Head of Business Intelligence & Reporting

London
23 hours ago
Create job alert

MLC Partners are working with prestigious London based College to support them with the recruitment of a newly created Head of Business Intelligence & Reporting role. This role would be for someone who likes the prospect of working in a greenfield environment and working with Executive teams to ensure the Data strategy links in to the wider organisational and Digtal Strategy.

If you're a self sufficient, driven individual with strong previous exposure to the Higher Education sector... please read on!

Job Purpose

Lead the development and delivery of business intelligence solutions to support evidence-based decision-making across the College. This pivotal role shapes the institution’s data strategy, drives continuous improvement, and fosters a culture of data literacy and collaboration. The postholder will champion best practice, engage key stakeholders, and ensure the service continually evolves to meet institutional needs.

Key Areas:

  • Develop and maintain dashboards to report and monitor the College's KPIs

  • Manage the delivery and prioritisation of strategic data projects for the College

  • Lead on the development of dashboards and semantic data models in Power BI

  • Be responsible for an annual cycle of updates to existing reports

  • Be highly proficient in external Higher Education data and relevant internal student record systems

  • Support decision making through intuitive data visualisation and scenario planning

  • Benchmarking against internal and external performance measures

  • Manage, mentor and develop a team of Planning Analysts, fostering professional growth and wellbeing

  • Provide a professional, efficient and friendly service to students, staff and external organisations

  • Develop relationships with key stakeholders such as academic schools and professional services to understand business needs

    Main Duties and Responsibilities:

    Leadership and Data Governance

  • Develop and implement the College’s Data strategy, including institution-wide data definitions, and governance frameworks

  • Champion for Data Quality and Records Management across the institution, ensuring alignment with regulatory and sector standards (e.g. OfS, HESA)

  • Align data projects to strategic priorities

  • Lead on the design and delivery of dashboards and semantic data models using Power BI and other relevant tools

  • Support the creation and maintenance of a ‘single- source of truth’ data infrastructure

    Business Intelligence and Reporting

  • Develop and maintain dashboards to monitor and report on College KPIs

  • Provide complex analysis of key performance indicators to senior leadership, including OfS metrics, National Student Survey results, League table publications

    Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

  • Build strong cross departmental collaboration with IT, Finance, HR and Registry, academic schools and other professional services

  • Communicate complex data insights to a range of stakeholders through intuitive visualisations and clear reporting

  • Develop a deep understanding of user requirements in order to deliver intuitive dashboards

    Team Leadership

  • Build, lead and develop a team of data analysts/officers to support business needs

    Service Delivery and Support

  • Produce complex analysis of key performance indicators to the senior leadership team

  • Develop dashboards and reports to support various stakeholders in their operations and planning processes

  • Pro-actively identify data quality issues with student records and communicate with relevant staff to resolve them

  • Provide support and training to staff in the use of reporting tools and other data resources

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Head of Data Analytics and Transformation IH

Business Intelligence Business Analyst

Business Intelligence Business Analyst

Senior Business Intelligence Finance and Commercial Manager

Head of Data Analytics and Transformation IH

Junior Ecommerce and Marketplace Data Analyst

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

How Many Data Science Tools Do You Need to Know to Get a Data Science Job?

If you’re trying to break into data science — or progress your career — it can feel like you are drowning in names: Python, R, TensorFlow, PyTorch, SQL, Spark, AWS, Scikit-learn, Jupyter, Tableau, Power BI…the list just keeps going. With every job advert listing a different combination of tools, many applicants fall into a trap: they try to learn everything. The result? Long tool lists that sound impressive — but little depth to back them up. Here’s the straight-talk version most hiring managers won’t explicitly tell you: 👉 You don’t need to know every data science tool to get hired. 👉 You need to know the right ones — deeply — and know how to use them to solve real problems. Tools matter, but only in service of outcomes. So how many data science tools do you actually need to know to get a job? For most job seekers, the answer is not “27” — it’s more like 8–12, thoughtfully chosen and well understood. This guide explains what employers really value, which tools are core, which are role-specific, and how to focus your toolbox so your CV and interviews shine.

What Hiring Managers Look for First in Data Science Job Applications (UK Guide)

If you’re applying for data science roles in the UK, it’s crucial to understand what hiring managers focus on before they dive into your full CV. In competitive markets, recruiters and hiring managers often make their first decisions in the first 10–20 seconds of scanning an application — and in data science, there are specific signals they look for first. Data science isn’t just about coding or statistics — it’s about producing insights, shipping models, collaborating with teams, and solving real business problems. This guide helps you understand exactly what hiring managers look for first in data science applications — and how to structure your CV, portfolio and cover letter so you leap to the top of the shortlist.

The Skills Gap in Data Science Jobs: What Universities Aren’t Teaching

Data science has become one of the most visible and sought-after careers in the UK technology market. From financial services and retail to healthcare, media, government and sport, organisations increasingly rely on data scientists to extract insight, guide decisions and build predictive models. Universities have responded quickly. Degrees in data science, analytics and artificial intelligence have expanded rapidly, and many computer science courses now include data-focused pathways. And yet, despite the volume of graduates entering the market, employers across the UK consistently report the same problem: Many data science candidates are not job-ready. Vacancies remain open. Hiring processes drag on. Candidates with impressive academic backgrounds fail interviews or struggle once hired. The issue is not intelligence or effort. It is a persistent skills gap between university education and real-world data science roles. This article explores that gap in depth: what universities teach well, what they often miss, why the gap exists, what employers actually want, and how jobseekers can bridge the divide to build successful careers in data science.