Head of Sense Making, Data and Insights

About the Role This is a senior leadership position at the heart of how SmartStart understands and acts on data across its national network. You will lead the Sense Making, Data, and Insights function, translating complex information into meaningful action, driving a culture of learning, and ensuring SmartStart's data systems are fit for societal scale. You will lead a team of seven and work closely with senior leadership, government partners, and the broader ECD ecosystem. Key Responsibilities Direct a network-wide performance monitoring and sense-making ecosystem to drive data-informed decision-making for senior stakeholders and strategic partners Drive the evolution of SmartStart's data governance from a centralised service to a distributed, enabling capability Align SmartStart's data systems with key government partners including DBE, National Treasury, and eCares Lead rapid learning, iterative experimentation, and collective intelligence synthesis across the network Contribute to SmartStart's senior leadership community as a values-aligned, adaptive leader Requirements Master's degree in a relevant discipline (data science, statistics, MEL, social sciences, or public policy) 8+ years of relevant experience, with at least 4 in a senior data leadership role Proven ability to lead data teams and communicate complex insights to non-technical audiences Experience in social impact or complex systemic contexts Systems thinker with a genuine learning orientation and commitment to social justice Advantageous PhD in a relevant field MEL/MERL certification or Power BI / Tableau proficiency Experience with eCares or government data systems Background in early childhood development, education, or public health Fluency in one or more South African languages Project management qualifications (eg. PMP, PRINCE2, Agile/Scrum)