BI Application Manager

Wheels Manufacturing LLC•Bloomington, MN

18h•$140,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Business Intelligence (BI) Manager is a key leadership role responsible for setting the strategy, driving execution, and managing the team that delivers QBP's enterprise BI, data, and AI capabilities. This player-coach leader manages a high-impact team, while partnering closely with Data Analysts embedded in the business to establish best practices, data leadership, and a culture of certified, trusted, self-service analytics. The BI Manager oversees the modern cloud data platform - from data ingestion and lakehouse architecture through semantic modeling, reporting, and emerging AI/agentic analytics capabilities and serves as the single point of accountability for BI delivery, governance, and platform stewardship across QBP. This role requires a leader who is adaptable, business-savvy, technically credible, and excited to evaluate emerging technologies including AI/Copilot, agentic workflows, and modern lakehouse patterns.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
12+ years of combined experience in data engineering, analytics, and/or data warehouse platforms.
5+ years of experience leading and/or managing technical teams.
Strong proficiency in modern data analytics platforms.
Hands-on understanding of modern cloud data platform technologies (data warehouse, lakehouse, ETL/ELT, semantic layer).
Strong SQL and experience with dimensional modeling (star/snowflake schemas, slowly-changing dimensions).
Demonstrated experience leading delivery of dashboards, reports, certified data products, and data pipelines.
Proven experience mentoring engineers, BI developers, and analysts; ability to set and enforce engineering and analytics best practices.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to engage senior leadership and operational teams.
Strong understanding of data governance, data quality, and data security principles.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in Data Science, Analytics, Information Systems, or Business.
Familiarity with AI/Copilot, agentic analytics, and natural-language BI experiences.
Experience designing or overseeing AI agents and agentic workflows.
Experience integrating BI solutions with enterprise systems such as ERP, WMS, Anaplan, Prophix, Sales Cloud, or equivalent COTS platforms.
Experience with modern lakehouse / medallion architecture (Bronze / Silver / Gold) on platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, Snowflake, or equivalent.
Familiarity with data governance/cataloging platforms (e.g., Microsoft Purview).
Experience with DataOps / CI-CD.
Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies; Scrum Master certification a plus.
Experience with vendor/partner management.

Responsibilities

Define and own QBP's BI and analytics roadmap, aligned to enterprise priorities and the SAP S/4 transformation program.
Set the vision for the modern cloud data platform, including lakehouse, semantic modeling, reporting, and AI-augmented analytics.
Translate executive priorities into a prioritized backlog of BI initiatives, with clear outcomes, milestones, and success metrics.
Lead BI tool selection, vendor evaluation, and partner engagement (e.g., Systems Integrators, ISVs, Microsoft/Cloud providers).
Manage BI licensing and cloud cost optimization.
Lead and coach the BI development team; act as a player-coach who can engage technically when needed.
Own hiring, performance management, career development, and succession planning for the BI team.
Provide direction, mentorship, and best-practice leadership to Data Analysts embedded in business teams establishing data leadership, standards, and a COE mindset across the broader BI community.
Set team standards for code reviews, documentation, version control, and engineering excellence.
Run agile ceremonies (stand-ups, sprint planning, retros); serve as Scrum Master for the team.
Oversee the end-to-end BI toolset including Power BI, ETL/ELT, data warehouse/lakehouse, and supporting cloud data platform technologies.
Ensure the data platform is scalable, performant, secure, and cost-effective.
Lead architecture decisions across the data platform (lakehouse/warehouse, semantic models, ETL/ELT, real-time analytics).
Stay current on modern cloud data platform capabilities and drive continuous platform modernization.
Ensure data models, datasets, and queries are optimized for performance, reuse, and certification.
Oversee the design, development, and delivery of dashboards, reports, and certified data products built by the BI Developer.
Oversee the design, development, and delivery of data pipelines, integrations, and lakehouse data models built by the Data Engineers.
Establish certification criteria for BI data products (metric definitions, SLAs, documentation, ownership).
Manage BI delivery commitments, release planning, and stakeholder expectations.
Drive requirements development with business stakeholders and translate them into clear technical specifications.
Establish and enforce data governance standards including data quality, lineage, cataloging, and master data management.
Partner with InfoSec on role-based access, row-level security, and sensitivity labeling for data assets.
Ensure BI solutions comply with regulatory and internal data privacy and security policies.
Implement monitoring, observability, and freshness for critical data pipelines and datasets.
Drive proactive incident management and root-cause analysis for high-severity BI issues.
Champion innovation by evaluating, prototyping, and recommending emerging data and AI technologies (e.g., Microsoft Fabric, lakehouse architectures, real-time/streaming analytics).
Lead the adoption of AI/Copilot capabilities in BI tools and accelerate the team's analytics delivery through AI-assisted development.
Drive the design and rollout of AI agents and agentic analytics workflows (e.g., natural-language analytics, conversational data products, automated insight generation).
Partner with business leaders to identify high-value AI/ML opportunities and translate them into production-grade BI solutions.
Champion responsible AI practices, ensuring solutions are explainable, secure, and aligned with QBP's data governance standards.
Serve as the single point of contact for BI across business units; build trusted partnerships with Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Sales, and IT leadership.
Translate complex technical concepts into clear, executive-ready narratives and recommendations.
Present BI strategy, roadmap, risks, and outcomes to senior leadership and steering committees.
Convey system issues and platform updates to stakeholders in clear, concise language.
Oversee production support for the BI platform, ensuring smooth operations and minimal disruptions.
Lead incident response and root-cause analysis for high-severity issues.
Drive continuous improvement in deployment, documentation, and code review standards.