I wrote about a theoretical job description for a Chief Data Officer back in November 2015 ^[2]. While I have been on “paternity leave” following the birth of our second daughter, a couple of genuine CDO job specs landed in my inbox. While unable to respond for the aforementioned reasons, I did leaf through the documents. Something immediately struck me; they were essentially wish-lists covering a number of data-related fields, rather than a description of what a CDO might actually do. Clearly I’m not going to cite the actual text here, but the following is representative of what appeared in both requirement lists:

Mandatory Requirements:

• Solid commercial understanding and 5 years spent in [insert industry sector here]
• Visionary in all of:
  • Big Data
  • Data Science
  • The Internet of Things
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Machine Learning
• Development of multiple statistical models with demonstrably high internal rates of return
• In-depth knowledge of Hadoop and Spark
• 5 years experience in Data Governance and in mitigating data risks
• Expert in Data Privacy and Information Security
• Comfortable enough with both Python and R to be able to mentor staff
• 5 years of creating Data Strategies and Data Architecture Roadmaps
• Expert in driving Data Quality improvements
• Hands-on experience with Analytical and Reporting tools [insert list here]
• Very au fait with Data Warehousing, Appliances and ETL
• Implementation of multiple Data Lakes
• World-class communicator, able to influence Executives and other Stakeholders
• Leadership of transformation programmes in the data arena and a track record of successful delivery
• Strong management skills and experience of outsourcing

Highly Desirable Requirements:

• PhD in Mathematics or a numerical science (with a strong record of highly-cited publications)
• MBA from a top-tier Business School
• TOGAF certification
• PRINCE2 and Agile Practitioner
• Invulnerability and X-ray vision ^[3]
• Mastery of the lesser incantations and a cloak of invisibility ^[3]
• High midi-chlorian reading ^[3]
• Full, clean driving licence

The above list may have descended into farce towards the end, but I would argue that the problems started to occur much earlier. The above is not a description of what is required to be a successful CDO, it’s a description of a Swiss Army Knife. There is also the minor practical point that, out of a World population of around 7.5 billion, there may well be no one who ticks all the boxes ^[4].

Let’s make the fallacy of this type of job description clearer by considering what a simmilar approach would look like if applied to what is generally the most senior role in an organisation, the CEO. Whoever drafted the above list of requirements would probably characterise a CEO as follows:

• The best salesperson in the organisation
• The best accountant in the organisation
• The best M&A person in the organisation
• The best customer service operative in the organisation
• The best facilities manager in the organisation
• The best janitor in the organisation
• The best purchasing clerk in the organisation
• The best lawyer in the organisation
• The best programmer in the organisation
• The best marketer in the organisation
• The best product developer in the organisation
• The best HR person in the organisation, etc., etc., …

Of course a CEO needs to be none of the above, they need to be a superlative leader who is expert at running an organisation (even then, they may focus on plotting the way forward and leave the day to day running to others). For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying that a CEO requires no domain knowledge and has no expertise, they would need both, however they don’t have to know every aspect of company operations better than the people who do it.

The same argument applies to CDOs. Domain knowledge probably should span most of what is in the job description (save for maybe the three items with footnotes), but knowledge is different to expertise. As CDOs don’t grow on trees, they will most likely be experts in one or a few of the areas cited, but not all of them. Successful CDOs will know enough to be able to talk to people in the areas where they are not experts. They will have to be competent at hiring experts in every area of a CDO’s purview. But they do not have to be able to do the job of every data-centric staff member better than the person could do themselves. Even if you could identify such a CDO, they would probably lose their best staff very quickly due to micromanagement.

A CDO has to be a conductor of both the data function orchestra and of the use of data in the wider organisation. This is a talent in itself. An internationally renowned conductor may have previously been a violinist, but it is unlikely they were also a flautist and a percussionist. They do however need to be able to tell whether or not the second trumpeter is any good or not; this is not the same as being able to play the trumpet yourself of course. The conductor’s key skill is in managing the efforts of a large group of people to create a cohesive – and harmonious – whole.

The CDO is of course still a relatively new role in mainstream organisations ^[5]. Perhaps these job descriptions will become more realistic as the role becomes more familiar. It is to be hoped so, else many a search for a new CDO will end in disappointment.

Having twisted her text to my own purposes at the beginning of this article, I will leave the last words to Jane Austen:

 
Notes

From: peterjamesthomas.com, home of The Data and Analytics Dictionary

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