Senior Manager, External Data Management

Who Are We?
Taking care of our customers, our communities and each other. That's the Travelers Promise. By honoring this commitment, we have maintained our reputation as one of the best property casualty insurers in the industry for over 170 years. Join us to discover a culture that is rooted in innovation and thrives on collaboration. Imagine loving what you do and where you do it.

Target Openings
1

What Is the Opportunity?
At Travelers, we create trusted strategic products and services to unlock the power of our data. We enhance and measure our ability to access, govern, manage, connect and integrate internal and external data assets and ensure our employees understand the value of data and the impacts to our business.

As a Senior Manager of External Data Management for Travelers Europe, you will be the primary leader responsible for all third-party data (3PD) governance, strategy, and operations across the European business. You will define and execute the vision for how Travelers Europe sources, evaluates, onboards, manages, and optimizes external data products from vendors and data providers. Working at the intersection of business strategy, vendor management, data governance, and technology implementation, you will ensure that third-party data investments deliver measurable business value while maintaining the highest standards of data quality, compliance, and security.

You will provide leadership by setting priorities, assigning work and influencing team members while building strong partnerships across business units, IT, legal, procurement, and vendor organizations. Your deep understanding of the external data ecosystem, vendor landscape, and data product lifecycle will enable you to drive strategic decisions about which external data sources best support business objectives.

Travelers Europe currently offers flexibility to employees who wish to work on a hybrid basis in accordance with our Hybrid Work Arrangements Policy. This entails full time employees working three days a week in the office and two days at home (or pro rata for part-time employees). This policy may be changed at the Company's discretion.

What Will You Do?
External Data Strategy & Governance

• Own and maintain the comprehensive third-party data inventory across all European markets, ensuring accurate cataloguing of all external data sources, vendors, costs, usage, and business value
• Lead the development and socialisation of the Europe external data operating model, establishing clear processes for evaluation, procurement, onboarding, and lifecycle management of third-party data products
• Define and enforce 3PD governance policies, standards, and best practices across all countries, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and corporate policies
• Conduct regular portfolio reviews with business stakeholders to assess the value, utilization, and ROI of external data investments
• Develop business cases and cost/benefit analyses for new external data products, including evaluation of vendor alternatives and negotiation support

External Data Product Lifecycle Management

• Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of external data products from initial business need identification through evaluation, vendor selection, contracting, onboarding, integration, optimisation, and renewal or decommissioning decisions
• Lead cross-functional evaluation teams to assess potential third-party data sources, including data quality assessments, technical feasibility studies, legal and compliance reviews, and proof-of-concept coordination
• Orchestrate the onboarding process for approved external data products, coordinating across business sponsors, IT development teams, legal, procurement, and vendor account teams
• Manage stakeholder requests for new external data attributes or sources (e.g., Carfax vehicle data, credit bureau enhancements, geospatial data), providing expert guidance on feasibility, alternatives, and implementation approach
• Monitor external data product performance against business objectives and SLAs, driving continuous improvement initiatives

Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact for external data vendors operating in Europe, managing relationships and ensuring contractual obligations are met
• Partner with procurement and legal teams on contract negotiations, renewals, and dispute resolution for third-party data agreements
• Work with country business leads to understand market-specific external data needs and ensure governance guidelines are followed at the local level
• Facilitate communication between European business units and enterprise third-party data teams, representing Europe in global 3PD forums and strategy sessions

Technical & Operational Excellence

• Perform advanced data profiling and analysis of third-party data sources to validate quality, coverage, and fitness for business use cases
• Capture and document metadata, data lineage, transformation rules, and business definitions for all external data sources in enterprise metadata repositories and data catalogs
• Develop and maintain technical specifications, integration requirements, and data quality rules for external data implementations
• Monitor, identify, investigate, and resolve data quality issues related to third-party sources, including vendor escalation when necessary
• Ensure all external data work is properly defined and tracked in Agile/Rally according to enterprise project management standards

Project Leadership & Team Development

• Provide strong project management leadership for strategic 3PD initiatives, developing detailed project plans, work breakdown structures, risk assessments, and status reporting
• Lead medium-to-high complexity projects involving multiple stakeholders, coordinating across technical teams, business units, and vendor organizations
• Coach and develop team members on external data best practices, vendor management, and data governance principles
• Create training materials and communications to promote awareness and adoption of external data capabilities across the organisation

Enterprise Alignment

• Represent Travelers Europe in enterprise-level external data governance forums, contributing to global standards and sharing best practices
• Ensure alignment between European external data initiatives and global enterprise data strategy
• Contribute to the development of enterprise-wide external data policies, procedures, and tooling.

