Main Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Data Strategist

A Data Strategist is a professional who plays a crucial role in helping organizations make informed decisions based on data analysis and insights. They are responsible for developing strategies and implementing solutions to optimize data management and utilization within a company. In this blog post, we describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Data Strategists.

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Main Responsibilities of a Data Strategist

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of a Data Strategist:

Analyze

Analyze test reports and identify any test issues / errors.

Assess

Assess the effectiveness and accuracy of new data sources and data gathering techniques.

Assist in

Assist in development of measurement plans for marketing campaigns.
Assist team with resolving technical complexities involved in realizing story work.
Assist with the acquisition and implementation of a robust data catalog solution.

Collaborate with

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather data requirements and ensure data availability.
Collaborate with data scientists and analysts to identify patterns and trends in data.
Collaborate with external partners and vendors for data-related initiatives.
Collaborate with IT teams to ensure the scalability and efficiency of data infrastructure.
Collaborate with stakeholders to define data-related business requirements.

Communicate

Communicate architectural decisions, plans, goals and strategies.

Conduct

Conduct data analysis and provide insights to support decision-making processes.
Conduct data audits and performance assessments.
Conduct risk assessments and develop strategies to mitigate data-related risks.

Configure

Configure reports via admin console and tag management platforms.

Connect

Connect the dots across channels through data to provide a holistic view of marketing efforts.

Contribute to

Contribute to existing test suites (integration, regression, performance).
Contribute to new business pitches and proposals.
Contribute to story refinement / defining requirements.
Contribute to the development and enhancement of Adobe's internal Marketo instance.

Coordinate with

Coordinate with different functional teams to implement models and monitor outcomes.

Create

Create and maintain data models and architectures.
Create a plan to integrate business systems and workflows in support of business strategy.
Create dashboards using Adobe and Google Analytics.

Cultivate

Cultivate relationships with client IT management.
Cultivate relationships with client stakeholders.

Define

Define and document requirements for specific measurement goals.
Define and setup reporting and analysis processes and deliverables that meet client objectives.
Define processing logic, manage user permissions.
Define, scope and shape the delivery of data work.
Define security and backup procedures.

Demonstrate

Demonstrate and document ways to perform analyses and gain insights via analytics solutions.

Design

Design and implement data governance frameworks and policies.
Design and implement solution accelerators created in the Caserta innovation lab.

Develop

Develop and enforce best practices for big data, data integration and all client solutions.
Develop and maintain aspirational architectural road maps for our clients.
Develop and maintain current and future state business architecture of clients.
Develop and maintain current and planned state architectural blueprints.
Develop and maintain data visualization dashboards and reports.
Develop and maintain strong partnerships with the IT organization to execute the digital strategy.
Develop campaign targeting plans and briefs to internal or 3rd party campaign delivery teams.
Develop data-driven strategies to support business objectives.
Develop metrics and reports for the executive team, business and IT management.
Develop processes and tools to monitor and analyze business performance and data accuracy.
Develop strategic roadmaps, project outlines and detailed action plans.
Develop strategies for data integration and interoperability.
Develop workflows and processes to improve efficiency and accuracy in reporting.

Devise

Devise solution patterns using leading cloud, open-source and vendor technologies.

Drive

Drive the adoption of data-driven decision-making culture within the organization.

Embrace

Embrace working with the wider delivery team and project teams.

Ensure

Ensure compliance with data protection and privacy regulations.
Ensure data quality and integrity through data cleansing and validation processes.
Ensure that software is developed to meet functional, non-functional, and compliance requirements.

Establish

Establish data management best practices and guidelines for the organization.
Establish KPI frameworks and set campaign targets.
Establish yourself as a trusted source of data and insight.

Evaluate

Evaluate and recommend data management tools and technologies.

Evangelize

Evangelize data-driven decision-making and best practices.

Fulfill

Fulfill several project requests simultaneously while meeting tight deadlines.

Glean

Glean actionable insights to support in-market campaign optimization.

Guide

Guide and influence team direction with your recommendations.

Help

Help creative team ideate on data-driven concepts for large-scale marketing campaigns.
Help your teams test design hypotheses and validate assumptions.

Identify

Identify and define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of data initiatives.
Identify and evaluate data sources for relevance and reliability.
Identify bugs and erroneous analytics tags and provide solutions to development team.
Identify opportunities for process optimization and automation using data-driven insights.
Identify patterns and trends in marketing results and online activity and report on findings.
Identify the data requirements and opportunities around specific cross-channel initiatives.

