will feel supported by a team that celebrates individuality, encourages different perspectives, and embraces every background.

Join us

To become part of the success story, please apply now.

If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we can provide support or adjustments that you may need throughout our recruitment process or any mitigating circumstance you wish for us to consider. Any information you share on your application will be treated in confidence. You can find out more about life at Softcat and our commitments to diversity and inclusion at jobs.softcat.com/jobs/our-culture/

Here at Softcat, we don\'t prohibit the use of AI in our application process, as we understand how far it can go to creating a truly equitable candidate experience. That being said, we highly encourage you to be as authentically you as possible when submitting your application to showcase your true and whole self.