Role guide and interview toolkit

Head of Data / Platform

What the role covers, how it changes with the company stage and the training that helps, then how interviews run and how to prepare for each step.

Data strategy·Platform strategy·Build or buy·Data governance·Cost·AI strategy
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The role in practice

What a head of data or platform actually does

The leader who owns the data or platform strategy of the company, builds the teams behind it and makes the platform useful, safe and affordable.

The work

A head of data or platform owns the strategy of the data platform or of the internal engineering platform. They decide what to build or buy and report to the CTO or the CIO.

They lead data engineers, analysts or platform teams, run the platform with its governance and its costs, and make sure business teams and engineers can use it.

More and more, the role also covers the data foundations of AI and the governance of data across the company.

A typical week
  • A platform roadmap review with the CTO
  • A data governance meeting with business teams
  • A cost review of the platform
  • A build or buy decision on a tool
  • Coaching managers and leads
Often confused with
Chief AI OfficerOwns the AI strategy, its governance and its value.
Data EngineerBuilds and runs the pipelines of the platform.
Platform EngineerBuilds the internal platform that developers use.
Chief Data OfficerOwns the data strategy at company level.
Scope and focus areas

The same title, very different scopes

Most head of data or platform searches are defined first by the scope of the platform, then by the focus areas every platform leader shares.

StrategyCoversData · Build or buyWorks withCTO · CIO
OrganizationCoversData teams · PlatformWorks withHR · Leaders
ExecutionCoversPlatform · GovernanceWorks withSecurity
StakeholdersCoversCTO · BusinessWorks withSecurity
AIData for AI
ArchitectureTechnical strategy
GovernanceData governance
CostPlatform costs
Reports toCTO or CIO
Company stage

How the role changes with the company stage

The title stays the same, and the job changes a lot with the size and the stage of the company. Here is what changes from one stage to the next.

01Startup
  • Builds the first platform, often hands‑on
  • Hires the first data or platform engineers
  • Chooses the main tools
02Scale-up
  • Leads several teams and their managers
  • Sets governance and cost control
  • Makes the platform used across the company
03Enterprise
  • Leads a large platform through other leaders
  • Owns budgets and vendors
  • Aligns with the strategy of the CTO or CIO
04Regulated sector
  • Applies strict rules on data and access
  • Works with risk, audit and regulators
  • Documents and audits the platform
Education and certifications

The paths into the role, and what really counts

For this role, companies look first at platforms used across the company and the teams you built. Education matters less than your track record.

Common paths
  • Engineering school or master's in computer scienceThe most common path in France, and often expected by large companies.
  • University degree in computer science or data scienceA common path in the US and in Europe.
  • Data or platform engineering firstMost heads of data or platform were staff engineers or data architects before.
  • Engineering management firstEngineering managers on data or platform teams also move into the role.
Certifications
Cloud or data platform certificationsRarely decisiveUseful early in a career, and platforms you built count more.
Executive education programsRarely decisivePrograms on leadership and finance help at this level.
Data governance certificationsRarely decisiveUseful in regulated sectors, and your results count more.

Our view: for this role, a platform used across the company and teams you built often say more than any certificate.

Your interview with us

A conversation with a senior tech recruiter

Your first interview is with one of our senior tech recruiters, who knows the role, its scope and the company stages in this guide. The conversation covers your own leadership through real examples, and we handle these searches with particular discretion. Before the call, we send you the six themes we will cover so you can prepare your examples.

The six themes we share before the call
  1. What you owned yourselfThe data or platform teams, strategies or platforms you led, and your own part in the decisions.
  2. Your environment and its constraintsCompany stage, data quality, budget, rules or legacy systems: what shaped your choices.
  3. The decisions you madeWhat to build or buy, which governance and which teams, the options you compared and the reasons for your choice.
  4. The impact of your workWhat changed thanks to your leadership, with numbers when you have them: adoption of the platform, costs, data quality or teams grown.
  5. How you work with other teamsYour work with the CTO or CIO, business teams, security and your managers, and how you settle a disagreement.
  6. What you want nextThe kind of platform, stage and scope you are looking for in your next role.
What we look at
  • Platforms used across the company
  • Data quality and governance
  • Teams built

The same ground for every candidate. For a given role, every candidate answers the same final questions, built with the hiring manager around what the role really needs.

Ready for the next steps. After our call, we tell you how the company runs its interviews, who you will meet at each step and what each step is meant to assess.

Interviews with the company

What the company will assess, step by step

Each company runs its own process, and we walk you through its steps before you start. Head of data or platform processes often combine the steps below, and the depth expected at each step grows with the size of the role.

The steps you will often meet
  1. Interviews with the CTO or the CIOSeveral conversations on your vision, your leadership and how you would work together.
  2. A strategic case or a 90-day planA real problem of the company, or your plan for your first 90 days, to present and discuss.
  3. Meetings with business leaders, security and engineering leadersConversations with your future peers, and sometimes a board member or an investor.
  4. ReferencesCalls with people you worked with, often including informal references the company finds on its own.
What changes with the company stage
  • Scale-upYou show how you lead several teams and make the platform used across the company.
  • EnterpriseYou show how you lead through other leaders and manage budgets and vendors.
  • Regulated sectorYou show how you apply strict rules on data and work with risk and audit.
Your interview toolkit

How to prepare as a head of data or platform

Practical advice for each step of a head of data or platform process, from the way you introduce yourself to the questions you ask at the end of each interview.

01Introduce yourself in two minutes

Start with the data or platform teams you led, their size and the results. Mention your context in one sentence, then close with what you want next.

02Prepare two leadership stories

For each one, prepare the context, the stakes, your decision, the options you set aside, the result and what you would change today.

03Know your numbers

Prepare the adoption of your platform, your costs, your budget and the size of your teams, with how they changed during your time in the role.

04Prepare a 90-day plan

Companies often ask for one, sometimes in writing. Keep it simple: what you would learn, what you would decide and what you would deliver first.

05Have a clear view on AI

Leaders are often asked how AI changes their area. Prepare how your platform supports AI, with one decision you took.

06Prepare your references

Choose references who saw you lead, such as a former manager, a peer and someone from your team, and brief them before the calls.

Questions you will often hear
  • Walk us through a platform you built and who used it.
  • How do you decide what to build and what to buy?
  • How do you control the costs of the platform?
  • What would you do in your first 90 days here?
Questions worth asking them
  • What does the CTO or CIO expect in the first year?
  • Who uses the platform today, and how much?
  • How is data governance organised?
  • What is the budget, and how is it decided?
  • Which tools and vendors are in place?
  • How does the platform support AI projects?
Where the role leads

Where heads of data or platform come from, and where they go

The roles people most often hold before this one, and the ones they most often move to.

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