VP I, Data Management

Attribution Transformation Leader, VP Data Management

Let’s be unstoppable together!

At Circana, we are fueled by our passion for continuous learning and growth, we seek and share feedback freely, and we celebrate victories both big and small in an environment that is flexible and accommodating to our work and personal lives. We have a global commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as we believe in the undeniable strength that diversity brings to our business, employees, clients, and communities. With us, you can always bring your full self to work. Join our inclusive, committed team to be a challenger, own outcomes, and stay curious together. Circana is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place To Work®. This prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at Circana.

Learn more at www.circana.com.

What will you be doing?  

We are seeking a senior leader to own and evolve product categorization as a global data product—defining how CPG and General Merchandise products are classified, structured, and attributed across markets, retailers, and platforms. 

This role is not traditional analytics. It is about designing and operating the system that defines what a product is in the data—ensuring consistent, scalable, and decision-ready categorization globally. 

You will lead the vision, design, and governance of a modern product taxonomy and attribution framework, balancing global consistency with local market nuance. 

Key Responsibilities 

Product Strategy & Attribution Framework 

• Define and own a global product taxonomy and categorization philosophy for CPG and General Merchandise 

• Establish clear attribution logic: how products are grouped, compared, and rolled up for measurement 

• Design classification systems that enable accurate manufacturer and brand performance measurement 

• Make explicit tradeoffs between precision, scalability, and usability 

Data Product Ownership 

• Own product categorization as a data product (not a reporting output): roadmap, adoption, usability, and business impact 

• Define classification rules, hierarchies, and ontology structures (not just models or outputs) 

• Ensure outputs are interpretable, explainable, and trusted by business users 

• Translate ambiguous product data into consistent, reusable structures 

System Design & Cross-Functional Leadership 

• Partner with product, engineering, and data science to build and operationalize classification systems 

• Guide the use of ML/automation where appropriate—but ensure human-understandable logic drives outcomes 

• Lead decisions on build vs. standard vs. hybrid taxonomy approaches 

Governance & Global Scale 

• Establish global standards, guardrails, and change management for categorization 

• Drive consistency across regions while supporting market-specific extensions 

• Create durable frameworks that scale with new categories, products, and retailers 

What Success Looks Like 

• A globally adopted product taxonomy with clear rules and strong business trust 

• Consistent, defensible product attribution across retailers and markets 

• Reduced ambiguity in how product performance is defined and compared 

• Faster, more confident decision-making driven by clear product definitions 

Required Qualifications 

• 10+ years building or owning product taxonomy, classification systems, or attribution frameworks 
  (not just analytics or reporting) 

• Experience in CPG, retail, syndicated data, or product master data environments 

• Proven ability to design hierarchies, ontologies, or classification logic at scale 

• Strong product mindset: experience owning a data product lifecycle (not just delivery) 

• Ability to navigate ambiguity in product definitions and imperfect data environments 

• Experience aligning senior stakeholders on “what counts as what” decisions 

This role is not primarily focused on analytics, reporting, or model development. Candidates should bring experience defining product structures and classification systems—not just analyzing outputs. 

Circana Behaviors

As well as the technical skills, experience and attributes that are required for the role, our shared behaviors sit at the core of our organization. Therefore, we always look for people who can continuously champion these behaviors throughout the business within their day-to-day role:

• Stay Curious: Being hungry to learn and grow, always asking the big questions.
• Seek Clarity: Embracing complexity to create clarity and inspire action.
• Own the Outcome: Being accountable for decisions and taking ownership of our choices.
• Center on the Client: Relentlessly adding value for our customers.
• Be a Challenger: Never complacent, always striving for continuous improvement.
• Champion Inclusivity: Fostering trust in relationships engaging with empathy, respect, and integrity.
• Commit to each other: Contributing to making Circana a great place to work for everyone.

Location

This position can be located in the following area(s): Remote 

Prospective candidates may be asked to consent to background checks (in accordance with local legislation and our candidate privacy notice ) Your current employer will not be contacted without your permission.

The below range reflects the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. The salary range for this role is $170,000 to $225,000.

This job is also eligible for bonus/incentive pay.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including [paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k)] to eligible employees.

You can apply for this role through the Circana careers website or Intranet site for internal candidates. This role is subject to AI-assisted screening. Circana uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess resumes for alignment with job requirements by helping locate details in resumes that relate to the job description.

This position is expected to remain open for approximately 30 days and may close earlier if sufficient qualified candidates are identified.

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