Finance Data Lead

We are on a lookout for a Finance Data Lead to be responsible for setting up and leading our new Finance Data Centre of Excellence. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in driving robust, joined-up data governance across Finance, ensuring we remain fit for the future.

About Us:

The PwC UK Group grew rapidly in FY23 with revenues of cGBP5.8bn and ambitious growth aspirations for the years ahead. As we continue to innovate and transform our delivery as a firm, access to cutting-edge data has become crucial in informing key decisions and driving competitive advantage. To meet these demands, we are investing in a new Centre of Excellence (CoE) dedicated to data governance across Finance.

About the Team:

The Finance Data Centre of Excellence is part of our Financial Control team, which consists of approximately 350 professionals specializing in business partnering, financial control, taxation, immigration, treasury, procurement, and planning and reporting activities. As a Finance Data Lead, you will report to the Head of Finance Systems & Data Governance, who oversees our Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP). The Centre of Excellence is responsible for data architecture, the design of data policies and controls and for leading remediation activities where the need is identified through monitoring. In reporting and executing processes, the team will be supported by our shared services division, Integrated Services.

As key subject matter experts and owners of Finance data governance, the Centre of Excellence will be responsible for designing, implementing and monitoring a robust framework of policies and controls to ensure that Finance data is always:

• appropriately structured to meet the current and evolving needs of the business;
• reliable and of high integrity/quality;
• accessible to users for financial reporting;
• compliant with regulatory requirements (e.g. GDPR); and
• secure from inappropriate access.

About the Role:

As a Finance Data Lead, you will play a pivotal role in a high profile, multi-year project to replace PwC UK's Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP). You will be responsible for the data aspects of the transition, participating in the design and execution phases of the project. Additionally, you will develop a broad network of key relationships across Finance, IT, the wider business, and Integrated Services, positioning yourself as the go-to specialist for finance data management.

Key Responsibilities:

• Creating and overseeing Finance's Data Strategy, including areas such as data discovery, cleansing and augmenting, migration, handling, controls, cutover, risk management, reconciliation, destruction, and governance.
• Designing and maintaining the Finance Data Architecture, adhering to master data management principles.
• Leading proactive data quality monitoring and implementing remediation strategies where required.
• Collaborating with firmwide Data Management SMEs and the firm's Chief Data Officer (CDO) to stay up to date with changing laws and regulations, providing guidance to Finance teams.
• Creating and overseeing the data access policy for Finance staff.
• Coordinating with SMEs and leaders to provide data-related input into solution designs across the Finance technology landscape, documenting and advising on data impact of new technologies and processes.
• Acting as an escalation point for data quality, security and interaction issues, driving their resolution.
• Liaising and collaborating with the Chief Data Office to implement and monitor firmwide data policies and drive best practices.
• Contributing to firmwide decisions on data models, data retention, data lifecycle, and quality policies.
• Overseeing training and advice given by the Finance Data CoE to Finance staff.
• Leading data cleansing and remediation activities.
• Owning data services procured from Integrated Services.

About You:

To excel in this role, you should possess:

• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to lead multiple workstreams and counterparties to deliver projects and reporting to deadlines.
• Your high impact communication, influencing, and presentation skills will enable you to work effectively at all levels of the organization and influence wider business direction and decisions.
• Proven people management and leadership skills are essential, as you will be responsible for bringing a team together and setting the direction of travel.
• Your expertise in data management fundamentals, data quality management processes, and data profiling will allow you to identify and address data quality issues.
• Experience in data analysis, cleansing routines, and root-cause analysis is crucial for ensuring accurate and reliable data. Additionally, proficiency in working with Microsoft BI solutions (including SQL Server), data validation tools, and data visualization tools is highly desirable.
• A strong understanding of business requirements definitions and management, data quality software, performance management, and risk management will further enhance your capabilities in this role.

Join our team and be part of shaping the future of data governance in Finance. Apply now to make a significant impact and drive our organization forward.