W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW), headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, is the 10th largest eRetailer and an omni-channel industrial distribution company. Founded in 1927, the company has 25,000 employees partnering closely with customers to provide cost-effective solutions for their maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) needs. The organization is a Fortune 300 Company.

BASIC FUNCTION:

This position is responsible for the overall design, delivery, management and operation of the Grainger Enterprise Systems Information Management capabilities. They lead the information management function, understanding the information needs of the enterprise and the respective stakeholder. They maximize the effective use and value of data and information assets, while simultaneously protecting those information assets and ensuring their ongoing integrity, privacy and confidentiality.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manage a large team of individuals, spanning employees, contractors and managed services.
• Data Governance” Planning, supervision and control over data management and use.
• Data Architect: Defining the blueprint for managing data assets.
• Data Modeling and Design: Discovering, analyzing, and scoping data requirements, and then representing and communicating these data requirements via Data Models
• Data Storage and Operations: The design, implementation and support of stored data to maximize its value.
• Data Security: Definition, planning, development and execution of security policies and procedures to provide proper authentication, authorization, access and auditing of data and information assets.
• Data integration and interoperability: Managing the movement and consolidation of data within and between application and organizations.
• Reference and Master Data: Managing shared data to reduce redundancy and ensure better data quality through standardized definition and use of data values.
• Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence: Planning, implementation, and control processes to provide decision support data and to support knowledge workers engaged in reporting, query and analysis.
• Metadata: Planning, implementation, and control activities to enable access to high quality, integrated metadata.
• Data Quality: The planning, implementation and control activities that apply quality management techniques to data, in order to assure it is fit for consumption and business purposes.
• Develop an information sharing strategy for Grainger, and ensure it supports the Grainger business strategy, including but not limited to the increased use of cloud computing, globalization of business operations, acceleration of ecommerce and continued enhancement of customer and supplier relationships.
• Evaluate emerging trends and determine the impacts on IM.
• Champion efforts to improve business performance through enterprise information solutions and capabilities, such as master data management (MDM), metadata management, business intelligence (BI), content management, data integration, and relayed information management or information infrastructure components.
• Support the development of corporate data policies that outline the appropriate data stewardship and data audit requirements, as well as the service-level agreements, to support the appropriate quality and use of information in business and IT processes.
• Partner with architecture to develop guidelines and standards for data implementation approaches, tools and technologies and develop an overall change management approach for incorporating into enterprise systems.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCES AND COMPETENCIES:  

• 10+ years experience
• Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree in information technology, computer science, management or related field preferred
• Exposure to multiple, diverse technologies and processing environments, such as Data Warehouses, Data Lakes, MDM, ETL, Batch, ERP, etc.
• Experience operating in a large enterprise environment with multiple platforms and a diverse set of stakeholders.
• Demonstrated understanding of global wholesale distribution, sales, marketing, eCommerce and supply Chain data/content and processes.
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills; Ability to create original concepts and theories in support of the Grainger Business strategy.
• Demonstrated excellence with written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated strong leadership skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop a high performing team.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, including teamwork, facilitation and negotiation.
• Sound knowledge of financial models and budgeting.
• Comprehensive knowledge of facilitation and organization change management.
• Knowledge of the IT industry and information technologies at a high and detailed level.

Grainger is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.