Head of Data

What We’re All About at Kroo

At Kroo Bank, we’re building a better bank from the ground up. One that puts customers first, treats money responsibly, and uses technology to make everyday banking simpler, fairer and more transparent. We’re a fully regulated UK bank, backed by long-term investors, with a growing customer base and big ambitions. We move fast, think carefully, and hold ourselves to high standards, whether that’s how we build products, manage risk, or look after our people.

How you will contribute and key responsibilities: 

As the Head of Data, you'll be at the forefront of transforming the banking sector by leveraging data to shape its future. In this key role, you will oversee data strategy, considering Kroo data sets and the market to position Kroo to accelerate its business strategy.  In this role you will oversee the implementation of data science, analytics, and engineering functions. You will be instrumental in defining and developing Kroo’s AI strategy working with the engineering teams.  Your leadership will generate crucial insights that enhance product development, improve operational efficiency, and create personalised experiences for customers.

Reporting directly to the Head of Technology, you'll take charge of refining and managing our existing data analytics framework, ensuring it's effective, purposeful, and capable of scaling with our growth. Your work will support Kroo Bank's commitment to making informed, timely decisions—vital to our aim of becoming the best bank for our customers. You'll collaborate closely with finance, operations engineering and product teams focused on our main banking services like Accounts, Lending, Deposits and Overdrafts, among others. By providing comprehensive business intelligence across all product lines and departments, including Finance and Operations, you'll be instrumental in driving our success. Other responsibilities include: 

• Championing data-driven decision-making throughout the organisation by delivering actionable insights to departments such as product development, marketing, and customer service, thus ensuring our actions are always informed and impactful. Part of your mandate will include ensuring strict data governance and adherence to relevant regulations like GDPR and PSD2, upholding the highest standards of data integrity, privacy, and security.
• Additionally, you will oversee the development and management of our data infrastructure and architecture, ensuring it is scalable, reliable, and cost-efficient. This includes designing a modern data management stack that supports a demand-based, self-service data analytics model across all company functions, enhancing our ability to make informed decisions quickly and effectively.
• You'll also play a critical role in integrating AI and machine learning models into our services, working closely with product teams to improve customer experiences and operational efficiencies. Your oversight will extend to the entire lifecycle of data management—from collection and storage to quality control and protection—implementing data privacy policies and ensuring compliance with all data protection regulations.
• As a visionary leader, you'll keep abreast of the latest trends and advancements in data science, analytics, and technology, adjusting our strategies to maintain our leadership position in the financial sector. You will communicate the value and importance of data-driven decisions to executive members and staff, and be a central figure in setting up and expanding the data engineering team to meet evolving demands. Your role will be crucial in establishing a cross-functional data guild, positioning you as a go-to data management expert within the organisation.
• Other duties as assigned to meet business needs.

Requirements

Required skills and behaviours:

• Ability to conduct basic data collection: Leads strategic planning for data collection initiatives, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives and ethical standards, while identifying opportunities for data enrichment.
• Ability to perform data cleaning effectively: Sets standards for data cleaning processes, leveraging advanced techniques and technologies to maintain high data quality and consistency throughout the organisation.
• Ability to conduct basic data analysis: Provides strategic direction on data analysis methodologies, guiding the interpretation of complex datasets to extract actionable insights that drive organisational decision-making.
• Ability to understand programming fundamentals: Defines technical standards for programming practices, ensuring the adoption of advanced programming concepts and technologies to optimise data workflows and analyses.
• Ability to apply visualisation basics: Establishes visualisation strategies and standards, fostering the creation of compelling visualisations that effectively communicate insights to diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to communicate effectively: Cultivates a culture of effective communication, empowering team members to articulate complex findings and recommendations clearly and persuasively to stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to exhibit attention to detail: Upholds rigorous attention to detail and quality assurance processes, overseeing the implementation of robust validation procedures to ensure data integrity across all projects.
• Ability to manage data projects proficiently: Directs the planning and execution of complex data projects, overseeing resource allocation, timeline management, and stakeholder engagement to ensure successful project delivery and achievement of organisational objectives.

About Our Process:

We can be flexible with the structure of our interview process if someone's circumstances or timescales require it but our general structure is:

• 30-minute meet and greet with our talent acquisition specialist via google hangouts.
• 1-hour technical interview with the hiring manager via google hangouts.
• 30-minute culture champion interview via google hangouts.

Please let us know if you have any specific requirements or need assistance so we can be as accommodating as possible for you.

Benefits

What we offer:

At our cutting-edge fintech company, we know that attracting and retaining the best talent means offering top-notch benefits that help our employees thrive both in and outside of work. Check out what we currently offer:

• Generous holiday time: 25 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays, 1 Kroo bank holiday (June 24th), and 1 day off during the week of your birthday.
• Personal days: We know that life can be unpredictable, so we offer 3 personal days to use as needed.
• Employer-sponsored volunteer program: We're passionate about giving back to our community, and we support our employees in doing the same with up to 4 hours per month of employer-sponsored volunteer time.
• Mental health support: We care about the mental health of our team members and offer access to Spill, our mental health support partner.
• Workplace pension: We want you to feel secure about your future, so we offer a workplace pension with a 5% employee contribution and a 3% employer top-up.
• Top-notch equipment: We provide top-of-the-line equipment necessary for smooth hybrid work, including a MacBook laptop. Additionally, we also offer support in establishing your home office by contributing towards your setup if required.
• Modern office: When you're in the office, you'll enjoy access to our modern, bustling workspace in Farringdon, Central London, which includes a full gym.
• Cycle to Work scheme: We encourage sustainable transportation with our Cycle to Work scheme.
• Electric Car scheme: We're committed to reducing our carbon footprint, and our Electric Car scheme makes it easy for our employees to do the same.
• Enhanced parental leave: We know that family comes first, and we offer an enhanced parental leave policy to support our employees in starting and growing their families.
• Room for growth: As a fast-paced, high-growth start-up, we're dedicated to providing our employees with room to grow and excel.
• You get full healthcare for you and your nuclear family via Vitality.

Hybrid Working:

At Kroo Bank, we have a hybrid policy that gives both individuals and teams a lot of freedom when it comes to using the office space to boost productivity. Our London office is a great resource when used effectively. So, employees who can occasionally come to the office are a good fit for how we work right now. Keep in mind that this job involves working from Monday to Friday, with a mix of remote and office work, so you won't need to be on-site all the time.

Diversity and Inclusion:

We wholeheartedly uphold our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Every employee is highly regarded, respected, and supported without any form of judgement or prejudice. We consider Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion as fundamental pillars guiding our path in all aspects of our bank. We also ensure that reasonable adjustments are made available to all candidates throughout the recruitment process.

To all Recruitment Agencies:

At Kroo Bank, agency resumes are strictly prohibited. Do not submit agency resumes or forward them to our job advertisements or Kroo Bank employees. Be aware that Kroo Bank will not assume any responsibility for fees incurred due to unsolicited resumes.

To ensure a fair and efficient application process, all candidates are kindly requested to submit their applications directly through the advertised platform. We kindly ask that you refrain from reaching out to the company or its employees via email, LinkedIn, or any other communication channels for inquiries or updates. Please note that any attempts to contact us through these channels will not receive a response. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.