Head of Data & Insights

50+ gyms. 3 countries. And expanding rapidly! Data has always been at the heart of how we operate - now we need a dedicated data leader to take it to the next level.

GymNation, the Middle East’s fastest-growing fitness brand, is seeking a world-class Head of Data & Insights to use data to fuel commercial decisions and play a pivotal role in how we grow, retain members, and scale across the region.

Data already informs how we acquire members, open new clubs, price our products, and run our operations. We’ve built the foundations - a data warehouse, pipelines, and reporting and dashboard infrastructure - and now we’re at the scale where we need a dedicated leader to own the function, deepen our analytical capability, and ensure the work we’re doing is truly moving the needle. Understanding and reducing churn, improving retention, and maximising member lifetime value are at the heart of this role.

This role sits at the centre of the business. You’ll report to the senior leadership team - informing marketing, finance, technology, and operations on where we are now, what’s working, what isn’t, and where the biggest opportunities lie.

Here, we leverage AI and automation, and you will be expected to complement and advance us in this area - so knowledge or ambition of this technology is a major plus. AI is helping make our entire business faster and smarter than ever before, helping us identify opportunities and improve decision making.

We’re growing fast - and so will your impact. This role offers exceptional visibility, direct influence on company strategy, and the chance to shape how a high-growth brand uses data to make better commercial decisions at scale.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Data Strategy & Infrastructure

• Define and execute GymNation’s enterprise data and analytics strategy, aligned with commercial objectives and expansion plans.
• Work closely with the CTO and wider tech team to improve and scale the existing data warehouse, pipelines, and governance.
• Establish a single source of truth for key business metrics across all locations.
• Evaluate and implement the data & analytics tech stack (data platforms, Claude Code, visualisation tools) appropriate for our stage and scale.
• Own data security, protection, and privacy across the analytics function — improving and monitoring existing safeguards to ensure member and payment data is handled to the highest standards.
• Ensure compliance with UAE, KSA, and Bahrain data privacy regulations and PCI-DSS requirements, working with the CTO and legal teams to maintain and strengthen data governance practices.

Analytics & Insights

• Use data to fuel commercial decisions across the business - giving leadership a clear picture of where we are now and whether our initiatives are truly moving the needle.
• Own and analyse the metrics that matter most: churn, retention, lifetime value (LTV), average length of stay, impact of offers and promotions, price sensitivity, ancillary revenue, and revenue per member.
• Conduct competitive benchmarking and market analysis to identify opportunities and inform strategic decisions.
• Provide data-driven input into new site decisions — catchment analysis, demographic modelling, competitive density, and post-opening performance tracking to continuously improve how we select and launch new locations as we scale beyond 50 gyms.
• Own the analytics behind digital growth - checkout funnel optimisation, A/B testing, referral programme effectiveness, and lead-to-join conversion.
• Build marketing attribution and channel effectiveness analytics — understanding not just which channels drive the most sign-ups, but which deliver the highest-LTV members and the lowest cost to acquire, so marketing spend is optimised for long-term value, not just volume.
• Measure the true impact of offers, promotions, and pricing changes on member behaviour and long-term value.
• Own payment performance analytics across all gateways - transaction success rates, decline rates, and payment method mix across markets.
• Improve and monitor existing early-warning systems for member payment defaults, failed collections, and involuntary churn — ensuring they remain effective as the business scales.
• Use data to help develop new ideas on intervention strategies - dunning optimisation, retry logic, payment method migration, and involuntary vs voluntary churn separation
• Track and quantify revenue leakage from payment failures, chargebacks, and defaults.

Reporting & KPI Governance

• Define, own, and govern KPIs across the organisation - membership acquisition cost, churn rate, LTV, average length of stay, visit frequency, conversion rates, ancillary revenue, and more.
• Build and maintain automated dashboards and scorecards giving leadership and club managers real-time visibility into performance.
• Develop standardised reporting frameworks that scale across UAE, KSA, Bahrain, and future markets.
• Drive self-service analytics - empowering teams across marketing, operations, and finance to access and act on data independently.

Team Leadership

• Build and lead the data & insights function, starting with 1–2 analysts and scaling as the business grows.
• Champion a data-driven culture - ensuring every function uses evidence to make decisions, not gut feel.
• Translate complex analytical findings into executive-ready presentations and recommendations that drive action — communicating with clarity and confidence to the senior leadership team, board, investors, and external stakeholders including media.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

Experience

• 5+ years in data analytics, business intelligence, or a related field, ideally with at least 3 years leading or building a data function.
• Experience in large-scale subscription or recurring-revenue businesses is strongly preferred - particularly those managing high-volume recurring payments, involuntary churn, and collections at scale.
• Relevant sectors include fitness, telecom, streaming, SaaS, insurance, or subscription retail.
• Proven track record of building or scaling data capability in a high-growth, multi-location consumer business.
• Payment gateway analytics, recurring billing lifecycle, and collections/default management experience is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of how to use AI and automation to build dashboards and to improve decision making in your department and across the business.

Technical

• Advanced SQL - comfortable writing, tuning, and optimising complex queries.
• Proficient with Claude Code and/or any programming language allowing you to build dashboards bypassing bi tools.
• Working knowledge of Python or R for data analysis and statistical modelling.
• Experience with data pipeline design, ETL processes, and data warehousing concepts.
• Familiarity with Linux servers, docker and Kubernetes
• Understanding of A/B testing methodologies and experimentation frameworks.
• Familiarity with subscription billing platforms is a strong advantage.
• Experience using AI tools (LLMs, copilots, automated analysis) to accelerate analytics workflows and improve personal and team productivity.

Mindset

• Commercially minded - sees data as a tool to drive revenue, reduce cost, and improve the member experience.
• Exceptional communicator - can turn complex data into simple, compelling narratives for executives, club managers, and media audiences.
• Builder mentality - energised by taking what exists and making it significantly better.
• Strategic thinker who can zoom out to set direction and zoom in to get hands dirty with the data.
• Proactive, curious, and performance-focused with a passion for continuous improvement.
• AI-forward - actively uses AI tools to multiply personal and team output, and sees AI as a core part of how modern data teams should operate.

Why GymNation?

• A dedicated leadership role - own the data function and shape how the entire business makes commercial decisions.
• Initially leading a small team, you will be expected to nurture and grow the team according to needs of the business and upskilling.
• Competitive salary, benefits, and eligibility for GymNation’s Long Term Equity Incentive Plan (LTIP).
• Certified as a Great Place to Work™ , from the results of an all GymNation staff survey.
• Relocation support available for exceptional candidates.
• Free GymNation membership (obviously).
• Opportunity to be part of the Middle East’s fastest-growing fitness company - we are changing the game, and we want you to jump on board!
• We work hard... and play hard! Not many offices have a pool table, dartboard, arcades, and a PlayStation 5 in them. GymNation does! From unmatched team parties to office workouts, there aren’t many companies that do it like GymNation.

If this sounds like the perfect role for you, or someone you know, then what are you waiting for?! Please apply, and our HR team will be in touch with shortlisted candidates.

We look forward to hearing from you!