From dashboard sprawl to defined analytics roles

A digital services group operating across the GCC had no shortage of data—just no single version of the truth. Product metrics lived in one set of dashboards, marketing reports in another, and operations tracked performance in yet more tools and spreadsheets. Each team had its own definitions, its own numbers, and its own narrative.

Leadership wanted a central analytics function that could serve product and operations with reliable numbers and clear stories. But previous hiring rounds had swung between extremes: strong coders who couldn’t communicate with the business, or polished storytellers who struggled once queries grew complex.

Calimala was brought in to design and hire for a small, senior analytics squad that could cut through dashboard sprawl and become the group’s trusted source of insight.

Designing a senior, central analytics squad

The first step was to turn vague “we need better analytics” into specific roles with clear outcomes. Working with product and operations leaders across the group, Calimala defined three core role types:

• Product analyst – embedded in digital products, owning funnel metrics, experiments and growth levers.

• Operations analyst – focused on efficiency, SLAs, workforce and process performance.

• BI developer – responsible for data models, dashboards and keeping definitions consistent across teams.

For each role, we clarified expectations around SQL depth, data modelling responsibility and stakeholder communication. The aim was to avoid the familiar pattern where every business unit quietly designs its own “ideal analyst” and pulls the team in conflicting directions.

Calimala helped set consistent interview criteria and scorecards across units so candidates were assessed the same way, regardless of who they spoke to. We also agreed target locations and hybrid working patterns to balance access to stakeholders with the ability to tap into regional and international talent pools.

By the end of this phase, the group had a defined analytics squad structure instead of generic “data people,” and a shared understanding of what “good” looked like for each seat.

Screening for both numbers and narrative

With the structure in place, Calimala focused on finding analysts and BI engineers who were strong in both execution and communication. Sourcing covered Europe, MENA and Pakistan, with a focus on profiles from subscription or transactional products where metrics, churn, cohorts and experimentation are part of day-to-day work.

Each shortlisted candidate went through a structured evaluation that looked beyond tool lists on a CV:

• Evidence that their models and dashboards influenced real decisions rather than just existing as reports.

• Comfort with modern data stacks—solid SQL as a baseline, plus experience with Python or R and common BI tools.

• Ability to talk through metrics, trade-offs and experiment results with non-technical stakeholders, in clear language.

• Balanced profiles that outlined strengths, gaps and concrete examples of impact.

Clients received side-by-side comparison packs showing where each candidate was strongest—product, operations or BI foundations—and where they might need support. This made it easier to design a team where responsibilities were clear rather than overlapping by accident.

What changed for the client

Once five senior hires were in place across product analytics, operations analytics and BI, the group was able to move from fragmented reporting to a consistent view of performance.

A single source of trusted KPIs emerged for leadership and product teams. Ad-hoc questions that previously led to days of reconciling conflicting numbers could now be answered quickly from a shared data model. Domain ownership was clear: each area knew which analyst or BI developer to go to, which reduced internal friction and rework.

The observed outcomes included:

• A single source of truth for key metrics across leadership and product teams.

• Faster turnaround on ad-hoc questions, with less time wasted reconciling dashboards and spreadsheets.

• Clear ownership of analytics by domain, reducing conflict and duplicated work.

• Stronger collaboration between data, product and operations, with analytics treated as a strategic partner rather than a reporting service.

By defining the right analytics roles and hiring people who could handle both numbers and narrative, Calimala helped the GCC digital services group turn dashboard sprawl into a focused, high-impact analytics function.