Global Chief Data Officer (CDO)

As a technology-enabled and digital-led bank, data is at the heart of everything we do. It powers how we measure risk, assess performance, and make decisions. To ensure we unlock the full value of our data, we must guarantee its completeness, accuracy, auditability, traceability, and protection. The Global Data Organisation serves as the first line of defense in securing robust data chains, working in close collaboration with all functions, business lines, and countries across the Bank.

The Global Chief Data Office (CDO) plays a pivotal role in this mission. As a central organizational unit, the CDO partners with stakeholders across the enterprise to enable frictionless customer journeys, support ESG-driven innovation, and deliver data products that enhance decision-making. With emerging trends such as digital wallets on the horizon and increasing regulatory expectations around data governance, the CDO is evolving to meet these challenges head-on—ensuring our data remains both a strategic asset and a safeguarded resource. The Global Head of CDO reports hierarchically to the COO.

The Global Chief Data Officer (CDO) of the Bank holds end-to-end accountability for the Bank’s data transformation portfolio. This includes the strategic design, implementation, and continuous improvement of global data technology solutions and the corresponding operational processes. The CDO is a key enabler of harmonized data practices across the Bank, ensuring consistency, scalability, and compliance.

In addition, the Global CDO mandates the workforce to take explicit ownership of end-to-end transformation initiatives, attracts top-tier talent into the Data organisation, and actively fosters a culture of collaboration across regions, functions, and business lines. The CDO also plays a critical role in identifying, nurturing, and developing talent to build a global, high-performing work environment that supports the long-term success of the Group.

Key Responsibilities

• The Global CDO plays a central role in safeguarding the Bank’s data integrity, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience. This responsibility is exercised through proactive and structured engagement with the second and third lines of defense, as well as with external regulators such as the ECB.
• Drive the development and execution of ING’s data strategy, including oversight of the CDO transformation roadmap and internal risk controls.
• Set global data quality standards and governance, and takes ownership of end-to-end implementation / transformation across locations, functions and business lines.
• Lead group-wide regulatory reporting on data management to external parties such as the ECB and JST, ensuring BCBS239 compliance.
• Design, implement, and oversee ING’s data governance frameworks, standards, and policies, including Data Management Control Standards (DM PCS), differential governance, and Data & AI ethics.
• Improve data literacy throughout the Bank through the development and management of data communities, programs, and the data academy.
• Coordinate and harmonize global data protection practices, including GDPR-related programs, breach reporting, and impact assessments.
• Manage global data sourcing strategy, including workforce planning across ING Hubs and tracking business value delivery throughout the data lifecycle.
• Oversee and stimulate / own the delivery of scalable data management services via the Global Data Platform, ensuring alignment across Tech and business lines.
• Orchestrate the development of reusable data products and orchestrate a global data delivery roadmap in collaboration with entities and group functions.
• Establish and manage the External Data Platform (Third-Party Data Hub) to centralize acquisition and provisioning of market data, optimizing cost and usage.
• Define and implement a unified operating and service model for Data Operations across countries and functions.
• Lead the Global Data Quality function to proactively manage data quality, facilitate remediation, and educate stakeholders on ownership and responsibilities.
• Provide data flow control and reconciliation services to ensure timeliness, completeness, and integrity of data delivery.
• Operationalize Data Governance and Data Protection strategies into global and local procedures and services.
• Consolidate and automate customer data processes throughout the Bank to ensure compliance and data quality throughout the KYC lifecycle and to enable business benefits by offering centralized client data solutions.
• Streamline external data management operations, centralize vendor relationships, and monitor contract lifecycle and cost control.

This role will manage 10 leaders either functionally or hierarchically and organizationally steering a total of ~2500 [includes tech and the local data teams] employees globally.

Generic expectations

• Strategy Formation and Implementation: developing the strategy and ensure successful implementation that meets the long-term business needs. Build a truly global practice to reap the benefits of best practices across the globe.
• Direction: Communicating the organization's mission, vision and values, and its strategy for achieving these; setting and communicating the strategy and broad action plan for delivering these.
• Leadership: Inspire a diverse global workforce and further the talent pipeline, develop leadership and the engagement of the teams. Stimulates one way of work with consolidated technology solutions and operating processes and fuel scalability opportunities.
• Customer Experience  Working closely with the executive team and a variety of internal stakeholders to develop, integrate, enable, and ensure the execution of the customer experience.
• Change Management: Takes explicit transformation ownership of the end-to-end data related change portfolio of the Bank across all functions, locations and business lines. Identifying the need for change shaping a vision, mobilizing commitment, and monitoring progress to achieve the desired outcomes.
• Operations Management: Taking overall responsibility for designing, developing, strengthening and delivering the operational processes and strategic outcomes.
• Regulatory and Compliance Management: Takes overall responsibility for designing, developing and delivering the compliance strategy to ensure the organization is adhered to regulatory standards across all functions, business lines and countries i.e., take explicit end to end delivery responsibility – Keep ING safe and compliant.
• Execution:  Increasing the execution power by defining where a local focus is optimal whilst contributing to and leveraging on globally shared components & steering
• Budget:  Setting the annual budget and ensuring the organization stays within DP
• Efficiencies:  Overall sourcing and building expertise in our ING Hubs organization [scalable Ops]
• Digitilisation and Innovation:  Drive the ambitious digitalization agenda of most of our customer-facing processes and ensure operational efficiencies go hand in hand with increased customer engagement – focus on automation.

Leadership profile

• Global Leadership – Builds a truly global data organization
• Transformation – Stimulates collaboration across the Bank’s and drives transformation
• People – Actively attracts the best talents, motivates and builds high performing cross border teams
• Industry Insight - Demonstrates an understanding of industry knowledge and trends
• Problem solving - Identifies solutions given available information
• Influencing others - Persuades others to a desired result
• Listening to others - Listens and restates the ideas and opinions of others to improve mutual understanding
• Dealing with Ambiguity - Deals comfortably with unclear situations and problems
• Taking initiative - Takes action without the direction of others
• Driving Strategy - Executing strategies to accomplish long-term goals
• Inspiring others - Fosters energy for and provides direction towards organizational goals
• Team Building - Assembles cohesive groups based upon required skills, goals, and tasks