Implement

Implement, configure and optimise reporting and visualisation tools.
Implement data security measures to protect sensitive information.

Improve

Improve the quality of Adobe's enterprise contact database.

Incorporate

Incorporate feedback from multiple sources and iterate rapidly on mockups.

Initiate

Initiate and deliver architectural programs that align IT with business strategy.
Initiate and deliver client technology evaluations and recommendations.

Install

Install and organise information systems to guarantee company functionality.

Lead

Lead the development of custom data models and algorithms to apply to large data sets.

Leverage

Leverage the written word to champion the brand in authentic and imaginative ways.

Maintain

Maintain and present project status reports, seeking direction from management, as appropriate.
Maintain in-depth knowledge of client technologies and architectures.
Maintain in-depth knowledge of strategic tech client goals.

Make

Make the complex actionable for clients and our teams.

Manage

Manage analytics implementation workflow.
Manage a team of analysts to drive actionable insight to the client.
Manage internal and external engineers on implementation of tags / SDKs / data APIs.
Manage the data aspect of the project (database).
Manage the data clean-up and de-duping of CRM contact data.

Meet

Meet with stakeholders to understand business objectives.

Monitor

Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of data strategies and initiatives.
Monitor and track data-related projects to ensure timely completion.
Monitor system performance by performing regular tests, troubleshooting and integrating new features.

Offer

Offer support by responding to system problems in a timely manner.

Oversee

Oversee projects, ensuring technical best practices are followed and client expectations are met.
Oversee the design and implementation of client solutions.
Oversee the migration of data from legacy systems to new solutions.

Participate to

Participate in strategic planning sessions to align data initiatives with overall business goals.
Participate to the analysis of the best solution for the product.
Participate to the architecture of the product.
Participate to the Testing.

Perform

Perform analyses and create reports to directly support team.
Perform spike / proof of concept as necessary to mitigate risk or implement new ideas.

Present

Present reports and recommendations to clients and answer questions about methodology and reporting.

Provide

Provide architectural consulting to programs, projects and initiatives.
Provide architectural direction to Caserta Solution Architects and Data Engineers.
Provide guidance on data collection methodologies and data storage solutions.
Provide guidance on data storage and archival processes.

Pull

Pull large data sets using our internal Trends data tools.

Recommend

Recommend optimizations to multi-channel marketing campaigns.
Recommend solutions to improve new and existing database systems.

Review

Review and synthesize insights to help shape editorial strategies.

Set

Set foundational strategy for digital analytics and data management.

Solve

Solve complex business challenges with unique data solutions across different clients.

Stay up-to-date with

Stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies related to data management and analytics.

Strategize

Strategize and execute data-driven social media campaigns.
Strategize and operationalize a Target Data Ecosystem.

Supervise

Supervise the development of interactive web-based cross-channel campaign performance dashboards.

Support

Support business and IT strategic planning.
Support data engineer development teams.
Support responses to RFP's and other customer inquiries during the sales process.
Support the development and implementation of data governance frameworks.

Test

Test and validate data collection to ensure proper functioning.

Train

Train and educate employees on data-related tools, processes, and best practices.

Translate

Translate business requirements into technical implementation.

Work with

Work on multiple campaigns understanding the nuances of each.
Work with Digital Channels to advise on our continually evolving digital strategy.
Work with external vendors and partner technologies.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of a Data Strategist:

Data analysis and interpretation
Statistical analysis
Data modeling
Data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI)
Data mining techniques
Database management (SQL, NoSQL)
Data governance and compliance
Data architecture and infrastructure
Machine learning and predictive analytics
Data manipulation and transformation (Python, R)
Business intelligence tools (e.g., QlikView, Cognos)
Big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop, Spark)
Data warehousing
Data quality management
Cloud computing and storage platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure)
Data security and encryption
Data integration and ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes
Data-driven decision-making frameworks
Data ethics and privacy
Project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum)

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Data Strategist:

Analytical thinking
Problem-solving
Critical thinking
Communication and presentation skills
Collaboration and teamwork
Leadership and influence
Adaptability and flexibility
Strategic thinking
Business acumen
Continuous learning and self-improvement

Conclusion

As the demand for data-driven decision-making continues to grow across industries, Data Strategists play a vital role in guiding organizations towards success. By understanding their main responsibilities and acquiring the necessary skills, professionals can position themselves as valuable assets in the increasingly data-centric business landscape.