DunnHumby lifer Sandra Stanley lands global data job

Tesco-owned data business DunnHumby has rewarded Sandra Stanley for her 22 years of service by handing her the top role of chief data science officer, leading the company’s team of 500 data scientists globally.

Stanley succeeds Rex Davis, who joined DunnHumby in 2009 following a seven year spell at Coles Supermarkets in Australia.

Having held roles in the US, India and London, Davis was promoted to CDSO in 2018 but left earlier this year to join Royal Bank of Canada as senior vice-president, enterprise data strategy and government.

Stanley started at DunnHumby in 1999 as an analyst, joining straight from university, having achieved a first in mathematics at Cardiff and a master’s in statistics with applications in medicine at Southampton.

By 2004, she had been promoted to director of insight and analysis, leading the insight team for the company’s expansion into new vertical markets.

Within two years, Stanley had taken on the role of head of Tesco Clubcard and marketing, spearheading a multi-disciplined team of 70 delivering insight-led consultancy, campaign targeting and data science for Tesco, including the relaunch of Clubcard in 2009.

She then took on more senior roles, including head of analytics and data science and head of customer knowledge, before being appointed to her most recent position as head of client for Tesco UK in 2019.

In this position, Stanley led a team of more than 100 retail consultants, analysts and data scientists to deliver actionable customer insights and customer science for Tesco’s operations.

In her new role, Stanley leads the data science team, spanning both research and applied data science across the world. The job involves pushing boundaries, to both create new and high-quality science, and to enable the swift delivery of that into the hands of its clients to create value.

Commenting on her promotion, Stanley said: “I am excited to partner with our clients to ensure we focus on what will make a meaningful change for customers and drive results.”