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Data Leaders Handbook

Welcome to the Data Leaders Handbook. This is a place I can share resources that I intend to grow and evolve over time. I also welcome suggestions and pull requests (see the github repo). While the intended audience is leaders in data fields like Data Science, Data Engineering and Data Analytics the content should be very relevant to engineering leaders and managers and similar roles.

For now this just contains 1:1 questions but I have plenty more to add in future including questions for interviews, skip levels and feedback. The best way to get updates is to subscribe to the main blog Data Leadership.

About the Author

Hi 👋 I'm Ryan Varley, a leader in Data, Engineering, and Product, with a focus on Data Science and Data Engineering.

With a start in astronomy where I gained my PhD, I have since worked in data-centric roles at various startups across ad-tech, mar-tech, and ed-tech.

I am the SVP of Technology at Boclips, an ed-tech where I run the Data, Product and Engineering teams.

As a leader, I value:

  • Deep understanding of the business context, client problems, and the solutions we are creating.
  • Moving quickly: building MVPs to evaluate solutions and deliver value fast.
  • Self awareness, continuous improvement and pragmatism.
  • Trust, nurtured through feedback, retrospection and accountability.
  • Psychological safety, so teams can take risks and innovate.
  • Candour: not shying away from difficult discussions to achieve the best outcomes.
  • Operating across a high dynamic range, from big picture strategy through to execution.

I frequently share insights on leadership and data on LinkedIn and via my blog.