Head of Data Collection (m/f/d)
- Role
- Operations
- Experience
- C-Level
- Employment
- Full-time
- Company size
- Enterprise
Open to DE only. Set where you work from to check your eligibility.
No BS summary
Head-level data operations leader in Germany with 5+ years in data operations, data partnerships, data engineering, or a data-centric business. Must have led teams and know third-party data collection at scale, including scraping/API-based operations, partnerships, licensing, KPIs, and data-as-a-product. English communication is required; hands-on Python/SQL is only a plus.
Core skills
Optional skills
Required languages
At Statista, we’re all about facts and data, for we are the world's leading business data platform. By providing reliable and easy-to-use data as well as various data analytics products and services, we empower people worldwide to make fact-based decisions.
Founded in Hamburg in 2007, we have quickly grown into a global company with offices in major cities such as London, New York, Berlin and Tokyo. And we still have a lot of plans. Our constant growth does not only prove our success, but also keeps creating new development and career opportunities for our employees.
We value and celebrate our diverse culture. You are welcome here for who you are, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or whether you prefer bar graphs to pie charts. Your story matters – keep writing it as part of our team.
Are you ready to join us?
Your Mission
You will lead Data Collection — the newest production line within Statista’s Data Production division, alongside Modeled Data, Survey Data, and Researched Data. It is our most scalable and most technical production line: it collects third-party data from publicly available sources and exclusive partnerships, and ingests, structures, and harmonizes it at scale for one of the world’s largest business data platforms.
Your mission: Collect customer-valuable third-party data we can sell at scale — free data that complements and contextualizes our portfolio, and exclusive partner data as a value driver.
Your Role
As Head of Data Collection, you will build and lead a production line structured along the data collection workflow — identify & unlock sources, explore sources, extract & ingest data — with three specialized sub-teams:
- Source Identification & Unlocking — secures the sources that feed the collection line: unlocking access through partnerships and contractual agreements, and running a structured discovery process to identify and qualify the best source for a given data need. Owns the commercial and contractual side of getting to “unlocked” data.
- Source Exploration — brings the domain expertise to understand an unlocked source: what data it offers, its structure and quality, and which fields are worth retrieving. Translates this into production-ready extraction specifications — the bridge between a raw source and scaled extraction.
- Source Extraction & Ingestion — builds and operates the scalable, standardized setup that extracts data via partner dumps, scraping, or APIs, and ingests it into our systems — structuring and harmonizing it in the process, steered by KPIs and focused on efficiency and technical excellence. This team wil disciplinarily report into the Head of Data Engineering, but you steer them operationally.
Strategy & Clarity
- Drive clarity in your production line with respect to strategy, portfolio role, and operating model — your teams and stakeholders always know where you’re heading and why
- Own the roadmap for Data Collection as the key volume driver of our data portfolio — delivering breadth of coverage at scale and closing gaps we cannot fill otherwise
- Shape the future direction towards exclusive partner data via revenue-share models — with the potential to shift the production line’s focus towards high-value exclusive data
- Join the senior leadership circle of the Data Production division — contributing to vision, OKR-setting, and cross-functional alignment
Leadership & People
- Lead the three sub-teams of the production line — driving performance, professional development, and a culture of ownership across partnership, research, and engineering profiles
- Provide clarity, prioritization, and motivation — you lead through direction, not micromanagement
- Build a production line that delivers reliably against operational KPIs: volume, breadth of coverage, and cost efficiency
Partnerships & Commercial
- Own the partner dimension of the production line — from outreach and qualification to contractual agreements that unlock data access
- Develop the exclusive partner data model — revenue-share partnerships that turn third-party data into a differentiating value driver for Statista
Production & Operational Excellence
- Steer production via KPIs with full transparency over sources, pipelines, and output — optimized for volume and breadth of coverage
- Drive automation and AI adoption across the collection workflow — from source discovery and intelligent extraction to automated structuring and harmonization
- Relentlessly improve efficiency: standardized setups, scalable processes, and technical excellence over one-off solutions
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Align with Production Steering and Business Owners, who steer your portfolio priorities — currently focused on strategic themes such as Social Media, eCommerce, and Marketing-persona fit
- Partner closely with Data Engineering, whose infrastructure, tooling, and architecture power your extraction and ingestion at scale
- Collaborate with the other production lines and downstream product teams — your data feeds their use cases and reaches customers through our platform and products
Your Profile
Experience & Track Record
- 5+ years of experience in data operations, data partnerships, data engineering, or a data-centric business — with a proven track record of leading teams
- Experience with collecting, structuring, or commercializing third-party data at scale — e.g. scraping/API-based data operations, data partnerships, or licensing models
- Experience with thinking about and producing data as a product — you understand who uses the data, how, and what makes it valuable
- A track record of steering operations via KPIs — you know how to run a production setup for volume, coverage, and efficiency
Mindset & Working Style
- Operator mindset — you think in scale, throughput, and unit economics, and you get energy from making a production machine run better every week
- Commercial acumen — you are comfortable negotiating with partners and structuring agreements that unlock data access
- You have a talent for clean, simple concepts with practical impact — you simplify without oversimplifying, and your solutions actually work in production
- You communicate well — with your teams, your supervisors, and your stakeholders across Data, Product, Tech, and Revenue
Technical Understanding
- Solid technical grounding — you can discuss scraping, APIs, ingestion pipelines, and data structuring credibly with engineers, and challenge setups where needed (hands-on Python/SQL is a plus, not a must)
- Practical understanding of AI capabilities in data collection — intelligent extraction, LLM-based structuring and harmonization, and automated quality assurance
Communication
- Excellent English communication skills — able to lead cross-functional teams, coordinate stakeholders, and represent the production line across organizational boundaries
What we offer
In addition to our great team, culture, and our shared goal of empowering people with data, there are many other things that make Statista a great place to work! Join us and benefit from:
- Work from abroad up to 30 calendar days a year
- Hybrid work and flex-time
- International team and social events
- Subsidized urban mobility and access to fitness and wellness options
- Free access to Langdock and all its amazing functionalities
- Career & training opportunities
- Attractive locations and modern offices
- Mental health support with OpenUp
Some of the benefits listed here apply only to the German entity and to Junior-level roles or above.
