Senior Data Scientist - Contract Service Manager

Ford Motor • Dearborn, MI

12d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Third-Party Data Acquisition team is the centralized hub for discovering, acquiring, and enabling the third-party data that fuels Ford's data and analytics ecosystem. This team acts as subject matter experts across the business, managing vendor relationships and contracts while delivering innovative sourcing solutions to internal customers across GDI&A and the broader Ford Enterprise. We're looking for a Manager to lead this team — someone who can translate business data requirements into vendor strategy, negotiate favorable and compliant contracts, and bring product management discipline to how acquired data is enabled, reused, and governed as it moves out (egress) to internal customers. This role sits at the intersection of business needs, vendor management, legal/compliance, and data product strategy — and requires a leader who can operate credibly across all four.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required in Business, Data Science, Information Technology, Computer Science, Analytics, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related discipline
• 3–5 years of contract negotiation and vendor-management experience, preferably involving third-party data, technology, software, licensing, intellectual property, or professional-services agreements.
• 3–5 years of demonstrated people leadership experience, including direct team management, coaching, performance development, or leading a team/function.
• 5+ years of relevant overall experience in data management, procurement, vendor management, product management, business intelligence, technology sourcing, data governance, or a closely related field.
• Experience in one or more of the following: Purchasing/procurement, data management, product management, or a related technology or business discipline
• Demonstrated experience negotiating contracts or managing vendor relationships, ideally involving data, technology, or licensing terms
• Experience partnering with Legal and Purchasing functions on contract terms, statements of work, and compliance requirements
• Working knowledge of data governance, data sharing, or data privacy/regulatory concepts
• Prior people leadership or team management experience
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate business needs into sourcing and product requirements
• Comfort operating in a cross-functional environment spanning business, legal, engineering, and finance stakeholders

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree preferred

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team responsible for discovering, evaluating, and acquiring third-party data sources, including building and maintaining vendor landscapes
• Partner directly with internal business stakeholders to translate data requirements into sourcing strategy and vendor selection criteria
• Own end-to-end vendor contracting for data acquisition — partnering with Purchasing and Legal (OGC) on negotiation, statements of work, terms & conditions, and data-specific legal terms to ensure full compliance
• Apply product management practices to third-party data egress — defining requirements, prioritizing enablement work, and ensuring data products meet internal customer needs
• Drive enterprise-wide reuse of acquired data through proactive internal advocacy, customer engagement, and cross-functional relationship building
• Govern data movement enterprise-wide via Contract Services — overseeing centralized review, approval, and lifecycle tracking of ingress/egress contracts
• Establish and maintain Data Sharing Best Practices covering data access, ownership, security, AI/model use restrictions, and regulatory compliance
• Manage the team's data-portfolio budget in close collaboration with Finance and Leadership
• Coach and develop team members, building both technical/contracting expertise and business partnership skills

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care, parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members, and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager