VP, Customer Data Strategist (Hybrid)

A+E Global Media•Los Angeles, NY

17d•Hybrid

About The Position

In this pivotal role, you will define how A+E turns its rapidly growing first-party audience data into a strategic business asset — designing the audience frameworks, use cases, and measurement models that connect our data to marketing, product, and revenue outcomes across the company. You will oversee our Analytics Engineering function, translating strategy into a working composable CDP and identity infrastructure, and will work to ensure that Digital, Marketing, and New Business leadership treat first-party data as a primary input that shapes strategy from the outset. You will work in close coordination across the enterprise on shared business challenges and emerging analytical approaches.

Requirements

At least 10 years of experience leading and managing technical teams (e.g., analytics engineers), even if not hands-on with the code personally
At least 7 years of experience in customer data strategy, CDP/MarTech, or marketing analytics
At least 5 years of direct people management experience
Working knowledge of composable CDP platforms (e.g., Hightouch), identity resolution concepts (deterministic vs. probabilistic matching), and applied AI/ML — enough to direct and evaluate technical work, without requiring hands-on coding
At least 5 years of directing data engineering work on cloud data warehouses (e.g., Snowflake) and visualization tools (e.g., DOMO) to bring strategy to life
At least 5 integrating first-party data strategy with activation platforms such as Iterable and Adobe

Nice To Haves

Master communicator and change agent who can shift how leaders think about data — from reactive reporting to proactive, first-party-data-led strategy
Executive presence with the ability to advise and influence Digital, Marketing, and New Business leaders as a peer, not a support function
Strong point of view on applying AI and machine learning to audience data, with the judgment to separate genuine opportunity from hype
Experience integrating first-party data strategy with activation platforms such as Iterable and Adobe
Familiarity with agency-side data ecosystems and paid media measurement platforms

Responsibilities

Define the strategic roadmap for our composable CDP and identity resolution capabilities, prioritizing use cases that drive measurable business value as new data sources come online
Design and activate Audience Customer Journeys that increase engagement and revenue per user, defining the logic behind lifecycle stages, churn risk, and high-value customer segmentation
Oversee our Analytics Engineering team, directing the build of activation pipelines that flow into Iterable, Adobe, and other downstream marketing and personalization tools
Partner with our media agency's data platform (e.g., BLU) to connect owned audience signals with paid media performance, strengthening measurement of paid-plus-owned impact
Champion first-party data as a starting point for strategy, not a downstream add-on — embedding it early into how Digital, Marketing, and New Business teams plan campaigns, product decisions, and growth initiatives
Act as the senior voice in strategic planning conversations with Digital, Marketing, and New Business leadership, pushing toward decisions grounded in first-party data rather than assumptions or third-party proxies
Define the KPIs and ROI frameworks — including lifts in engagement, retention, and conversion — that prove first-party data investments are driving business outcomes, sharing findings with leadership across the enterprise
Apply AI and advanced analytics judgment to identify new opportunities from expanding first-party data, directing Analytics Engineering to bring them to life
Maintain a strategic view of the identity, CDP, and data activation landscape, evaluating new AI-driven platforms and approaches relevant to A+E's data strategy
Enact strategies that grow AEGM's first-party data footprint
Design identity resolution and data architecture to accommodate new customer data sources as the business evolves — including potential new business lines, products, or organizational combinations
Build governance and onboarding frameworks that allow new first-party data sets to be integrated into the existing CDP and identity infrastructure without re-architecting from scratch
Provide periodic updates to Media Solutions on first-party data infrastructure and identity resolution capabilities as they evolve
Share relevant success stories from first-party data-driven marketing targeting that may inform future Media Solutions product thinking
Partner with Legal and Media Solutions to understand data usage rights and restrictions across distribution partners, informing what's realistically activatable
Participate in regular working sessions with Media Solutions to explore potential first-party data applications as infrastructure matures
Work with Legal to ensure data privacy laws (GDPR/CCPA) are strictly governed across all channels