What you'll do
- Lead Data Collection, the newest production line within Statista’s Data Production division.
- Collect customer-valuable third-party data that can be sold at scale, including free data that complements and contextualizes the portfolio and exclusive partner data.
- Build and lead a production line structured along the data collection workflow: identify and unlock sources, explore sources, extract and ingest data.
- Oversee Source Identification & Unlocking, including partnerships, contractual agreements, and structured discovery to identify and qualify sources for data needs.
- Oversee Source Exploration, including understanding unlocked sources, assessing data structure and quality, identifying fields worth retrieving, and translating findings into production-ready extraction specifications.
- Operationally steer Source Extraction & Ingestion, which extracts data via partner dumps, scraping, or APIs and ingests, structures, and harmonizes it in Statista systems.
- Drive clarity in strategy, portfolio role, and operating model for the production line.
- Own the roadmap for Data Collection as a key volume driver of the data portfolio.
- Shape the future direction toward exclusive partner data via revenue-share models.
- Join the senior leadership circle of the Data Production division and contribute to vision, OKR-setting, and cross-functional alignment.
- Lead the three sub-teams of the production line, driving performance, professional development, and a culture of ownership across partnership, research, and engineering profiles.
- Provide clarity, prioritization, and motivation through direction rather than micromanagement.
- Build a production line that reliably delivers against operational KPIs: volume, breadth of coverage, and cost efficiency.
- Own the partner dimension of the production line from outreach and qualification to contractual agreements that unlock data access.
- Develop the exclusive partner data model through revenue-share partnerships.
- Steer production via KPIs with transparency over sources, pipelines, and output, optimized for volume and breadth of coverage.
- Drive automation and AI adoption across the collection workflow, from source discovery and intelligent extraction to automated structuring and harmonization.
- Improve efficiency through standardized setups, scalable processes, and technical excellence over one-off solutions.
- Align with Production Steering and Business Owners on portfolio priorities, including strategic themes such as Social Media, eCommerce, and Marketing-persona fit.
- Partner closely with Data Engineering on infrastructure, tooling, and architecture for extraction and ingestion at scale.
- Collaborate with other production lines and downstream product teams so collected data feeds customer-facing platform and product use cases.
What they require
- 5+ years of experience in data operations, data partnerships, data engineering, or a data-centric business, with a proven track record of leading teams.
- Experience with collecting, structuring, or commercializing third-party data at scale, such as scraping/API-based data operations, data partnerships, or licensing models.
- Experience with thinking about and producing data as a product, including understanding who uses the data, how, and what makes it valuable.
- Track record of steering operations via KPIs and running a production setup for volume, coverage, and efficiency.
- Operator mindset with ability to think in scale, throughput, and unit economics.
- Commercial acumen and comfort negotiating with partners and structuring agreements that unlock data access.
- Ability to create clean, simple concepts with practical impact that work in production.
- Strong communication with teams, supervisors, and stakeholders across Data, Product, Tech, and Revenue.
- Solid technical grounding, with ability to discuss scraping, APIs, ingestion pipelines, and data structuring credibly with engineers and challenge setups where needed.
- Practical understanding of AI capabilities in data collection, including intelligent extraction, LLM-based structuring and harmonization, and automated quality assurance.
- Excellent English communication skills, able to lead cross-functional teams, coordinate stakeholders, and represent the production line across organizational boundaries.
Benefits
- Work from abroad up to 30 calendar days a year.
- Hybrid work and flex-time.
- International team and social events.
- Subsidized urban mobility and access to fitness and wellness options.
- Free access to Langdock and all its functionalities.
- Career and training opportunities.
- Attractive locations and modern offices.
- Mental health support with OpenUp.
Statista is the world's leading business data platform, providing reliable and easy-to-use data as well as various data analytics products and services to help people make fact-based decisions.