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A team of Big Data Scientists, Big Data Analysts and Big Data Visualizers of course need to be managed. The big data manager is the middleman between the technical team members and the strategic management of an organisation. Therefore, the big data manager needs to understand both sides of the coin. Ideally the big data manager has an IT background with strategic experience.
Big Data scientists and analysts are great at building the necessary big data tools for an organisation but in general they tend to be less effective in leading a team and dealing with changes from top-down. Therefore a big data manager needs to lead the team.
It is the big data managers job to manage expectations towards the team, reward and/or stimulate certain behaviours and ensure the team keeps moving in the right direction. The big data manager must create a culture of innovation and creativity within the big data team and ensure that they are comfortable with rapid changes that are likely to occur in this new field.
In addition, the manager needs to keep the team focussed on what needs to be done, as it is easy for big data scientists and analysts to become distracted and lose focus while building great algorithms. Sometimes such distractions are good for the company, while others might do more harm. It is the managers task to separate the good from the bad distractions.
As big data is most of all a marketing and or strategic matter, the big data manager needs to be able to explain the work done by the big data team members to the senior management of an organisation. The manager needs to manage the stakeholders within the organisation and ensures buy-in on time for the tasks at hand. As big data can affect any aspect or department within an organisation, the big data manager will need to be a good networker and a strong communicator. A Big Data Manager should also be responsible to align the different data requests as well as the different data sources within the organisation.
As is always the case with new projects within a corporate environment, the expected Return on Investment needs to be calculated. Although in the beginning this is difficult, it is the big data managers job to develop the business case, manage the planning and budget, decrease any risks involved and ensures sufficient resource allocation. The big data team members should absolutely not do project management; therefore a big data manager should be a strong project manager, who is able to keep standing in complex and fast-changing environments.
- A big data manager should of course also have the core management skills like:
- To be able to communicate efficiently and effectively and be able to understand, interpret and relate an organisations strategy and vision to the big data team;
- To strive to build personal relationships with the big data team as well as to promote a true big data culture;
- To be flexible in a changing environment and to be able to explain changes correctly to the big data team members;
- To be able to instil trust in the big data team members as well as to help them grow in their role.
An additional important skill for a big data manager is to be able to work with big data scientists, analysts and visualizers. Especially big data scientists are quite often very highly educated, which requires a different management approach. A good big data manager will provide the best working environment for big data team members, removing them from all complexities and administrative work and ensure timely progress.
As the big data manager will manages technical projects, the manager should have sufficient knowledge about several programming languages such as Python, R, Java, Ruby, Clojure, Matlab, Pig or SQL. They need to have, at least a basic, understanding of Hadoop, Hive and/or MapReduce. In addition the need to have at least some familiarity with disciplines such as:
- Natural Language Processing;
- Machine learning;
- Conceptual modelling;
- Statistical analysis;
- Predictive modelling;
- Hypothesis testing.
The role of a big data manager is a difficult role and therefore sufficient experience in management is advisable. If the big data manager is new to management, it could cause problems due to the other already complex and difficult tasks at hand.
