Head of Data Platform Engineering & AI Innovation

Motorola Solutions•Chicago, IL

About The Position

We are seeking a t echnically deep Strategy Leader to own the "Brain" of our data ecosystem. You will act as the technical visionary for our central data engineering landscape, leading a global team responsible for the convergence of Data Platform, Storage-as-a-Service, Search, and Applied AI . This is a "Platform-as-a-Product" role. Your customers are the internal product teams building the next generation of 911 dispatch, AI analytics, and command center software. Your mission is to provide them with the robust infrastructure, data gravity, and AI capabilities they need to innovate at speed. You will bridge the gap between AI research and reality, operationalizing models that power mission-critical public safety solutions.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in data & AI engineering, with at least 5+ years in an engineering leadership role (Sr. Manager, or above).
Proven experience building and scaling large-scale data platforms, distributed systems, or cloud-native services.
Strong technical knowledge of modern data ecosystems (e.g., Databricks, Spark, Microsoft Fabric, data lakes, data warehousing) and cloud environments (Azure or AWS).
Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, or a related technical field.
Must be able to obtain background clearance as required by government customer

Nice To Haves

Experience leading globally distributed or multi-site engineering teams.
Hands-on experience or strong conceptual understanding of MLOps, Data Science, or applied AI/ML.
Familiarity with modern search and retrieval technologies (e.g., vector databases, Elasticsearch).
Practical knowledge of the Gen AI, Agentic AI and LLM ecosystem.
A "people-first" leadership style with a track record of mentoring managers, engineers and building engaged, high-performing teams.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate a complex technical vision to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Strategy: Provide strong leadership, direction, and mentoring to teams, fostering professional growth and developing technical and leadership talent. Define and execute the long-term strategy for Motorola's Data Platform — enabling search, analytics, and AI capabilities across the enterprise and product ecosystem. Lead and grow a diverse, high-performing engineering organization of data, AI/ML, and platform engineers. Partner with engineering and product leaders across the organization to act as a key stakeholder and data evangelist. Drive a culture of data excellence, innovation, and measurable business impact.
Core Data Platform & Insights: Own the architecture, development, and operation of our core data analytics platforms (e.g., Databricks, Microsoft Fabric). Lead the team in the development of robust and scalable ETL/ELT pipelines, crucial for supporting real-time intelligence and overall data architecture. Enable data democratization and data science by championing best practices in data governance, quality, and turning large-scale data into actionable insights.
Search & Storage Services: Lead the "Search" team in developing and operating high-performance search experiences (Vector, Semantic, and traditional search) for our products. Oversee the "Drive" team, which provides reliable, scalable "Storage-as-a-Service" for internal application teams. Drive a platform-as-a-product mindset, emphasizing automation, self-service, and a strong developer experience for our internal customers.
AI R D & Excellence: Lead our R D and Excellence team focused on data-centric AI. Direct applied research and prototyping in key emerging areas, including Generative AI, Agentic AI, MLOps, and advanced Data Science. Establish the frameworks and tooling required to scale AI/ML adoption across the company.