Head of IT Product - Data Foundation - Gdańsk or Aarhus

Shape the Future of Data at Arla

Are you ready to lead the technology backbone that powers Arla’s data-driven ambitions? As Head of IT Product for Data Foundation, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for one of Arla’s most critical technology platforms, ensuring our data foundation is robust, scalable, and future-ready.

How you will make an impact

As Head of IT Product for Data Foundation, you will be accountable for the end-to-end lifecycle of Arla’s Data Foundation platform, ensuring it delivers value, stability, and scalability to meet current and future business needs. Sitting within the IT&Digital Platforms organization and reporting to the Director of IT Platforms, you will set the vision and direction for the data platform, drive operational excellence, and lead a high-performing team to support Arla’s strategic ambitions. You will play a key role in shaping investment decisions, ensuring compliance and security, and fostering collaboration between business and IT stakeholders to maximize the value of Arla’s data capabilities. This is a permanent position based in either Aarhus, Denmark or Gdansk, Poland

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Owning and shaping the Data Foundation platform by setting the vision, strategy, and operating model to ensure its stability, scalability, and success.
• Managing the full product lifecycle, including roadmap and backlog prioritization, value delivery, performance management (SLAs and KPIs), and vendor oversight.
• Influencing prioritization and investment decisions by providing transparency on value, costs, risks, and trade-offs, while ensuring financial stewardship and contract compliance.
• Leading, developing, and empowering a high-performing product team—fostering a positive, inclusive, and learning-oriented culture that promotes professional growth and psychological safety.
• Ensuring compliance with governance, cyber risk management, regulatory requirements, and Arla IT Fundamentals, while supporting audits, remediation activities, and continuous improvement initiatives.

What will make you successful

To succeed in this role, you bring a strong blend of strategic vision, technical expertise, and leadership experience. You have extensive experience leading IT product teams within large, complex organizations and a proven track record of driving value delivery across the full product lifecycle. Your ability to govern performance, manage financials, and collaborate effectively with senior stakeholders will be essential to your success in this role.

We are looking for a candidate with:

• Several years of experience leading IT product teams with significant operational footprints and responsibility for service delivery, strategy, and performance.
• Strong strategic product leadership skills and experience managing complex product portfolios with a focus on value creation, risk management, and operational excellence.
• Financial acumen including forecasting, total cost of ownership (TCO) management, and vendor/contract management would be highly beneficial.
• Technical expertise in modern data and analytics technologies such as Azure, Databricks, Collibra, Power BI, or similar platforms.
• Experience with agile methodologies and end-to-end product lifecycle management in an enterprise environment.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage senior stakeholders, build partnerships, and drive alignment across IT and business functions.
• Fluency in English at a professional level.

To thrive in this role, you should also demonstrate:

• A strategic mindset – able to balance long-term vision with short-term delivery and operational priorities.
• Collaborative leadership – fostering trust, inclusion, and shared accountability within your team and with stakeholders.
• Resilience and adaptability – navigating complexity and change while maintaining focus on value delivery and team growth.

What do we offer?

At Arla, you’ll join a truly international environment where innovation and collaboration are part of our DNA. Within the Data & Analytics area, you’ll work alongside highly skilled professionals who are passionate about building data-driven solutions that make a real impact on how we operate as a global company. We offer a culture that values empowerment, continuous learning, and professional growth, where your ideas and leadership will shape the future of Arla’s digital and data landscape.

Would you like to join us?

If you’re ready to drive innovation and make a global impact alongside talented colleagues, seize this exciting opportunity by applying today.

Contact Paul Freeman at pafre@arlafoods.com for any further questions or information.

Shape the Future of Dairy 

Arla is a global leader in the dairy industry, committed to producing high-quality products while championing sustainability and innovation. We're passionate about people and our planet, striving to unleash the full potential in each of us. Our goal is to make healthy dairy nutrition and good food habits accessible to all. Join us at Arla Foods and become part of a worldwide cooperative dedicated to making a significant impact on the planet and steering the dairy industry towards a sustainable future. 

We are devoted to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. Diversity and collaboration are key to our success, propelling us to new heights in the dairy industry. 

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