Identification & Standardisation Leader - Master Data and Traceability

At IKEA, identification and standardisation are strategic capabilities that enable trusted data, connected business processes, traceability, regulatory compliance, and seamless information exchange across the value chain. Core capabilities for IKEAs business and digital transformation.

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 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 a team of subject matter experts, you will help IKEA establish and evolve a common approach to how products, assets, locations, parties, transactions, and events are identified and connected across business processes, digital products, platforms, and external ecosystems.

The Centre of Expertise works across organisations and functions to ensure that global standards are translated into practical business value. Through expert guidance, governance, and collaboration, the team enables business development, digital transformation, operational excellence, and future regulatory readiness across IKEA's global value chain.

In this role, you will work closely with business leaders, product teams, architects, data specialists, suppliers, and external partners to ensure that identification standards and traceability capabilities are understood, adopted, and implemented in ways that create long-term value for IKEA.

Your Assignment

Develop and Strengthen IKEA's Identification Capability

• Contribute to the development and evolution of IKEA's identification and standardisation capability.
• Define, maintain, and communicate principles, standards, frameworks, and guidance related to identification and GS1 standards.
• Secure a consistent and scalable approach to identifying products, assets, locations, parties, transactions, and events.
• Drive awareness and understanding of how identification supports business performance, data quality, compliance, and traceability.

Enable Business Development and Transformation

• Act as a trusted advisor to organisations, initiatives, and teams seeking to adopt identification standards and traceability capabilities.
• Assess business needs and recommend suitable standards, approaches, and implementation strategies.
• Define and support business and functional requirements related to identification, master data, product information, and information exchange.
• Support pre-studies, proof of concepts, business development initiatives, and digital transformation efforts where standards play a key role.
• Ensure identification requirements are considered early in solution design and business planning.

Drive Collaboration and Governance

• Establish clarity around ownership, decision-making, governance, and exception handling related to identification standards.
• Facilitate alignment across business areas, digital products, platforms, and data domains.
• Promote common, reusable, and interoperable ways of working across IKEA.
• Support stakeholders in balancing local business needs with enterprise-wide consistency and long-term scalability.

Represent IKEA Internally and Externally

• Represent IKEA in GS1 communities, industry working groups, and relevant standardisation initiatives.
• Build strong relationships with external partners, standards organisations, suppliers, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Monitor developments in standards, regulations, and industry practices, translating opportunities and implications into recommendations for IKEA.
• Identify gaps between business needs and existing standards and contribute to the continued evolution of industry standards together with the GS1 community.

Is this the right challenge for you?

You are a strategic and collaborative leader with deep expertise in identification, standards, master data, and traceability. You enjoy working across organisational boundaries and helping others navigate complexity through clear guidance, strong relationships, and a pragmatic approach.

You understand that standards create value only when they are widely understood, adopted, and integrated into everyday business practices.

We believe you have

• Deep expertise in identification systems, GS1 standards, master data, traceability, and interoperability.
• Strong technical knowledge of total Trade Item concept, standards and capabilities such as GTIN, GLN, SSCC, GDSN, EPCIS, GS1 Digital Link, and emerging AI capabilities connected to reaching the next level of use of standards.
• Experience within Master Data Management (MDM), Product Information Management (PIM), data …