Manager, Digital Strategy

W. R. Grace & Co.

27d•Hybrid

About The Position

Grace is seeking a Digital Strategy Manager to join our IT team! This role reports to VP, Data, AI and Digital organization located at our headquarters in Columbia, MD. The Digital Strategy Manager partners with business and technology leaders to shape, prioritize, and govern a portfolio of digital, data, and AI initiatives. This role combines rigorous analysis, process and best practice creation, and strong stakeholder facilitation/collaboration with a specialized focus on AI strategy, data strategy, initiative valuation, and operating model evolution. You will help the new Grace Data, AI, and Digital organization create the initial enterprise-wide vision and strategy for these areas in close collaboration with Grace business and functional stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Data/Analytics, Engineering, or related field
5-8 years of experience as a Business Analyst, Strategy Analyst, or similar role
Demonstrated experience with strategic thinking, structured problem solving / hypothesis-driven analysis and translating findings into visions / strategies
Demonstrated experience building roadmaps, supporting portfolio governance, and developing business cases to support execution of digital visions / strategies
Experience working with data, analytics, or AI initiatives, especially use case intake, data readiness, governance, and value tracking
Strong literacy of current / emerging data and AI landscapes / tools
Modern data platforms and architectures (Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, etc.)
Data governance, catalog, and metadata (Purview, Alation, etc.)
Self-service / BI Analytics tools (Power BI, SAP Analytics Cloud, etc.)
AI / ML / advanced analytics approaches and tools (CRISP-DM, ML / Data Science governance, etc.)
Generative AI / Agentic AI (models, orchestration / architectures, responsible AI, etc.)
Experience in matrixed environments with senior stakeholders across business and IT

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Data/Analytics, Engineering, or related field
Experience with manufacturing industries (especially chemicals)
Exposure to / experience with implementing data governance programs
Familiarity with responsible AI, model risk, privacy, and security considerations
Consulting background or strong executive storytelling experience

Responsibilities

Build and create a process for maintaining a comprehensive inventory of digital, data, analytics, and AI initiatives across Grace
Align digital / AI intake and assessment frameworks with existing Grace IT operating model, ensuring business cases and value measurement approaches (financial and non-financial), fit with digital / AI initiatives
Produce executive-ready dashboards and summaries to assist in management of digital portfolio (demand, value/health, costs, etc)
Facilitate creation of 3‑year AI strategy aligned to business objectives / operational priorities
Identify and document AI use cases to establish portfolio and prioritization processes
Translate strategy into a clear roadmap: initiatives, milestones, dependencies, required platforms/data investments, and change management needs
Generate executive communications on strategy, timing, key decision points, and benefits
Co-create an enterprise data strategy including principles / best practices, target-state capabilities, and prioritized roadmap for foundational data investments
Establish or enhance data governance mechanisms: data ownership, stewardship, quality standards, definitions, etc
Support the selection, configuration, and rollout of a data catalog
Assess current operating model (including intake-to-delivery processes) for data/analytics/AI work and identify improvements (e.g. roles and responsibilities, data domain ownership/governance, prioritization processes)
Evaluation and selection of appropriate delivery organization model (e.g. hub-and-spoke)