Woolworths

Data Quality Lead

• Own, socialize, and execute a future-forward project plan for Data Excellence

• Ponsonby and Favona location with hybrid working (3 days in the office)

• Lead a dedicated team of 2

We are Woolworths Group

We are Woolworths Group. 200,000+ bright minds, passionate hearts and unique perspectives connected by a shared Purpose to create better experiences together for a better tomorrow.’ It’s that Purpose that fuels our ambition to explore new ideas, make brave commitments and innovate better ways to meet the food and everyday needs of more than 24 million customers every week. 

If you’re excited to turn today’s blue sky thinking into a better tomorrow for future generations, you’ll find yourself supported and enriched in a dynamic, inclusive and empowering workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve. With a culture of genuine care, a flexible approach to work and opportunities across the group to grow your career and make a meaningful impact, the possibilities for what we can achieve together are endless.

We strive to create better experiences together for a better tomorrow for our customers and team,  bringing the best of Woolworths Group and Quantium together to make data driven decisions. By partnering with Quantium, a world-class data science and advanced analytics business we’re excited about the future as we unlock the power of AI and Insights to reimagine retail.

Through this partnership, the wiq team harnesses the best of Woolworths Group and Quantium data science and analytics talent to reimagine retail by solving the most complex problems using AI and analytics. As a team, we leverage Agile ways of working to help our team develop their skills while also making sure our team is focusing on solving the most complex problems for both our customers and team.

The purpose of the wiqNZ team is to unlock the power of data to imagine retail, which contributes to making Kiwis’ lives a little better every day. We work closely with all WWNZ business units, as well as with the broader wiq team. 

What you’ll do: 

As Data Quality Lead, you will bridge the gap between technical management and real business value. In this fixed-term role, you will stand up and fast-track WWNZ’s data governance, quality, and risk management across both operational and analytical data. Leading a dedicated team, you will lift capabilities to ensure our data is safe, compliant, and optimized for both human decisions and AI systems. Your ultimate goal? Transitioning a sustainable, mature operating model to our permanent team by the end of your term. 

Strategic Roadmap Development: Own, socialize, and execute a future-forward project plan and roadmap for WWNZ Data Excellence that aligns seamlessly with broader Woolworths Group initiatives.

Embedded Governance by Design: Partner early in the project lifecycle and collaborate with Data Engineering to build governance, quality principles, and risk management into platform and data product development from day one.

Enterprise Data Quality & Certification: Drive data quality uplifts, monitoring, and issue resolution to certify critical enterprise data, training sets, and model embeddings—ensuring all GenAI, ML, and business decisions rely on trusted, unbiased data.

Unstructured Data & AI Governance: Define and execute governance frameworks for unstructured data assets while overseeing data parameters tailored to a tiered AI architecture (including data chatting, team agents, and customer-facing bots).

Data Council & Forum Leadership: Organize, lead, and facilitate the Data Council and governance forums, driving strategic data conversations, resolving cross-functional escalations, and ensuring alignment across business units.

Tooling & Documentation Mastery: Drive the adoption of enterprise data tools (e.g., Collibra, Ataccama) to manage key data assets, business glossaries, and data lineage, while clearly defining ownership and stewardship roles across the business.

Compliance, Privacy, & Group Alignment: Partner with Privacy, Legal, and the Customer Trust COE to champion 'Privacy by Design,' support Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), and serve as the primary NZ voice aligning with Woolworths Group Data Management (GDM).

High-Performance People Leadership: Lead, coach, and intensively upskill a team of two Senior Data Excellence Analysts, fostering a culture of continuous learning and automation so they can independently manage the operating model in the future.

What you’ll bring:

• Hands-on Tooling Experience: Experience with data management tools (e.g., Collibra, Ataccama, or similar platforms) as well as project management tools like JIRA and Confluence.

• Data Quality: Strong ability to identify and prioritize data quality issues, recommend best practices, and collaborate on swift resolutions for technical, operational, and organizational data problems. 

• Problem Solving: Possesses excellent analytical and problem-solving skills for complex data analysis.

• Transformation & Agile: Experience in transformation and change management, coupled with a strong understanding of Agile principles for efficient delivery.

• Strong communication and presentation skills: enabling effective representation in Group forums and the ability to convey complex ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Adaptability & Critical Thinking: Ability to think creatively and critically, thriving in fast-paced, dynamic, and sometimes ambiguous work environments.

• Team Leadership & Development: Demonstrated experience leading teams, fostering a culture of development, innovation, and growth through coaching, feedback, and continuous learning.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams within an Agile delivery framework.

• IAPP, DAMA certification or other related studies in privacy, governance, ethics

What you’ll experience:

• A global business with endless career possibilities around every corner and across every discipline – with valuable exposure to a vast and exciting business network.

• Team discounts across our range of Woolworths Group brands you know and love and a robust rewards program that celebrates and incentivises purpose-driven work.

• 12 weeks paid parental leave for primary caregivers plus paid superannuation for up to 12 months while the Team Member is on parental leave - eligible from the first day of employment.

• A range of programs to help you prioritise and manage your wellbeing, including 24/7 access to the Sonder app. A progressive and competitive leave policy that gives you more space for what matters to you.  

Everyone belongs at Woolworths Group 

As one of the largest employers in Australia and New Zealand, we aim to create a truly inclusive workplace where everyone feels that they belong, can be their best selves, and reach their full potential.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are key to realising our purpose of better together for a better tomorrow. We recognise the value our team’s diversity brings to our business, customers, and communities and that teams with diverse experiences and backgrounds enrich our group and are better able to innovate and solve problems. 

Woolworths Group is an inclusive, team-first company and we value all skills and experiences. If you meet some, but not all of the requirements, we encourage you to submit your application.