Head Of Data Operations

Why QS?

At QS, our culture fosters a flexible working environment that encourages our employees to own their career whilst personally and professionally thriving. We collaborate, respect and support each other – and as a company, our values underpin these. Our mission is to empower motivated people around the world to fulfil their potential through higher education, and to ensure everyone has the same opportunity to achieve that potential. We celebrate the diversity of our teams and believe through sharing our experiences we can learn from one another and become stronger together, which enables us to achieve our goal.

At QS, you’ll be responsible for implementing real change in the international higher education landscape, full of exciting and interesting challenges where you can drive positive impact across the business.

In October 2023 we were thrilled to be included in Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces® in the UK list which is compiled using employee sentiment and satisfaction data.

Using insights from more than two million employees in organisations with 50 to 100,000 members of staff, the list recognises workplaces where employees feel most respected and appreciated.

The role

In 2022, QS formed a newly central Data and Analytics function, with investment made into latest cloud-based infrastructure and tools for data mastery.

Our Data and Analytics team is central to the continued growth transformation of QS. As a division, we're supporting the transformation of the business by evolving from being focused on infrastructure and tools to becoming a hub of analytical brilliance for the entire organisation.

We need a technical leader who can take on the role of Head of Data Operations and guide us through this transformation while ensuring the current Data Operations processes continue to deliver value on time and to the requisite quality as we progress through this change.

Our ideal Head of Data Operations will be ready to get stuck into the technical details, lead the team hands-on, and also guide us tactically and operationally. You will be working hands-on in Excel, SQL and sometimes Python, ready to support your team in technical delivery. You will be ready to apply and grow your understanding of statistical knowledge and methodology to your team’s work. You will be setting the bar for operational and quality standards, finding ways to work more efficiently, and making sure we're producing top-quality work within our Data Operations team.

In addition, the successful candidate will be expected to support our Data leadership team in turning our data production processes into the well-oiled, automated machine we have envisioned and operate in a wider, more senior capacity within the next 12-18 months. This set of automation initiatives will free up the rest of the team to work across a plethora of impactful, insight-driven work across other areas of the business where we know they can deliver value, while opening up the RP&D Lead to a broader remit.

Role responsibilities:

Core responsibilities

1. Data collection and enrichment.

Extracting from both in-house and third-party sources, testing against agreed standards, transforming to an agreed format and loading into an agreed storage of core institutional performance data. Providing constructive feedback to the owners/representatives of the corresponding data sources on the requirements of Data collection and validation process. Setting requirements and quality standards for other teams responsible for supporting the data scraping from public sources.

2. DataOps Research & Development.

Being responsible for technical design, implementation (scripting /coding), testing and maintenance of DataOps tools (software, scripts, calculation spreadsheets etc.) required for production of institutional performance indicators and their aggregation into institutional rankings, one of the flagship QS applications of institutional data. This includes, but not limited to the following:

• Technical support of business analysis, mathematical and statistical modelling, rankings models design simplification, automation, building technical roadmap, and driving ranking delivery workflow improvements;
• Taking a critical look at QSs existing evaluation models, streamlining work production processes, procedures including quality control;
• Supporting technical migration of existing data assets into the QS Snowflake environment
Supporting data engineering requirements (ranking methodology script re-writes for all assets including SQL, Python, R, and spreadsheets into a Snowflake environment)

3. Rankings production .

Executing all necessary production steps to produce the results of institutional evaluations (rankings and their corresponding performance indicators) on time and of an agreed quality. Collaborating with a global team of engineers, product managers, data analysists to ensure a smooth running of ranking operations.

4. Reports and delivery .

Developing, maintaining and running existing routines for generating various PDF reports, Tableau dashboards and different formats of rankings results needed to be delivered to final stakeholders (institutions, website users, internal stakeholders, partner organisations, clients etc.). Consult with both internal and external stakeholders, providing key analytical insights and communicating our data work clearly.

5. Customer/stakeholder support.

Answer advance customer/stakeholder’s support questions (L3-L4 support levels) either directly or by upskilling/training other teams from L1-L2 support.

6. Quality Assurance .

Design new and execute existing QA standards and procedures to make sure that both underlying data and any intermediary or final rankings deliverables are of a satisfied level of quality.

