Baillie Gifford
People Technology and Data Lead
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The people team
The people team develops the capabilities, culture and experiences that create a human and commercial edge for Baillie Gifford. We exist to make the firm the world’s most distinctive place to grow a career, investing in our people with the same long-term conviction as our portfolios and continually reimagining how work is done to outpace the industry.
The team supports the full people lifecycle, including people operations, people partnering, leadership, learning and capability development, attraction and resourcing, organisational culture, reward, wellbeing and the end-to-end people experience.
Through this work, we ensure that people and performance are deeply connected and that our colleagues are equipped to deliver long-term value for clients.
Purpose of Role
People Technology and Data designs, delivers and stewards the systems, data and insights that support our people across the employee lifecycle. The team ensures our people technology is secure, resilient and intuitive, and that our data is accurate, trusted and translated into meaningful insight.
As People Technology and Data Lead, you’ll bring together technology leadership, data stewardship, operational expertise and strategic thinking. This role exists to create an integrated, scalable people technology and data ecosystem that simplifies services, strengthens controls and enables better use of automation, AI and workforce insight.
Combining strategic leadership with hands-on delivery, you’ll set the direction and roadmap for our people technology ecosystem, data services and reporting capability. You’ll balance reliable day-to-day stewardship with longer-term improvement, make clear priority and risk decisions, and lead a capable team to solve complex problems and deliver practical solutions.
Working closely with the People team and partners across firm-wide Technology, Data, Innovation and Risk, you’ll ensure our people technology and data capabilities evolve in line with established architecture, data, security and governance frameworks. Through these partnerships, you’ll create the capacity, confidence and clarity needed for a modern, scalable and insight-led People function.
Responsibilities
Strategy and priorities
- Own, shape and deliver the People technology and data strategy and roadmap, translating organisational priorities into clear, practical plans aligned with firm-wide technology and data strategies.
- Shape the future People technology architecture, identifying opportunities to simplify, consolidate and improve systems, integrations, data and reporting capabilities.
- Ensure technology and data decisions align with established enterprise architecture, data-management, security and governance standards, making appropriate use of existing firm-wide platforms and capabilities.
- Assess complex technology, data and reporting requirements, shaping practical solutions and developing workforce insight that supports informed decision-making.
Technology and data stewardship
- Own the performance, reliability and continuous improvement of core People systems, data services and supporting third-party platforms.
- Lead and directly contribute to significant technology and data changes, from solution design and governance through to implementation, partnering with the People Product Lead to deliver technology, automation and AI-enabled improvements.
- Balance strategic leadership with day-to-day stewardship, stepping into delivery where priorities, complexity or capacity require it to keep critical services or improvements moving.
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Reporting and workforce insight
- Own the People data governance framework, ensuring high-quality data, trusted reporting, clear ownership and effective access controls.
- Lead the development of operational reporting and workforce insight, prioritising analytical demand and translating insight into meaningful action.
- Champion the responsible use of advanced analytics, ensuring appropriate governance, data quality and business value.
Risk, controls and responsible use
- Ensure robust governance of People technology and data, including system access, sensitive employee data, change control and regulatory compliance.
- Lead the assessment and resolution of significant technology, data and service risks, driving effective investigation, remediation and continuous improvement.
- Work closely with Technology, Data, Risk, Security, Legal and Compliance teams to ensure People technology, data and AI capabilities are secure, compliant and used responsibly.
Team, delivery and stakeholder leadership
- Lead and develop the People Technology and Data team, building capability, resilience and strong professional standards. Take ownership of high-priority work while supporting the team to deliver successfully.
- Build trusted partnerships across People and firm-wide teams, bringing clarity to complex technology and data decisions and using service, system and data insights to improve reliability, confidence and the colleague experience.
What success looks like
- Trusted technology foundations: People systems, data services and reporting are reliable, secure and well governed, providing confidence across the People function.
- Clear strategic direction: A coherent technology and data roadmap is in place, balancing operational priorities with longer-term improvement and innovation.
- Actionable workforce insight: High-quality People data and reporting enable better decision making, supporting operational excellence and strategic priorities.
- Responsible innovation: Technology, automation and AI are adopted thoughtfully, improving services while maintaining strong governance, security and compliance.
- High-performing team: The People Technology and Data team is capable, resilient and continually developing, with knowledge shared and critical expertise embedded across the team.
- Strong partnerships: Trusted relationships across People, Technology, Data, Risk and other firm-wide teams enable effective delivery and well-informed decision making.
Your knowledge and experience
- Significant experience leading technology, data or reporting functions within a complex organisation. Experience of HR technology is helpful but not essential.
- Strong understanding of data governance, reporting and workforce analytics, ideally including the management of sensitive or restricted data.
- Proven ability to balance operational delivery with strategic development, with experience developing technology roadmaps, leading system improvements and delivering technology-enabled change.
- Experience translating business needs into practical technology and data solutions, working effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Strong analytical skills, using data and insight to inform decisions, prioritise investment and improve services.
- Experience leading and developing teams, building capability and creating resilient ways of working.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted partnerships across People, Technology, Data, Risk and other business functions.
- Good understanding of governance, security, privacy and risk management within technology and data environments.
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The type of candidate we're looking for
We're looking for someone who combines strategic thinking with practical delivery. You'll enjoy solving complex technology and data challenges, setting clear direction while remaining close enough to the detail to guide delivery, remove obstacles and ensure important work moves forward. You'll be curious about how technology, data, automation and AI can improve services, while recognising that trusted data, strong governance and well-designed systems are the foundations of sustainable, scalable change. You’ll understand that People technology and data form part of a wider firm-wide ecosystem and you’ll adopt established standards while also helping other teams understand the People function’s needs. You’ll balance innovation with operational reality, making informed decisions that strengthen colleague experience, operational resilience and business performance. You'll build trusted relationships across People, Technology, Data, Risk and the wider business, translating complex technical concepts into practical recommendations and bringing people together around shared outcomes. As a leader, you'll develop capability, create clarity and foster an environment where your team can thrive, collaborate and continuously improve.
Critical skills
- Systems thinking
- Data literacy
- Digital effectiveness (including AI)
- Improvement mindset
- Storytelling
Additional information:
Instead of a cover letter, candidates are asked to submit a CV and short written responses (maximum 300 words each) to the following questions:
Question 1 – Describe a time when you improved a technology, data or reporting capability that enabled better decision making, strengthened governance or improved a service.
Question 2 – Tell us about a difficult prioritisation decision you made when balancing operational demands with longer-term technology or data improvements.
Question 3 – Describe a time when you brought together people with different priorities to solve a complex technology, data or information challenge.
Closing Date
August 18, 2026
Should you choose to use AI tools to support your application, we ask that you do this thoughtfully. We encourage you to ensure your application reflects your own voice, experience, and motivations. We value authenticity and want to understand your individual strengths and perspectives.
At Baillie Gifford, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful culture in which each of our colleagues can thrive and develop. We believe that our clients are best served by a diverse workforce with the experiences, ideas and perspectives that this brings.
If you are currently working at Baillie Gifford as an employee or contractor please apply to this job from the firm's Workday internal career site.
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