Director of (Global) Data Operations & Automation - Energy/Commodities (London, UK)

Location: London, UK (please kindly note, we are not accepting candidates outside this region)

Position Type: Full-time, Permanent

Work model: Hybrid

Industry: Commodities & Energy

Report To: Chief Data Officer

About Us: 

Founded in 1995, Zema Global Data Corporation empowers organizations to simplify complexity, reduce risk, and make faster, more confident decisions that drive measurable results. Over the past two years, Zema Global has accelerated its growth through strategic investment and acquisition to strengthen our global leadership.  Together we’re helping our customers gain a Decisioning Advantage – one bold idea at a time.  With a presence across global energy, commodity, and financial markets, Zema Global empowers customers to simplify complexity, reduce risk, and make faster, more confident decisions that drive measurable results.

At Zema Global, we Think Big, Make It Happen, and Win as One. We thrive on collaboration, creativity, and respect, united by a shared drive to innovate and deliver meaningful impact for our customers and communities.  If you’re inspired by solving complex challenges and contributing to a culture that values purpose and performance, we invite you to join us.

Position Overview:

The Director of Data Operations will own the vision and strategy for building a scalable, efficient, and resilient framework that aligns with client needs, ensuring the seamless collection and delivery of accurate, high-quality data. This role will drive process standardization, foster innovation across global teams, and lead efforts to establish and maintain consistent data processes across all locations. The Director will cultivate leadership within the group, develop team members' skills to meet current and future business needs, and ensure team goals align with company objectives while helping to set priorities. Key responsibilities include fostering collaboration across functional teams, managing escalations, and driving process efficiency.

Key Responsibilities:

Develop and Implement Data Operations Strategy

• Define and execute the strategy for data operations, aligning processes and frameworks with business goals and growth initiatives.
• Establish standardized workflows and processes to maximize efficiency and quality across global teams.
• Drive innovation to enhance operational efficiency and scalability, while establishing long-term roadmaps for automation and technology adoption to ensure operational excellence.
• Translate strategic priorities into actionable operational plans for the group.

Stakeholder Management and Leadership

• Build and maintain strong relationships with cross-functional teams, including data, product, technology, and business units, to align goals.
• Provide regular updates and performance metrics to senior leadership, ensuring transparency and alignment with company objectives.
• Lead change management initiatives, ensuring smooth transitions for client impacting data changes.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align data operations with organizational objectives and improve data workflows.

Risk and Control Objectives

• Identify and mitigate risks related to data quality, operational scalability, and process governance.
• Make critical decisions within control limits and escalate significant risks to senior leadership as needed.
• Proactively anticipate risks that could impact data integrity or business operations and implement preventive measures.
• Balance risk management with operational efficiency to ensure sustainable growth and reliable data solutions for clients.

Team Development and Performance

• Clearly convey the group’s objectives, priorities, and responsibilities to understand their impact on company goals.
• Foster a growth-oriented culture by mentoring managers and team leads, preparing them for expanded roles.
• Monitor KPIs, SLAs, and operational metrics to ensure high performance and client satisfaction, driving corrective actions as needed.
• Support efforts to align global teams through knowledge transfer and process standardization training.

Understand Customer Needs

• Collaborate with clients and stakeholders to understand their evolving data requirements and ensure operational services meet expectations.
• Develop proactive solutions to meet future client needs, staying ahead of market trends and emerging demands.
• Establish feedback loops with key clients to track satisfaction levels and identify potential service improvements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field preferred; relevant experience may substitute for education

• 10+ years working in data operations or a closely related data-heavy environment

• Minimum 5+ years managing people, ideally across global teams and multiple locations

• Hands-on technical ability: SQL, databases and the ability to guide analysts through troubleshooting

• Experience working with energy, finance, or commodities data

• Proven track record building or scaling data operational functions (teams, processes, frameworks)

• Strong background in automation, process improvement and delivering measurable efficiency gains

• Experience defining, tracking and improving operational metrics, KPIs, and MI reporting

• Comfortable driving both strategic initiatives and day-to-day operational resolutions

• Confident working across cross-functional groups and able to challenge assumptions or push for better outcomes

• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, and a data visualization tool (Power BI, Tableau, Looker, etc.)

• Able to balance independence with governance boundaries and knows when to escalate

• Thrives in a dynamic environment with shifting priorities

Why Zema Global?

• Be part of a rapidly growing company revolutionizing energy analytics, shaping how data drives decision-making across the energy and commodities markets.
• Work with cutting-edge technology alongside a team of industry experts who are redefining market intelligence.
• Significant opportunity to make a measurable impact on product strategy, revenue growth and customer success, with clear paths for career advancement.
• Join a company culture that values innovation, collaboration and customer-centric thinking, giving you the autonomy to drive meaningful change.

How to Apply?
- If you're excited about this opportunity, send us your application highlighting your qualifications and experience relevant to the role and we'll get back to you as soon as possible (we only accept CVs in English).

- We appreciate all applications, but only short-listed candidates will be contacted for further consideration. Thank you for your interest.

- And strictly no agency calls or agency CV submissions.

We’re looking forward to seeing how you can make an impact with us!

*** No visa sponsorship is available for this position ***

Equality and Diversity: Zema Global is committed to diversity and inclusion. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals and do not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected status.