Audience Data Lead, The Observer

What’s the job?

You’ll lead The Observer’s new audience and engagement data function, building the pipelines, dashboards and insights that drive smarter decisions across subscriptions, editorial and product management.

Reporting into the Chief Customer Officer, this is a multidisciplinary role that combines data engineering, analytics, reporting, and stakeholder engagement. You’ll be responsible for the end-to-end management of our audience data infrastructure, from integrating source systems (web, app, CRM and subscriptions) to producing meaningful, accessible insight that informs real decisions.

Where do I work?

The Observer newsroom, London (22 Berners Street) plus some flexibility to work remotely 1 day per week.

What are we for?

The Observer’s promise is in the name. The Observer bears witness; the best of journalism being curious minds at work. It loves the arts and ideas, both for their own sake and because they can change lives. It’s proudly progressive, but has no party allegiance. It’s open to different arguments and its editorial independence is non-negotiable. We are building a new Observer across print, audio and digital. We’re here to build journalism that lasts, and a commercial model to ensure that it thrives.

What’s my personal contribution?

You’ll design and maintain the data pipeline, manage data cleanliness and structure, help define KPIs with The Observer’s leadership, and support and create tools that empower teams to self-serve. You’ll also support ad hoc analysis, experiment tracking, and performance measurement for editorial content, marketing campaigns, product experiences and commercial growth.

We’re looking for someone who can move confidently between technical detail and strategic discussion - equally comfortable debugging a SQL query, visualising subscriber churn trends, or working with an editor on content performance insight. This is a role for someone who thrives in a lean, fast-paced, high-trust team and is motivated by bringing data to life in support of The Observer’s award-winning newsroom.

What are my responsibilities & accountabilities?

• Own end-to-end audience data: from ingestion and processing to reporting and insight
• Support and develop The Observer’s use of data tools like Google Analytics and Chartbeat and be familiar with BI tools like Tableau and Looker for additional analysis.
• Build and maintain the data pipeline, ensuring clean, connected and reliable data from web, app, CRM and paywall systems
• Develop and manage dashboards and reporting tools to empower teams across subscriptions, editorial, product and leadership
• Lead analytics for key performance areas including engagement, subscriber behaviour, content consumption and campaign performance
• Support test-and-learn frameworks and experiment design for both CRM and editorial content
• Provide ad hoc analysis and recommendations to stakeholders, and automate repeatable workflows to support the organization
• Champion best practices in data governance, privacy and measurement strategy

What do I show? Essential skills and behaviours

• Experience owning or leading data in a digital publishing, subscriptions or product-led environment
• Strong technical fluency with analytics tooling, SQL, dashboarding (Looker, GA4, BigQuery or similar) as well as common editorial data platforms and tools (Chartbeat, Social platform insights and ESP reporting for newsletters)
• Comfortable managing a data stack or pipeline across multiple platforms
• A proactive problem-solver who's confident building new processes from scratch as well as optimising what’s already there to be as useful as possible for the business
• Excellent communicator who can illuminate data reporting and make it clear and meaningful to non-specialists
• A systems thinker who’s fast, pragmatic and thrives in lean, high-autonomy teams

Salary and Benefits

• Competitive salary & bonus scheme
• 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private Healthcare
• Group Income Protection
• Group Life Assurance
• Pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Interest-free season ticket loans
• Free snacks and drinks in the newsroom

Working with us

We are a progressive business with a diverse, motivated team. We are committed to equal opportunities and creating an inclusive environment for all our employees, and we welcome applicants regardless of ethnic origin, national origin, gender, race, colour, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or age.

To apply please send a covering letter and a PDF of your CV to jobs@observer.co.uk. You should include the name of the job that you are applying for in the email subject