Sr. Director, Data Analytics & AI Innovation

Verizon•Basking Ridge, NJ

2d•$165,000 - $316,000•Hybrid

About The Position

When you join Verizon You want more out of a career. A place to share your ideas freely — even if they’re daring or different. Where the true you can learn, grow, and thrive. At Verizon, we power and empower how people live, work and play by connecting them to what brings them joy. We do what we love — driving innovation, creativity, and impact in the world. Our V Team is a community of people who anticipate, lead, and believe that listening is where learning begins. In crisis and in celebration, we come together — lifting our communities and building trust in how we show up, everywhere & always. Want in? Join the #VTeamLife. As the Senior Director of Data Analytics & AI Innovation, you will serve as a core strategic leader reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer. Your mission is to evolve our data function into a proactive growth and innovation engine. By spearheading data standardization, democratization, and modern AI/ML integration across the entire operational footprint, you will uncover hidden business insights that directly transform our business model and accelerate revenue and margin growth. You will lead, champion, and mentor two high-impact global teams: the Business Intelligence Center of Excellence and the Advanced Data Analytics division, equipping them with the cutting-edge capabilities needed to lead in an AI-first economy.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field (Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics) or equivalent practical experience.
7+ years of experience leading, scaling, and cultivating talent within large, diverse, global data teams.
5+ years of deep experience within a fast-paced SaaS or technology enterprise.
Proven track record of financial analysis, commercial model creation, and tying data initiatives directly to gross margin improvements.
Strong experience in business process improvement and optimization (e.g., Lean Six Sigma, Agile methodology) applied directly to modern technology environments.

Nice To Haves

A Master’s degree or MBA.
Demonstrated success designing cloud-native data strategies using modern data stacks (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Looker/Tableau).
Hands-on experience implementing data governance or data contracts to support AI/ML pipelines.
Superb executive presence; the ability to act as a "data translator" who can simplify complex technical concepts to influence senior stakeholders and client relationships.

Responsibilities

Architect and execute a data roadmap tied directly to operational efficiency and the P&L.
Partner closely with Sales, Product, and Finance to build predictive revenue and margin models that stress-test new commercial strategies.
Shift the team’s focus from descriptive reporting to predictive and prescriptive analytics.
Utilize AI tools to uncover proactive insights regarding customer churn, pricing optimization, and operational expansion opportunities.
Lead the strategic evolution toward an automated self-serve data sandbox model.
Implement user-friendly semantic layers and data literacy training to empower non-technical business units to pull reliable data safely.
Modernize our data quality framework.
Use automation and machine learning to clean, tag, and standardize messy legacy data systems, ensuring a single source of truth across all platforms.
Act as a champion and mentor for the current analytics team, empowering them to thrive in an AI-first environment.
Drive a culture of continuous development and equip the team with next-generation skills and productivity tools (e.g., automated data pipelines, intelligent coding assistants) to eliminate repetitive tasks.
Oversee the operational rhythm of company-wide Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) alongside the COO, ensuring cross-functional roadmaps align with data capabilities and long-term business strategy.