Principal Data Strategist (m/f/d)

Principal Data Strategist (Germany) Principal data strategists at Thoughtworks are experienced consultants who work with clients to create winning data solutions that meet business goals. They play a pivotal role in developing modern data architecture approaches that directly address our clients' key business objectives. Their responsibilities span in-depth reviews of current data and technology strategy, targeted data strategy, guiding clients to unlock the full potential of data, and providing high-level roadmaps. This role entails a mix of advisory responsibilities in data strategy and governance, coupled with a solid delivery-lead role and a breadth of data and AI ecosystem expertise. This is a client-facing, builder's leadership role. You will start with a small, senior team and grow it through technical depth, delivery excellence and thought leadership, rather than inheriting a large organisation to manage. The role is based in Germany and requires regular travel to client sites, up to approximately 50% of your time. Job responsibilities You will collaborate closely with clients to understand their business ecosystem and goals, and co-create data and technology strategies aligned with their objectives. You will help define a clear vision for the client enterprise to become data-driven and aligned with the overall business strategy. You will consult on complex data programs, providing technical leadership and guidance as a data subject-matter expert. You will lead and interact with clients across various domains, addressing challenging problems, and collaborate with sales to turn them into viable solutions and winning proposals. You will act as a translator between business, data and IT, and communicate data strategy to senior client stakeholders, including C-level. You will own the creation of end-to-end viable data solutions, keeping in mind long-term impacts and overseeing program inceptions for new product development. You will be responsible for formulating data governance strategies addressing security, privacy and compliance requirements. You will enable capability building in data strategy and governance, growing the next generation of data strategists. You will create differentiated assets in data strategy and governance to take to market. You lead through influence rather than headcount: growing capability and raising delivery standards inside the organisation, while building our presence in the market through thought leadership, ecosystem initiatives and client-facing points of view. Job qualifications Technical Skills You have extensive experience as a consultant, with a proven track record of creating data strategy and solutions that drive business value. You have solid experience with data platforms and technologies, and can provide advisory and consultative guidance for clients and cross-delivery teams. You have experience engaging with C-level stakeholders to influence and enable the operationalization of an enterprise-wide data strategy. You have demonstrated leadership abilities, with the capacity to lead technical teams and drive projects to successful completion. You are flexible and adaptable across a variety of projects, leveraging technical expertise and leadership to maximise impact. You have a track record of ensuring proper data governance policies, including data lineage, quality checks and classification. You have experience with AI and ML use cases and landscapes and can influence the build of the right solutions to harness insights from data. You have experience building high-level solution frameworks, leveraging paradigms such as data-as-a-product and federated governance where needed. You have professional working proficiency in German (B2 minimum, C1 strongly preferred) and can build consensus with mostly technical stakeholders. Exceptional candidates with outstanding data and AI consulting credentials may be considered where German is not yet at this level. Consulting and commercial trac…