Deputy CDO

Deputy Chief Data Officer (Deputy CDO)
Cyprus / Worldwide – Remote (Any Location) · Full-Time · Research Center

Social Discovery Group (SDG) is a group of social discovery companies. SDG solves the problems of loneliness, isolation, and disconnection - transforming virtual intimacy into the new normal. SDG’s products redefine the way people interact and connect with one another.

Our portfolio includes social entertainment platforms designed to connect people online across different cultures and regions of the world.

We bring together a team of like-minded people and IT professionals who specialize in creating and developing globally impactful social discovery products. Our international team of digital nomads works remotely from all over the world.

We’re proud to be a two-time “Great Place to Work” winner (USA & Japan, 2024–2025) and a Top-5 Company for Work-From-Anywhere Jobs (FlexJobs, 2025).

We are looking for a Deputy Chief Data Officer for the Research Center of the Core Business Unit — the #2 role in a data function that directly drives company P&L.

We see the Deputy CDO as a full-fledged successor to the CDO: a leader who can take over the function when needed. Together, the CDO and the Deputy CDO make sure we do the right things and that these things reach measurable results fast and predictably. The Deputy CDO owns execution across the function, leads part of the strategic initiatives personally and works directly with C-level executives. This is not a chief of staff or program manager role: we need a leader who goes deep into the substance of analytics, ML, data engineering, marketing analytics, UX research and experimentation, and turns strategy into business results.

Your main tasks will be:

• Lead part of the Research Center’s strategic initiatives end-to-end — from business case and prioritization to delivery and measurable impact.
• Work directly with C-level executives and business heads: align priorities, commitments and trade-offs, negotiate resources and timelines with clear, numbers-based arguments.
• Own the execution of key cross-functional initiatives across the Research Center: data platform and BigQuery migration, ML projects with complex dependencies, experimentation process, AI for analytics, UX research, data quality / SLA / freshness.
• Unblock stalled projects: when work is stuck between teams or has no clear owner, define scope, owners, next steps and blockers, escalate early and drive it to delivery.
• Manage resources and backlog across teams: prioritize by business value, allocate capacity, manage dependencies between ML, backend, product and analytics, stop or rethink initiatives that don’t deliver.
• Build and run the operating system of the function: monthly reviews, quarterly planning, project reviews, retros, commitment tracking, escalation process and a single status dashboard — working with or without any single person.
• Measure everything in business terms: translate initiatives into numbers, benefits and expected impact; track ROI and results against plan; make sure “we shipped the task” is never mistaken for “the business changed”.
• Strengthen the team leads (Product Analytics, Data Engineering, ML, UX Research): help them set goals, prioritize, give honest feedback and grow as managers.
• Own the operational health of the function: data freshness, platform uptime, ML platform stability, delivery predictability and experimentation throughput.

We expect from you:

• 7+ years in data, analytics or ML in product tech companies, including 4+ years in leadership roles managing strong specialists and team leads.
• Experience as a CDO, Deputy CDO or Head of Data / Analytics in a mid-size or large product organization is highly desirable.
• Readiness and ambition to grow into the CDO role: strategic thinking combined with the willingness to own day-to-day execution.
• A broad understanding of all Research Center domains: product and marketing analytics, A/B testing and experimentation, the ML lifecycle from idea to production, data platforms, data quality and SLA, BI / self-service, unit economics. Hands-on depth in at least one of them.
• Proven track record of execution: concrete examples of delivering complex cross-functional data / ML projects to measurable results.
• Strong operational management skills: project decomposition, planning, resource and backlog management, risk management, clean escalation, running many parallel initiatives.
• Business leader mindset: thinks in numbers, benefits and business impact; understands trade-offs between speed, quality, value and risk; always asks “what changed for the business?”.
• Experience working with and negotiating with C-level executives: confident, precise with numbers, persuasive through facts.
• Influence without formal authority: earns trust through competence and results; able to push hard and handle conflict without becoming toxic.
• Systematic, disciplined and persistent; comfortable with ambiguity and multitasking.
• Fluent Russian and English are a must.

What do we offer:

• REMOTE OPPORTUNITY to work full time;
• The initial pay level or pay range for this role will be shared with candidates during the recruitment process and before the commencement of employment;
• Work according to the official holiday calendar of your country of residence;
• Vacation 28 calendar days per year;
• 7 wellness days per year (time off) that can be used to deal with household issues, to lie down and recover without taking sick leave;
• Compensation of kindergarten or school fees for your child;
• Bonuses up to $5000 for recommending successful applicants for positions in the company;
• 50% payment for professional training, international conferences and meetings;
• Corporate discount for foreign language lessons;
• Health benefits. According to the paychecks, if you are not eligible for corporate medical insurance, the company will compensate you with up to $1,000 gross per year per employee. This can be spent on self-purchase of health insurance or on doctor’s fees for yourself and close relatives (spouse, children);
• Workplace organization. The company provides all employees with an equipped workplace and all the necessary equipment (table, armchair, wifi, etc.) in our offices or co-working locations. In the other locations, the company provides reimbursement of workplace costs up to $1000 gross once every 3 years, according to the paychecks. This money can be spent on the rent of the co-working room, on equipping the working place at home (desk, chair, Internet, etc.) during those 3 years;
• Internal gamified gratitude system: receive bonuses from colleagues and exchange them for merch, team building activities, massage certificates, etc.

Sounds good? Join us now!