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Kai Walker Donovan

Senior BI Analyst / Analytics Engineer | Looker, LookML, BigQuery, Python

kaiwalker001@gmail.com+447460489813Hertfordshire, UKlinkedin.com/in/kai-walker-donovan

Professional Summary

Looker/LookML analytics engineer: #1 contributor by volume on a large LookML estate (~125k lines, ~750 commits). Shipped an internal discovery hub to ~100 MAU (~10x engagement) with semantic modelling, metadata pipelines, and enablement. BigQuery automation and Python framework ownership (~20k lines, ~5 production Cloud Functions), with a focus on governed self-serve analytics, semantic modelling, and scalable BI adoption.

Work Experience

employer

September 2021 – Present
Senior Analyst, US Retail Partner Secondment2025 – Present

Cincinnati, OH, USA

  • Adapted within a ~15-month US grocery fulfilment secondment to local operating norms, cross-cultural stakeholder expectations, and partner commercial context across supply chain, warehouse, and last mile.
Data AnalystSeptember 2021 – 2025

Hatfield, UK

  • Led Looker semantic-layer development across ~125,000 lines of LookML and ~750 commits (#1 contributor by volume), establishing reusable modelling and QA patterns partner teams adopted.
  • Built internal analytics discovery hub, "Analyticado": metadata pipelines, guided navigation, and training that lifted engagement ~10x to ~100 monthly active users.
  • Led conversational analytics programme, "K-AI": scoped phased rollout, retrieval vs hand-off trade-offs, and evaluation criteria with analytics and portal owners (Vertex AI, FastAPI, BigQuery, LanceDB).
  • Owned shared Python analytics framework (~20,000 lines, ~10 contributors) and operated ~5 production GCP Cloud Functions with failure monitoring.

E-commerce Sales & Development Manager

September 2020 – September 2021

American Dream / Love Afro - Luton, UK

  • Analysed paid social, Amazon, pricing, and promotional performance across weekly trading cycles, using ROAS-led readouts to guide spend, stock, and campaign decisions.
  • Ran disciplined test-and-learn on paid social and Amazon (creative, audience, bid/pricing) with weekly readouts using A/B-style comparisons at e-commerce pace.
  • Managed end-to-end e-commerce: site changes, Amazon Seller account, and multi-channel campaigns; owned trade-offs between stock, margin, and promotional spend.

Key Projects

Internal analytics discovery hub, "Analyticado"

Next.js · React · Looker API · TypeScript

Centralised analytics hub with ~100 monthly active users

AI-assisted analytics search and Q&A platform, "K-AI"

FastAPI · Vertex AI · LanceDB · BigQuery

One chat for sourced answers and conversational analytics

Python Framework

Python · GCP · BigQuery · Slack API

Shared analytics automation platform with ~10 contributors

Partner-facing operational insights landing, "OSP Insights"

LookML · Looker · SQL · BigQuery

Partner reporting with ~3k monthly report runs

Education

BSc (Hons) Computer Science, First Class

2024

University of West London, London

BTEC Extended Diploma in IT, D*D*D*

2020

West Herts College, Watford

Skills

LookML / Looker Enterprise · SQL (BigQuery) · Python · dbt · GCP (Cloud Functions, BigQuery, Secrets Manager) · GitLab CI/CD · Semantic layer & data modelling · Dashboard & explore governance · Looker API integration · JavaScript / TypeScript (Next.js, React) · Self-serve analytics enablement · Data catalog & metadata pipelines