Head of Data Platform

Relay is fundamentally reshaping how goods move in an online era. Backed by Europe’s largest-ever logistics Series A ($35M), led by deep-tech investors Plural (whose portfolio spans fusion energy and space exploration), Relay is scaling faster than 99.98% of venture-backed startups. We're assembling the most talent-dense team the logistics industry has ever seen

Relay’s Mission is to free commerce from friction. Today, high delivery costs act as a hidden tax on e-commerce, quietly shaping what can be sold online and limiting who can participate. We envision a world where more goods move more freely between more people, making the online shopping experience seamless and accessible to everyone.

THE TEAM
• ~90 people, more than half in engineering, product and data
• 45+ advanced degrees across computer science, mathematics and operations research
• Thousands of data points captured, calculated, analysed and predicted for every single parcel we handle
• An intellectually vibrant culture of first‑principles thinking, tight feedback loops and relentless experimentation

The Opportunity

Relay's network generates data at every touchpoint. Couriers, routes, parcels, sortation, pricing, demand signals. That data is the raw material for every decision the business makes, and increasingly, for the AI systems that make decisions autonomously.

As Head of Data Platform, you will own the infrastructure that turns raw data into usable signal. That means the transformation layer (dbt), the semantic layer (Cube), the pipelines that feed them, and the standards that make the output trustworthy. You will be responsible for data being ready for human analysts, for dashboards, for ML models, and for agents that act without human review.

This is a foundational leadership role where you will inherit a high-performing engine. The platform already powers critical decision-making across every department, underpinned by a mature dbt architecture, a semantic layer with rigorous naming conventions, and a workflow where the team has successfully leveraged AI to drive exceptional productivity. Your challenge is to take this 'V1' success and scale it into a global-class platform that remains the single source of truth as our complexity grows.

You will lead a team of data and analytics engineers who are deeply technical and take immense pride in their craft. They are highly autonomous and possess a clear vision for what 'good' looks like. What they need is someone who can set strategic direction, prioritise across competing demands, and represent the platform's interests at leadership level. You will work closely with Engineering to shape how upstream systems produce data, not reactively cleaning up after them.

This role reports to the Director of Data.

What You'll Do

• Own the data platform roadmap: transformation, semantic layer, orchestration, and the tooling that makes the team fast

• Lead and grow a team of senior analytics engineers, setting technical standards and creating space for them to do their best work

• Partner with Engineering to define contracts and expectations for how data is produced at source

• Set the self-serve strategy: make data accessible to analysts, PMs, and operators without bottlenecking on your team

• Extend the platform for automated and AI-driven systems: Ensure data is structured for programmatic action, with an uncompromising focus on accuracy and observability so that agents act on a foundation of absolute trust.

• Own strategy for emerging data types: unstructured data, telematics, real-time signals

• Represent the platform in leadership discussions, translating technical constraints into business terms

Who Will Thrive in This Role?

• You've led analytics engineering or data platform teams before, and you're comfortable with both the technical depth and the people leadership

• You're a player-coach: you can review a dbt PR, debug a performance issue, and then context-switch to a prioritisation discussion with a VP

• You think in systems: how data flows, where quality breaks down, what contracts need to exist between teams

• You're pragmatic about standards. You know when to enforce and when to flex

• You're comfortable with strong individual contributors and can create alignment without micromanaging

• You've worked in environments where data powers not just dashboards but automated systems

• You communicate clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders, and you're not afraid to push back when the platform's integrity is at stake

Fast and Focused Hiring Process

1. Talent Acquisition Interview - 30 min

2. Hiring Manager Interview - 45 min

3. Case Study - 1 hour

4. Values & Impact Interview - 1 hour

5. Decision and offer within 48 hours. Our process mirrors our pace of work.

Compensation, Benefits & Workplace

• Generous equity, richer than 99% of European startups, with annual top-ups to share Relay’s success.

• Private health & dental coverage, so comprehensive you’d need to be a partner at a Magic Circle law firm to match it.

• 25 days of holidays

• Enhanced parental leave.

• Hardware of your choice.

• Extensive perks (gym subsidies, cycle-to-work, Friday office lunch, covered Uber home and dinner for late nights, and more).

• Located in Shoreditch, our office set-up enables the kind of in-person interactions that drive impact. We work 4 days on-site, with 1 day remote.

Who Thrives at Relay?

• Aim with Precision: You define problems clearly and measure your impact meticulously.

• Play to Win: You chase bold bets, tackle the hard stuff, and view constraints as fuel, not friction.

• 1% Better Every Day: You believe that small, consistent improvements lead to exponential growth. You move quickly, deliver results, and learn from every experience.

• All In, All the Time: You show up and step up. You take ownership from start to finish and do what it takes to deliver when it counts.

• People-Powered Greatness: You invest in your teammates. You give and receive feedback with care and candour. You build trust through high standards and shared success.

• Grow the Whole Pie: You seek out win-win solutions for merchants, couriers, and our customers, because when they thrive, so do we.
  If these resonate, and you combine strong technical fundamentals with entrepreneurial drive, let’s connect.

Relay is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity, inclusion, and fostering a workplace where everyone thrives.