What Will Our Ideal Candidate Have?

• Bachelor's degree in Data Management, Information Systems, Computer Science, Business Analytics, or related field, OR significant relevant experience in external data management, vendor data management, or data product management
• Minimum 7+ years of experience in data management with at least 3 years focused on third-party/external data
• Experience in a senior or leadership role managing external data programs, vendor relationships, or data product portfolios

External Data Expertise

• Deep knowledge of the external data vendor landscape, including major data providers across credit, marketing, geospatial, telematics, IoT, risk, and industry-specific data categories
• Proven experience evaluating external data products for quality, coverage, accuracy, and business fit
• Strong understanding of third-party data licensing models, pricing structures, and contract terms
• Experience with data product management principles and lifecycle methodologies

Technical & Analytical Skills

• Demonstrated experience with data integration tools (ETL/ELT), data platforms (cloud and on-premise), and emerging data technologies
• Prior hands-on experience with SQL, Python, Teradata, Hive, and data analysis tools
• Strong data profiling and data quality assessment capabilities
• Ability to understand metadata management, data lineage, and data cataloging concepts and tools

Governance & Risk Management

• Solid understanding of data governance frameworks, policies, and best practices
• Knowledge of data privacy regulations (GDPR, etc.) and their implications for external data usage
• Experience developing and implementing data quality standards and monitoring programs
• Ability to assess and mitigate risks associated with third-party data dependencies

Business & Strategic Acumen

• Strategic thinker who can translate business needs into external data requirements and solutions
• Ability to develop compelling business cases that demonstrate ROI and value realization
• Strong understanding of insurance business processes and decision-making (preferred but not required)
• Demonstrated ability to influence business priorities and drive adoption of data governance practices

Leadership & Communication

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage complex, multi-stakeholder projects
• Excellent communication skills with ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences
• Strong vendor management and negotiation capabilities
• Ability to build trusted partnerships across business units, IT, legal, procurement, and vendor organizations
• Experience coaching and developing team members

Project Management

• Strong project management skills with ability to develop detailed project plans, identify dependencies, manage risks, and drive execution
• Ability to prioritize competing demands while keeping strategic objectives in focus
• Experience with Agile methodologies and tools (Rally/Jira)

What is a Must Have?

• Bachelor's degree or significant relevant data and analytics, and/or data management experience.

What Is in It for You?

• Private Medical Insurance: On commencement of employment, you are eligible for single cover provided by Travelers, with the option to add cover for your dependents, at your expense through payroll deduction.
• Retirement: Travelers will make a core contribution of a percentage of salary to your Pension Plan. Additionally, if you decide to contribute to the plan, you will receive an increased company contribution.
• Holiday Entitlement: Start your career at Travelers with a minimum of 25 days holiday entitlement annually, plus the opportunity to purchase additional days to allow for up to a total of 35 holidays per year.
• Wellness Programme: The Travelers wellness programme is comprised of tools, discounts and resources that empower you to achieve your wellness goals and caregiving needs. In addition, our mental health programme provides access to free professional counseling services and other resources that support your daily life needs.
• Volunteer Encouragement: We have a deep commitment to the communities we serve and encourage our employees to get involved. Travelers has a Matching Gift and Volunteer Rewards programme that enables you to give back to the charity of your choice.

Employment Practices
Travelers is an equal opportunity employer. We value the unique abilities and talents each individual brings to our organization and recognize that we benefit in numerous ways from our differences.

If you are a candidate and have specific questions regarding the physical requirements of this role, please send us an email so we may assist you.

Travelers reserves the right to fill this position at a level above or below the level included in this posting.

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