Identification and Standardisation Leader - Information modelling, Classifications and Data Governance

Company Description

IKEA Supply is responsible for securing that the IKEA product offer is produced and delivered to customers. Within IKEA Supply, Supply Chain Development brings together capability development across the value chain and supports how we evolve the way we operate Manage Goods Flow End-to-End.

Strategy & Business Process Management (SBPM) turns IKEA strategic direction into action. We contribute to the IKEA strategy creation, drive insights, facilitate business development, and guide the processes and capabilities for Manage Goods Flow End-to-End. By ensuring clear priorities, governing roadmaps and enabling execution, we connect strategic direction with measurable business outcomes and a sustainable process and digital landscape.

Although the team has its organisational home at supply, the Center of expertise (CoE) for Identification and Standardisation is working across organisations and functions including range, supply and retail. With the purpose of providing a holistic and long-term stewardship of identification standards, ensuring they remain robust, future‑ready, and globally relevant and scalable. 

Job Description

At IKEA, trusted and well-structured data is a strategic asset that enables efficient business processes, high-quality decisions, interoperability, regulatory compliance, digital transformation, and responsible adoption of AI capabilities.

As an Identification and Standardisation Leader, you will be part of IKEA's Centre of Expertise for Identification and Standardisation, guiding and enabling organisations, teams, and initiatives to realise business value through a common approach to identification, master data, traceability, and interoperability. By connecting business needs with global standards and industry’s best practices, you will help create the foundation for, trusted data, connected processes, efficiency and automatization, regulatory readiness, and business and digital transformation across IKEA.

Together with other subject matter experts in the team you will support the development, governance, and adoption of common standards, classifications, and information models that enable a shared understanding of products, assets, locations, parties, and business information across IKEA's value chain.

You will work closely with business stakeholders, architects, data specialists, product teams, and external standards organisations to ensure that master data and classification standards are governed, understood, and applied consistently across the enterprise. Through strong data governance, information modelling, and standards adoption, you will help establish the trusted data foundation required for AI-enabled business capabilities, automation, analytics, and intelligent decision-making across IKEA. This specific role also includes acting as scrum master for IKEAs ID as a Service identity generator (IDaaS) Dev Ops team, facilitating collaboration between business and technology stakeholders, supporting a structured delivery and team coordination. During the continued development and running operations this represents a small but important contribution to ensure efficient execution.

Your Assignment

Develop and Govern Classification Standards

• Act as IKEA's subject matter expert on product and data classification, governing and evolving GS1 GPC, Google Product Taxonomy, and other relevant industry classification frameworks (e.g E-class, HS codes and other) to support business needs. Understand how IKEA can/should be used in the different contexts.
• Develop and maintain classification models, principles, and business rules that enable consistent, scalable, and reusable information across IKEA's processes, digital products, and data landscape.
• Ensure IKEA data can be effectively mapped and utilized across classification systems, enabling interoperability, compliance, discoverability, trusted data exchange, and emerging AI capabilities.

Strengthen Data Governance and Information Modelling

• Maintain and evolve Collibra and ER/Studio capabilities to strengthen enterprise-wide data governance, data modelling, and visibility of master data.
• Contribute to the development of information models, business terminology, metadata, and common data structures.
• Support the implementation of governance practices that improve data quality, consistency, transparency, and trust in business-critical information.
• Enable the creation of well-governed, reusable, and trusted data assets that support AI, automation, analytics, and operational efficiency across IKEA.

Enable Enterprise-wide Master Data Sharing and lead the work as scrum master for the ID as a service identity generator.

• The role also includes acting as Scrum Master for the IDaaS DevOps team, facilitating collaboration between business and technology stakeholders and supporting structured delivery and team coordination. During the continued development and operation of IDaaS, this represents a small but important contribution to ensuring effective execution and alignment across the team.
• Enable the sharing of master data across IKEA by promoting GS1 standards and industry best practices.
• Support initiatives and teams in adopting common approaches to classification, master data, and information exchange.
• Collaborate with business areas, product teams, architects, and data specialists to improve consistency, interoperability, and reuse of information across the enterprise.
• Ensure information models, classifications, and metadata support emerging AI use cases by improving data quality, context, discoverability, and semantic consistency.

Contribute to Standards Development

• Identify and document gaps between business requirements and existing GS1 standards.
• Assess impacts and recommend improvements to support IKEA's business needs.
• Contribute insights and business perspectives through collaboration with the GS1 community and relevant industry networks.
• Monitor developments in standards, regulations, AI, and industry best practices related to master data, classification, and information governance.

Qualifications

Is this the right challenge for you?

You are passionate about creating clarity and structure in complex information environments. You enjoy working with business stakeholders, data specialists, and digital teams to develop practical and scalable solutions that improve how information is managed, shared, and used across IKEA.

You understand that high-quality data is not only essential for business operations but is also the foundation for successful analytics, automation, and AI adoption. You are motivated by creating the governance, standards, and information structures that enable trusted and responsible use of data across the enterprise.

We believe you have

• Experience within classification, master data management, information modelling, or data governance.
• Knowledge of GS1 standards and frameworks, particularly within data modelling, classification and validation rules to enable trusted data across systems.
• Experience working with data governance and modelling tools such as Collibra and ER/Studio.
• Understanding of master data management, metadata, reference data, data quality, and governance principles.
• Understanding of how well-governed master data, information models, and metadata contribute to AI capabilities, automation, analytics, and trusted decision-making.
• Ability to translate business needs into practical standards, models, and governance practices.
• Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills.
• Good analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Experience working across organisational boundaries and supporting change through influence and expertise.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

Additional Information

We always recruit based on values, competence, potential, and diversity. We look forward to receiving your application in English. Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidate.

We look forward to receiving your application in English. Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidate. This position will be based in Älmhult, Sweden. We regret that we are unable to handle applications made by e-mail. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible, but no later than 3 Nov. 2026.

For more information about the position, please contact Hiring Manager Identification and Standardisation Manager Sandra Mckay Ferrario at [email protected]. For questions regarding the recruitment process, please contact People & Culture Specialist Katie Pettersson at [email protected].

At IKEA we believe that we’re better when we’re physically together for collaboration, dialogues and conversations. We believe in the power of human interactions; the informal chats, the energy, belonging and creativity generated by people being in the same place. Our approach is that we spend majority of our time in the IKEA workplace and with flexibility to work from home when relevant.