Head of Data Collection

About the role

At Statista, we are defined by facts and data, as we are the world's leading business data platform. By providing reliable and easy-to-use data along with diverse data analytics products and services, we empower people worldwide to make fact-based decisions. Founded in Hamburg in 2007, we have grown rapidly into a global company with offices in major cities such as London, New York, Berlin, and Tokyo. Our continuous expansion reflects our success and consistently creates new development and career opportunities for our employees. We value and celebrate our diverse culture, welcoming individuals regardless of their background, appearance, or preferences, and we encourage every team member to keep writing their story. Are you ready to join us?

What you'll do

You will lead Data Collection - the newest production line within Statista's Data Production division, alongside Modeled Data, Survey Data, and Researched Data. This line is our most scalable and technical operation, collecting third-party data from publicly available sources and exclusive partnerships, then ingesting, structuring, and harmonizing it at scale for one of the world's largest business data platforms. You will own the end-to-end setup of this line, translating raw third-party signals into reliable, standardized datasets that drive customer value and revenue. You will define how we discover, evaluate, and unlock high-potential sources, balancing commercial opportunity with technical feasibility at scale. You will own the commercial and operational outcomes of the collection pipeline, ensuring data inflows meet volume, quality, and timeliness targets. Ultimately, you will shape the data foundation that powers insights for millions of users worldwide.

Location: Germany

Engagement: Full-time

About the 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, and extract & ingest data - organized into three specialized sub-teams: Source Identification & Unlocking, Source Exploration, and Source Extraction & Ingestion. You will operate within Statista's Data Production division, reporting operationally to the Head of Data Engineering while steering the collection line. You will drive strategic clarity, own the data collection roadmap as a key volume driver, shape exclusive partner data models, and join the senior leadership circle of the division. You will lead the sub-teams, provide clear direction and motivation, and build a production line that delivers reliably against operational KPIs. You will partner closely with Data Engineering, align with Production Steering and Business Owners, and represent Data Collection in senior leadership discussions.

What you'll do

• Drive the end-to-end operation of Statista's third-party data collection production line, from source discovery to ingested datasets.
• Unlock new data partnerships by identifying, qualifying, and negotiating access to high-value public and exclusive sources.
• Translate complex source structures into production-grade extraction specifications for engineering implementation at scale.
• Own the technical design of extraction workflows, ensuring robust, automated pipelines for scraping, API integration, and partner dumps.
• Establish and monitor source-level KPIs covering volume, coverage, quality, and cost efficiency across the collection workflow.
• Define and maintain standardized data models that harmonize heterogeneous third-party inputs into a unified schema.
• Partner with Data Engineering to build scalable infrastructure supporting high-throughput, resilient data ingestion.
• Collaborate with commercial stakeholders to design revenue-share models that make exclusive partner data strategically attractive.
• Lead the discovery and validation of emerging data sources aligned with strategic portfolio themes.
• Provide clear operational direction to sub-teams, aligning priorities with production steering and business ownership goals.
• Champion automation and AI-assisted techniques across discovery, mapping, and structuring to accelerate time-to-value.
• Ensure transparency of pipeline performance through dashboards, documentation, and cross-functional reporting.
• Continuously optimize collection processes to reduce manual effort and improve scalability as data volumes grow.
• Act as the operational owner bridging partnership, research, and engineering teams within the data collection value chain.
• Represent Data Collection in senior leadership discussions, contributing to portfolio strategy and cross-division alignment.

Requirements

• You hold a university degree in a relevant field such as Business Administration, Economics, Mathematics, or a comparable discipline.
• You bring several years of professional experience in data-driven roles, ideally within data management, analytics, or business intelligence environments.
• You possess a strong understanding of data structures, formats, and quality issues common in third-party datasets.
• You are comfortable working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, translating business needs into technical requirements.
• You have hands-on experience with data extraction methods, including APIs, web scraping, and file-based ingestion from partners.
• You demonstrate strong analytical thinking, with the ability to evaluate source suitability and quantify data value objectively.
• You show leadership experience managing small teams or cross-functional initiatives, with a focus on delivery and ownership.
• You are fluent in German and English, both written and spoken, enabling clear communication across teams and partners.
• You are comfortable operating in a fast-growth environment where responsibilities evolve quickly and ownership is expected at all times.
• You understand the importance of data privacy, legal compliance, and contractual safeguards when handling third-party data.

Nice to have

• Experience with scalable data pipelines and cloud-based processing frameworks.
• Knowledge of web technologies and scraping frameworks supporting automated data extraction.
• Familiarity with revenue-share or partnership-based commercial models for data products.
• Background in publishing or media industries where third-party content and data licensing is common.
• Experience working with AI-based extraction or enrichment tools that accelerate source processing.

Practical notes

• Full-time position (35-40 hours per week).
• The position is based in Hamburg or Berlin, with flexibility for hybrid or remote arrangements where appropriate.
• No specific visa or application deadline is stated in this source material.