Chief Data Officer — Automotive-Chip Business

The mandate

A change in the economics of the sector has made urgent data investment producing limited reusable business value within a listed fabless, foundry or semiconductor-systems enterprise. The immediate arena is the automotive-chip business during a yield and ramp challenge. For mandate 545, the successful executive inherits decisions that have been deferred, competing stakeholder expectations and a need to establish facts before committing further capital.

The Chief Data Officer operating perimeter covers approximately €6,000 million in design, manufacturing and customer programme portfolio, with activity spanning several automotive-chip business customer, product and delivery clusters rather than a single asset. The Chief Data Officer Semiconductor remit carries direct influence over roughly 1,350 colleagues and third-party capacity.

The group board and the relevant risk and people committees want a Chief Data Officer who can convert ambiguity into a short list of explicit choices for the automotive-chip business. The Chief Data Officer Semiconductor seat must resolve a yield and ramp challenge, while preserving the underlying strengths of the automotive-chip business. For mandate 545, value will come through sharper allocation, stronger leaders and an operating cadence that exposes variance early.

The Chief Data Officer’s first year on the automotive-chip business is expected to end with trusted data products, ownership and measurable adoption. In mandate 545, authority covers resources and leadership appointments; material trade-offs go directly to the board sponsor.

Why this seat is open

This is a newly created Chief Data Officer — Automotive-Chip Business seat, established because a yield and ramp challenge now requires one accountable executive rather than distributed ownership. The board has classified the appointment as urgent and intends to move from qualified shortlist to offer within 6–8 weeks. Interim governance protects the automotive-chip business, but it is not a substitute for a permanent appointee. The external search remains confidential to avoid unnecessary disruption before the appointment is agreed.

What you will own

• Set the Chief Data Officer value-creation thesis for the automotive-chip business, translate it into no more than five enterprise priorities and stop work that does not support them.
• Carry stewardship of approximately €6,000 million in design, manufacturing and customer programme portfolio, including allocation, risk acceptance and board forecasts.
• Lead the Chief Data Officer Semiconductor organisation of about 1,350 employees and partners, appointing a team with clear decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve the automotive-chip business economics and execution constraints created by a yield and ramp challenge, with Chief Data Officer-approved owners, dated milestones and transparent escalation thresholds.
• Establish one Chief Data Officer operating review across commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes for the automotive-chip business; remove reconciliations that obscure accountability.
• Have converted governed data assets into adopted products with named owners, service levels and economic value in mandate 545.
• Build the Chief Data Officer’s three-year succession and capability plan for the automotive-chip business, reducing dependence on individual executives and improving mobility across the wider Semiconductor organisation.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the automotive-chip business baseline, meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to data investment producing limited reusable business value, assess the leadership team, stabilise immediate delivery risks and agree a board-owned scorecard with explicit decision gates.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal Chief Data Officer portfolio and organisation choices for the automotive-chip business, install the new operating cadence, fill critical leadership gaps and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity or customer value.
• Months 10–12: Demonstrate a repeatable automotive-chip business trend against trusted data products, ownership and measurable adoption, lock the following year’s capital and talent plan, evidence control sustainability and present a credible three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the Chief Data Officer’s agreed first-year automotive-chip business value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance explained before rather than after the relevant quarter closes.
• A Chief Data Officer forecast that remains decision-useful across three consecutive quarters and reconciles the automotive-chip business’s operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the Chief Data Officer mandate’s highest-priority automotive-chip business risk and execution issues by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that fixes are sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of critical automotive-chip business talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the Chief Data Officer’s direct reports.
• A quantified Chief Data Officer-owned improvement in the automotive-chip business operating constraint behind a yield and ramp challenge, supported by a clean baseline and named data owner.
• Clear stakeholder confidence in mandate 545: no unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from its agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a Chief Data Officer, Data and Analytics Head or Digital Executive in a listed Semiconductor or adjacent enterprise. In relation to the automotive-chip business, your Chief Data Officer track record includes a transition where the original plan was no longer sufficient; you can explain your choices, evidence and numerical impact. Candidates from semiconductors, electronics, embedded systems, advanced manufacturing or engineering services will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity match this Chief Data Officer brief.

As a Chief Data Officer candidate, you bring 18–22 years of progressive Semiconductor or adjacent-sector experience, consistent with the 18-22 experience band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of €3,500 million and led an organisation of at least 950 people.

For mandate 545, the board wants two transitions: a difficult automotive-chip business portfolio choice and a leadership-system change during a yield and ramp challenge. As the prospective Chief Data Officer for this automotive-chip business, you must challenge optimistic cases and still create followership. References for mandate 545 must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

The Chief Data Officer must be based in Dresden; international relocation is supported, but this Semiconductor role is not designed as a remote appointment.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of Chief Data Officer, Data and Analytics Head or Digital Executive, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent Semiconductor governance forum.
• Proven Chief Data Officer ownership of at least €3,500 million and leadership of no fewer than 950 employees in a comparable automotive-chip business context.
• One completed Semiconductor or adjacent-sector example of data investment producing limited reusable business value with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the initial intervention.
• Sector credibility from semiconductors, electronics, embedded systems, advanced manufacturing or engineering services; experience that is purely functional and lacks Chief Data Officer-level automotive-chip business consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Dresden location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the confidentiality of mandate 545.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated Chief Data Officer package is €340,000–460,000 base + annual incentive and LTI, calibrated to the final automotive-chip business scope and the candidate’s current mix. Any long-term participation for mandate 545 follows standard vesting and performance conditions. The Chief Data Officer appointment in Dresden, centred on the automotive-chip business, offers regular exposure to the group board and the relevant risk and people committees. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated for the selected executive in mandate 545.

Confidentiality

To protect the board, incumbent team and candidate, the organisation remains unnamed until a confidential conversation confirms mutual relevance for mandate 545. The operating facts have been rounded and blended expressly to remove identifying signals for mandate 545.