Head of Analytics Job Description, KRAs and Skills

A Head of Analytics leads the analytics function that turns data into decisions for the business. They own dashboards, reporting, business insight and the analytics team, and partner with leaders to answer the questions that matter. The role is senior and business facing. A good Head of Analytics makes analytics trusted and used, sets clear metrics and definitions, builds strong analysts, and shifts the business from gut feel to decisions backed by reliable numbers.

Detail	For this role
Department	Data and Analytics
Level	Senior management
Reports to	Chief Data Officer
Direct reports	Analytics Manager, BI Manager, Senior Data Analyst
Experience	10+ years in analytics with 4 years leading teams

Head of Analytics job description template

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Job title: Head of Analytics

Department: Data and Analytics

Reports to: Chief Data Officer

Location: [City], [office, branch or site]

About the role

Key responsibilities

Lead the analytics function and its roadmap for the business.
Own the metrics, definitions and reporting the company runs on.
Partner with leaders to frame questions and deliver insight.
Set standards for dashboards, analysis and clear data storytelling.
Build and develop a team of analysts and BI developers.
Prioritise the analytics work against business value and capacity.
Ensure the analysis is accurate, reproducible and well documented.
Promote self service analytics and data literacy across teams.
Work with data engineering on the data the analytics needs.

Requirements

Bachelor's or master's degree in a quantitative field
Long experience in analytics or business intelligence
MBA is an advantage
10+ years in analytics with 4 years leading teams

KRAs and KPIs for a Head of Analytics

Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.

Key result area	How to measure it
Decision impact	Analytics used in key business decisions each quarter
Metric trust	Agreed company metrics defined and reconciled across reports
Delivery	Priority analytics requests delivered within the agreed time
Self service	Business users self serving on core dashboards
Team capability	Analysts growing on skills and ownership
Accuracy	No major errors in reported numbers to leadership

Skills and tools

Analytics leadershipBusiness partneringMetrics and KPIsBI and dashboardsData storytellingPrioritisationTeam developmentSQL and analytics tools

Tools used day to day: Power BI or Tableau, SQL, Python or R, Data warehouse, Spreadsheet modelling.

Reporting line and career path

Moves up from: Analytics Manager, BI Manager, Data Science Manager
Next roles: Chief Data Officer, Head of Data, Vice President Analytics

Interview questions for a Head of Analytics

How do you make analytics actually change business decisions?
How do you get everyone to agree on one definition of a metric?
How do you prioritise analytics requests from many teams?
How do you build trust in the numbers you report?
How do you grow self service analytics without losing control?
How do you develop a strong team of analysts?

Managing a Head of Analytics in ZeniaHR

AttendanceOffice based on a general shift with hybrid work common. Web punch on the allowed office network or company laptop, with work from home within the monthly WFH limit. Approves team attendance corrections after the reporting manager step, before month close.LeavePlan leave around board reporting and business review cycles so insight is not held up. Name a backup among managers during absence. Comp-off and balances flow from the leave ledger.Performance and KRAsRun an annual review cycle with quarterly checks on decision impact and delivery. Set the KRAs above as goals, cascade them to managers, and use the cycle summary across the team.

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Frequently asked questions

What does a Head of Analytics do?

A Head of Analytics leads the analytics function that turns data into decisions. They own metrics, reporting and dashboards, partner with leaders on the questions that matter, set analysis standards, and build the analytics team. Their job is trusted, widely used analytics that move the business from gut feel to evidence.

What is the difference between Head of Analytics and Head of Data?

A Head of Analytics focuses on insight and decisions: metrics, dashboards and business partnering. A Head of Data owns the wider data function, including engineering, platform and governance. Analytics consumes and interprets data; the data function builds and manages the foundation. In smaller firms one leader covers both.

What qualifications does a Head of Analytics need?

A degree in a quantitative field with long analytics or business intelligence experience, and often an MBA for the business side. Employers value proven decision impact, command of BI tools and SQL, strong business partnering and a record of building and leading analytics teams.