RESOURCE · DECISION GUIDE
First data hire decision guide
Your first data move should follow the constraint that is actually blocking decisions, not a generic org chart. Work through these to point at a role or an alternative.
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- Is the bottleneck answering business questions and building reports? That points to an analyst.
- Is the bottleneck untrustworthy, unmodelled data and undefined metrics? That points to an analytics engineer.
- Is the bottleneck moving and integrating data reliably between systems? That points to a data engineer.
- Is the need continuous, or is it a defined one-off outcome? A defined outcome may be a project, not a hire.
- Is there someone senior to manage and direct a new hire? If not, an embedded or fractional team de-risks the start.
- Would hiring one person to do all three jobs set them up to fail? If yes, sequence the capability instead.
Why this works, in depth: When do we actually need a data team — and who should we hire first?