Director of Advanced Analytics & AI Strategy

Our client in Houston is looking to hire Director, Advanced Analytics Strategy and Translation.

This role does not support visa sponsorship or OPT. This is a 6 months contract to hire, hybrid role in Houston, TX.

• Set Enterprise Analytics Strategy:
  Define and evolve company's advanced analytics roadmap, aligning with business priorities and growth objectives across local and national sales segments.
• Drive AI/ML Product Innovation:
  Partner with data science and engineering teams to design, build, and scale predictive and generative AI solutions that deliver measurable business impact.
• Lead and Develop Teams:
  Manage, mentor, and grow multiple senior Product Owners and Translators focused on advanced analytics and AI products; provide strategic direction, clarity of priorities, and foster a high-performance culture.
• Executive Translation & Influence:
  Distill complex analytics into clear, actionable narratives for C-suite leaders; secure alignment and sponsorship for strategic initiatives.
• Stakeholder Governance Cadence:
  Establish and run the governance model and executive cadence to drive alignment and prioritization of fiscal-year roadmaps and quarterly product increments.
• Portfolio Ownership:
  Oversee multiple analytics products, balancing innovation with governance and compliance; ensure reusability across partnering business intelligence centers and integration into CRM and digital platforms.
• Value Realization & Adoption:
  Define success metrics, monitor adoption, and ensure products deliver tangible outcomes for sales enablement and revenue growth.

• Bachelor’s degree in an analytical field (e.g., Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, Business).
• MBA or another advanced degree from a top tier educational institution (preferred)

• 8+ years in product management or analytics leadership roles, with proven experience delivering AI/ML-driven products at scale.
• Prior experience in a corporate setting or leading professional services company in an analytical or strategic role such as Strategy, Finance, or Insights.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple product teams and driving enterprise-wide adoption of analytics solutions.

• Strong problem-solving skills to take ambiguous challenges and develop structured frameworks for defining, analyzing, and solving them.
• Experience shaping enterprise strategies and working with senior leadership to drive alignment and investment.
• Ability to manage ambiguity and guide the organization toward clear and decisive action plans.
• High level of familiarity with digital technologies, including understanding of underlying data architectures, data requirements, and interdependencies between front-end, service layer, and back-end systems.
• Deep understanding of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics approaches and ability to educate business stakeholders on modeling techniques.
• Strong grasp of business value drivers and the relationship between modeling choices and business impact.
• Ability to establish a collaborative work environment that enables cross-functional teams to execute at a high level.
• Superb verbal, written, and interpersonal skills; fluency interfacing with both technical and executive teams and the ability to make complex analytics understandable and actionable.