Meraj Hoda
Digital Strategist | Data Programme Director
Hire this person
Send a job offer directly to this candidate
About
Senior data programme director with eighteen years leading large-scale data transformation portfolios from initiation through implementation, business adoption and operational handover, in heavily regulated, audit-driven global organisations. Quickly establishes control across in-flight programmes by building a consolidated view of delivery plans, milestones, dependencies, risks and resource requirements, and by strengthening governance, RAID management and decision tracking without stalling delivery momentum. Coordinates workstreams across data engineering, architecture, integration, migration, reporting, data quality and business readiness, with working depth in Azure, Azure Databricks and DataOps and ten years of delivery inside a major global systems integrator.
Commercially minded: manages budgets, CapEx/OpEx, suppliers and mixed permanent-and-consultancy teams, and reports clearly to executive stakeholders. Proven value delivery of £62.5M across complex, multi-site data programmes.
Experience
Digital Solutions Manager – Digital Strategy - Haleon PLC - London
(2024-01)
- Owns a portfolio of data and digital transformation programmes for the Quality and Supply Chain function across 5 to 10 manufacturing sites, maintaining a consolidated view of delivery plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, resources and value across concurrent workstreams.
- Established delivery control and governance by framing business problems, estimating cost, setting scope and timelines, prioritising the portfolio by business impact, adoption and tracked value, and giving senior sponsors clear, transparent progress reporting.
- Delivered £12.5M in direct benefit and cut batch lead time by one day by leading batch release and batch flow programmes end to end, coordinating data, platform and vendor workstreams through to business adoption.
- Contributed to a 5% OEE improvement worth £50M across 12 sites by leading the system integrations and standardised OEE analytics product (Bronze Award, 2024), embedding data controls, validation and acceptance criteria in delivery.
- Secured execution across multiple teams without line authority by resolving dependencies, driving mitigation actions and keeping delivery aligned between technical teams and business requirements.
- Managed third-party suppliers by evaluating and onboarding vendors against architecture, scalability and cybersecurity requirements, and transitioned programme outcomes into sustained operational ownership through site training, coaching and change management.
- Strengthened the data foundation for analytics and AI by unifying MES and ERP data on HighByte Unified Namespace (ISA-95) and Azure Databricks pipelines, creating a governed single source of truth owned by the business.
Digital Lead - Tata Consultancy Services - London
(2013-04 - 2024-01)
- Directed a Data and Analytics programme portfolio worth $1M–$5M a year for regulated global clients, including five of the top 20 pharma and life sciences companies, delivering migration, integration, modernisation and platform transformation initiatives.
- Stabilised and delivered complex in-flight programmes by taking products through rollout, stabilisation and warranty, embedding governance, quality assurance and audit-compliant controls for sensitive data domains.
- Coordinated delivery across engineering, architecture, reporting and data quality workstreams on Azure and AWS, setting up DataOps and CI/CD and implementing data mesh principles for governed, reusable data products.
- Managed commercial delivery with impact assessments, cost-benefit analysis, CapEx/OpEx modelling and benefits tracking against multi-year data and AI roadmaps.
- Operated inside a major global systems integrator for a decade, managing relationships with client executives, architects and delivery partners, and leading pre-sales solutioning, RFP/RFI responses and PoC demonstrations that converted into follow-on engagements.
- Led and mentored mixed delivery teams, line-managing 10 to 15 direct reports within a multidisciplinary team of around 20, building capability through coaching, documentation and knowledge transfer.
Technical Lead, SAS Forecasting - KPIT Cummins (Tesco contract) - London
(2011-08 - 2013-04)
- Delivered a commercial data and forecasting programme for demand, inventory and promotions, leading a team of five and managing testing, validation and deployment for merchandising stakeholders.
- Supported business adoption and operational handover through training and change management after go-live.
Product Specialist, Adverse Event Reporting - ARIS Global & Synowledge PV Services - India
(2009-09 - 2011-06)
- Directed Computer System Validation (CSV) for FDA and EMA reporting modules (E2B(R3), PADER, PSUR/DSUR) under 21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11 and GxP, embedding validation processes and auditable evidence disciplines still applied today.
- Delivered regulated reporting using Oracle, SQL/PL-SQL and SAP BusinessObjects, with global training and change management.
Technical Analyst - Nuware Systems
(2008 - 2009)
Earlier role.
Technical Analyst - Convergys India
(2006 - 2008)
Earlier role.
Education
PGP - Data Science and AI - Accredian (2022 - 2024)
B.Tech - Electronics and Telecommunication - BPUT, India
