Where a chief data officer can go next
5 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a chief data officer already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.
Chief data officers manage companies' enterprise-wide data administration and data mining functions. They ensure data are used as a strategic business asset at the executive level and implement and support a more collaborative and aligned information management infrastructure for the benefit of the organisation at large.
Also known as chief data officers, chief analytics officer, CDO.
Managers 61 skills on file 5 career moves 0 above 60% overlap Closest: ICT information and knowledge manager, 59%
- 70% and above · short step
- 50 to 70% · real move
- Below 50% · substantial retraining
Table 2 · A bigger jump
Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.
Table 3 · What the job itself asks for
A chief data officer needs 16 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.
- data ethics arts and humanities
- manage ICT data classification working with computers
- manage ICT data architecture communication, collaboration and creativity
- make data-driven decisions information skills
- decision support systems information and communication technologies (icts)
- define data quality criteria management skills
- data science information and communication technologies (icts)
- utilise decision support system working with computers
- define technology strategy management skills
- apply information security policies assisting and caring
Table 4 · Jobs that lead here
The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what a chief data officer does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.
- data analyst 56% covered · difficulty 53.5
- big data archive librarian 47% covered · difficulty 60.6
- ICT information and knowledge manager 41% covered · difficulty 66.3
- database integrator 37% covered · difficulty 69
- database administrator 36% covered · difficulty 69.8
- data quality specialist 32% covered · difficulty 73.4
- data centre operator 31% covered · difficulty 74
- data entry supervisor 25% covered · difficulty 78.7
- data engineer 16% covered · difficulty 85.2
Look up another occupation
Chief data officer is filed under Managers, ISCO major group 1. The full index lists all ten groups.
How these figures were compiled
Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of a chief data officer’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.