7. Team Leadership.

Leading a team of Data analysts, data engineers and data scientists, being responsible for technical aspects of Data collection and enrichment, DataOps R&D, rankings production, reports and delivery (including project planning, breaking down of work, orchestration of all steps of the production flow ).

Daily Responsibilities:

• Data collection (automation of certain types of Data collection and data validation).
• Data engineering (developing and maintaining data pipelines, prepare data for data analysis).
• Data analysis (compile rankings results and analyse them).
• Planning (building project plans, breaking down the tasks per assignee, managing due dates).
• Business analysis (build certain business requirements, technical support of third-party communications).
• Technical design (build of technical requirements, maths modelling / simulations, designing and testing of indicators and metrics).
• Reports and Insights generation.
• QC and QA of the whole E2E flow, including autotests.
• Leading the delivery process (Fact Files, Certs, Hub outputs, Web outputs, DWH outputs.
• Leading 3 of 4 tiers of support queries, including building a knowledge base (both external and internal).
• Being a key technical communicator with other technical terms, (Hub1, Hub2, Web, Data Warehouse, etc).
Any other additional duties as necessary.

Key skills and experience:

• Advanced practical Excel knowledge (ability to review and maintaining existing assets containing Excel formulas and features of any complexity); VBA knowledge is optional.
• Advanced SQL (mostly DML) practical knowledge (ability to develop new, review and maintain existing SQL code).
• Minimum mid-level Python practical knowledge (ability to develop new, review and maintain existing Python code).
• Practical knowledge of mathematics and statistics, including but not limiting to regression analysis, statistical testing, linear transformation functions, math modelling/simulation.
• Practical knowledge in technical and data quality assurance, including but not limiting to code review, test design, test execution, defect reporting, defect impact mitigation.
• Ability to create good technical documentation both for internal needs and customer facing one.
• Ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• A strong track record of managing people performance and leading teams.
• An understanding of agile methodologies.
A passion for international higher education.

So, who are we and what do we do?

QS is the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, insights, and intelligence to the global higher education sector - supporting university excellence across the world. Our student recruitment and enrolment solutions enable universities and business schools to connect with talented individuals seeking to further their academic progress and career development. Our portfolio of professional services includes consultancy, student mobility and academic partnerships management, and branding solutions. We publish highly visible and influential rankings of international universities, including the QS World University Rankings® which reaches a global audience of hundreds of millions of people.

Founded in 1990, our activities span across 50 countries, working with over 2000 of the world’s leading higher education institutions and over 12,000 employers.
Headquartered in London, QS has over 750 employees globally with offices in Australia, Malaysia, India, Romania, Singapore, France, Germany, and the USA. QS keeps growing organically, through acquisition and by recruiting top talent across key regions.

We take investing in our people very seriously.

As standard you will have:

• Competitive base salary
• Access to an annual bonus scheme (for qualifying roles only)
• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays – increasing to 27 days after 5 years’
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• Generous pension through Royal London
• Comprehensive private medical insurance and wellness scheme through Vitality
• Access to QSmiles – a discount scheme that actually makes a significant difference
• Cycle to work scheme
A vibrant social environment and multicultural and multinational culture

But that’s not all. Outside of these standard benefits we also offer resources to allow professional growth and wellness initiatives to nurture a healthy mindset:

• Free subscription to the Calm App – the #1 app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation
• A focus on welfare which is led by our global wellness team, with mental health first aiders globally
• Access to a variety of diversity and inclusion initiatives and groups
• Strong recognition and reward programs – including a peer-to-peer recognition platform, quarterly and annual QS Applaud Awards, Connect with your Career annual PD event
• Support for volunteering and study leave
• Free subscription to LinkedIn learning – with over 5000 courses and programmes at your fingertips
Options to join our outstanding global Mentorship programme

Like what you’ve heard? Great, apply now!

As a candidate, we know the application and interview process can be daunting and so it’s important that you have a great experience with us. Our dedicated Talent Team will work hard to ensure you are fully informed at all stages and you are really excited by this opportunity to do meaningful work in the education space.

Equal opportunities

QS Quacquarelli Symonds is proud to be a fair and equal organisation where everyone has the same opportunity to achieve their full potential, irrespective of their background or personal attributes. We celebrate our diversity and believe through sharing our experiences we can learn from one another, be stronger together, and enable our business to thrive.