Chief Data Officer

Trustly•San Francisco, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting directly to the Global CTO, the Chief Data Officer (CDO) will serve as Trustlyâs most senior data executive, responsible for the strategy, architecture, and execution of the companyâs global data program. This is a broad, high-impact mandate: you will own the data platform that underpins our products and operations, the datasets that drive business decisions, the analytics capabilities that serve our internal and external stakeholders, and the machine learning and artificial intelligence initiatives that will define Trustlyâs competitive edge in the years ahead. You will be a key member of the extended C-suite, partnering with the CTO, CPO, CFO, and business leaders across the company to turn data into product, revenue, and risk advantage. You will set the vision for how Trustly thinks about data as a first-class asset, while building and leading the engineering, science, and analytics teams to deliver on that vision at scale.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, data science, analytics, or a closely related technical discipline, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
Demonstrated success building and scaling data platforms and teams in high-growth, data-intensive technology or financial services environments.
Deep expertise in modern data architecture: cloud data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift), data lakes, streaming platforms (Kafka, Flink), and orchestration frameworks.
Hands-on understanding of machine learning and AI methodologies, with experience overseeing applied ML programs in production at scale.
Strong command of data governance, data quality, and regulatory compliance requirements relevant to financial services and global data privacy law (GDPR, CCPA).
Track record of translating complex data strategy into business outcomes, with the communication skills to influence C-suite and Board-level audiences.
Experience managing geographically distributed, cross-functional data teams in a global organization.
Prior CDO, VP of Data, or equivalent executive title at a technology company, payments platform, or regulated fintech.
Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience in payments, open banking, financial services, or another highly regulated, data-rich industry.
Familiarity with transaction-level payment data, fraud modeling, credit risk scoring, or consumer behavioral analytics in a financial context.
Proven experience building or scaling ML platforms and MLOps infrastructure for production model deployment and monitoring.
Experience with generative AI and large language model deployment in an enterprise context.
Experience with pre-IPO data program build-out and supporting data-related due diligence.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the strategy for Trustlyâs global data platform, including data lakehouse architecture, streaming and batch pipelines, data cataloging, observability, and correctness.
Own the end-to-end data engineering function, ensuring reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient data infrastructure that serves product, analytics, risk, and compliance use cases across all geographies.
Drive the evolution of Trustlyâs data stack, making deliberate build-vs.-buy decisions and managing a best-in-class ecosystem of data tools and vendors.
Establish and enforce data standards, taxonomy, and governance frameworks that enable self-service access without sacrificing data quality or integrity.
Partner with Engineering and Infrastructure teams to ensure the data platform meets the availability, security, and regulatory requirements of a globally operating payments company.
Identify, develop, and steward Trustlyâs highest-value proprietary datasets, including transaction-level payment data, bank account intelligence, consumer behavioral signals, and merchant performance data.
Define a long-term data strategy that turns Trustlyâs unique data assets into durable competitive advantages - for risk management, product differentiation, and potential new revenue streams.
Oversee data governance, data lineage, and master data management programs, ensuring a single source of truth across the organization.
Champion data quality and reliability as foundational standards, implementing frameworks that ensure confidence in data used for business-critical decisions.
Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, and Privacy teams to ensure responsible and lawful use of data across all jurisdictions, including under GDPR, CCPA, and relevant open banking data regulations.
Build and lead a world-class analytics function that delivers actionable insight to business stakeholders across Product, Finance, Risk, Operations, Sales, and the C-suite.
Establish a self-service analytics culture, enabling non-technical teams to access, explore, and act on data confidently and safely.
Own the development of key performance metrics, executive dashboards, and board-level reporting, ensuring data is accessible, accurate, and impactful at every level of the organization.
Partner with merchant-facing teams to develop external analytics products and insights that deepen Trustlyâs value proposition with key partners and enterprise clients.
Lead Trustlyâs machine learning and AI program, setting the technical vision and organizational structure for applied ML across fraud detection, risk scoring, payment success optimization, personalization, and operational automation.
Build and grow a team of machine learning engineers and data scientists, establishing rigorous practices for model development, validation, deployment, and monitoring.
Drive the responsible adoption of generative AI and large language models where they can create meaningful productivity or product value, with appropriate governance and oversight.
Define and maintain Trustlyâs AI ethics and model risk management framework, ensuring fairness, explainability, and regulatory compliance across all deployed models.
Stay current with the rapidly evolving AI/ML landscape and translate emerging capabilities into concrete business opportunities for Trustly.
Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing, global team of data engineers, analytics engineers, data scientists, ML engineers, and BI analysts.
Foster a data-driven culture across Trustly, partnering with senior leaders to raise the overall level of data literacy and analytical rigor in decision-making.
Represent Trustlyâs data capabilities externally with partners, regulators, and the broader industry, where relevant.
Contribute to the broader technology leadership team, collaborating with the CTO and peer executives on cross-cutting strategy and resource allocation.