Head of Data Platform (m/f/d)

Company Description

Since its creation in 2007 in the financial city of Frankfurt am Main, Solactive AG has grown to one of the key players in the indexing space. The German multi-asset index provider focusses on tailor-made indices, offering to its clients a faster service, with greater flexibility and at a reasonable cost. Solactive AG and its subsidiaries have become one of the fastest growing index providers over the past few years and support the leading investment banks and asset managers across the globe. We have gained global recognition for our role in the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) industry, where we rank among the top providers worldwide for underlying indices. We also excel in diverse areas such as Structured Products and investment mandates, showcasing the wide range of our capabilities. The impact and value we bring to the market is palpable, but also in the reputation we have proudly built by being close to our customers, solidifying Solactive AG as a trusted and reliable ally in the ever-evolving global financial landscape.

Job Overview

At Solactive, data powers everything we do. We are looking for a Director, Data Platform to lead the architecture and operation of our internal data hub, ensuring clean, reliable, and timely market data reaches our teams. If you thrive on building scalable, high-impact data platforms, we'd love to hear from you.

Your Tasks

• Translate market data and client requirements into platform capabilities, aligning technical solutions with business and product objectives.
• Define and deliver the data platform vision by building and operating a scalable, reliable, and cost-effective infrastructure that underpins index construction, analytics, and client delivery.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team of ~30 data engineers and operations professionals, fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee end-to-end data operations from ingestion and normalization of hundreds of external market data sources to reliable internal distribution.
• Shape data architecture and governance frameworks to ensure data quality, lineage, compliance, and operational excellence.
• Drive strategic alignment and execution across engineering, product, and operations teams to deliver on shared business outcomes.
• Promote innovation and systems thinking by evaluating internal and external solutions or services to ensure the platform evolves with new technologies, data sources, and business needs.
• Communicate vision and progress effectively to stakeholders across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Partner with HR and senior leadership to attract, develop, and retain top talent, building sustainable leadership and technical depth within the team.

Your Profile

• Experience: 10+ years in data engineering, platform management, or infrastructure leadership, including 5+ years leading large teams.
• Domain Knowledge: Understanding of financial market data (e.g., pricing, reference, corporate actions, ESG, and alternative data).
• Technical Expertise:
  • Deep experience with modern data architectures and tools (e.g., Kafka, Airflow, Flink, Iceberg, Databricks, Snowflake, AWS/GCP/Azure).
  • Proven ability to operate large-scale data ingestion and processing systems handling financial or reference data.
• Leadership: Track record of leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver business-critical systems in complex environments.
• Soft Skills: Excellent communicator with strong strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and problem-solving abilities.

Our Offer

• Global Team : Join our motivated international team at Solactive
• FinTech Excellence : Experience FinTech excellence at Solactive
• Modern Culture : Enjoy our modern, flat hierarchy and startup-like culture
• Responsibility & Connections : Take over responsibility from day one and build relationships in- and outside of the company.
• Vacation : Enjoy 30 annual vacation days, plus extra time off for Christmas Eve and New Year
• Competitive Compensation : Receive a competitive compensation package
• Special Benefits : Job ticket, access to Corporate Benefits, modern office space with ergonomic set-up, employee lounge, and free beverages and fruits
• Community & Networking : Engage in our various networking events
• Professional Development : Grow both personally and professionally through our diverse training offers
• Flexibility : Embrace a flexible work culture with the freedom to choose your work hours, including a hybrid work model, all within a diverse and dynamic environment