Enable job alerts via email!
Sr. Director/VP, Data & AI Strategy
Alcumus
Cardiff
Hybrid
GBP 90,000 - 130,000
Full time
23 days ago
Job summary
A leading company in data and AI is looking for a Sr. Director/VP to drive their data strategy and machine learning initiatives. This pivotal role involves overseeing a comprehensive data ecosystem while fostering a culture of innovation across departments. Successful candidates will bring extensive experience in data strategy, strong leadership, and the ability to collaborate effectively across the organization.
Benefits
Enhanced Parental Leave
Generous annual leave
Healthcare Plan
Annual Giving Day
Cycle-to-work Scheme
Pension scheme with employer contributions
Life Assurance - 3X base salary
Rewards Program
LinkedIn Learning License
Qualifications
- 10+ years in data strategy, analytics, or ML/AI leadership roles.
- Experience with data architecture and pipeline orchestration.
- Proven ability to influence executive stakeholders.
Responsibilities
- Architect a unified and scalable enterprise data platform.
- Lead the design and deployment of ML/AI capabilities.
- Define and execute data governance practices.
Skills
Data Strategy
Leadership
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence
Cross-functional Collaboration
Data Governance
Communication
Cloud Platforms
Education
Degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering
Master's/PhD preferred
Tools
Snowflake
Databricks
Microsoft Fabric
Job description
Sr. Director/VP, Data & AI Strategy
Department: Technology & Product
Employment Type: Permanent
Location: Cardiff, UK
Description
We are seeking a dynamic and visionary leader to join our team as Sr. Director / VP of Data Strategy and ML/AI. This role is responsible for shaping and driving our enterprise-wide data strategy-leveraging data as a strategic asset to deliver actionable insights, enable innovation through ML/AI, and support scalable, secure, and trustworthy data practices.
This high-impact leadership role requires cross-functional collaboration across Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Compliance. You will be the steward of our data ecosystem, championing a culture of data excellence, insight-led decision making, measurable business outcomes, and embedded ML/AI capabilities.
What that means day to day
Architecture & Platform Leadership:
- Architect a unified and scalable enterprise data platform supporting structured and unstructured data.
- Build a modern Data Lakehouse/Warehouse as a single source of truth.
- Implement reporting and dashboarding solutions that empower internal teams and customers.
- Ensure platform reliability, observability, and security.
- Promote reusable, curated datasets and self-service analytics across teams.
- Collaborate with BI, Engineering, and business stakeholders to enhance analytics delivery.
- Leverage cloud platforms and modern pipeline tooling (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, Azure, AWS).
ML/AI Strategy & Execution:
- Lead the design and deployment of scalable ML/AI capabilities on top of the data infrastructure to enhance our applications and business processes.
- Deliver high-impact initiatives such as predictive modeling, advanced analytics, and intelligent automation.
- Collaborate with Product and Engineering to embed ML/AI into core application features and workflows.
- Establish success metrics and a governance model for AI deployments.
Data Strategy & Governance:
- Define and execute a modern, enterprise-wide data strategy aligned with business objectives.
- Foster a culture of trusted data stewardship, literacy, and transparency.
- Establish data governance practices including change control, provenance tracking, and auditability.
- Build and evolve a robust data integration, reporting, and analytics platform using a Data Lakehouse, Warehouse, or Data Mart architecture.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Align data initiatives with Product, Engineering, and Operations roadmaps.
- Act as a unifying force across departments to eliminate silos and improve insight delivery.
- Lead enterprise reporting initiatives, benchmarking, and data-driven transformation.
- Ensure measurable outcomes from all data and analytics programs.
What you'll need to be successful
Required Qualifications:
- Degree educated in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related field; Master's/PhD preferred.
- 10+ years in data strategy, analytics, or ML/AI leadership roles.
- Proven experience with platforms like Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, etc.
- Deep expertise in data architecture, pipeline orchestration, and real-time analytics.
- Ability to influence executive stakeholders and communicate complex ideas clearly.
- Strong leadership and organizational change skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in high-growth or private equity-backed environments.
- Familiarity with SaaS, compliance, or workforce management platforms.
What you'll get in return
Alcumus has a hybrid workplace policy, where you will work from the office 3 days per week. We want you to be able to do your best work here. We emphasize providing many ways to support our team to do their best work and below are some of the perks and benefits we offer:
Personal Health & Wellbeing / Benefits
> Enhanced Parental Leave
>Generous annual leave
> Healthcare Plan
> Annual Giving Day - an extra day to give back to yourself or your community
> Cycle-to-work Scheme
Future Planning
>Pension scheme with employer contributions
> Life Assurance - 3X base salary
> Rewards Program - access to discounts and cashback
> LinkedIn Learning License for upskilling & development
Interested but don't feel you meet all the requirements?
Our recruitment team assesses and reviews all applications against the role and business needs. We believe in people having transferable and soft skills and want you to know that we do consider where an individual might not meet all the criteria, but have the aptitude and capability, nonetheless. Our priority is to ensure we set people up for success. We will make a final call based on our determining whether we can offer the necessary support to upskill or provide the developmental support needed for you to get the best out of this opportunity with us!
Bring Your Whole Self to Work.
Alcumus is proudly an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to ensuring that no candidate is discriminated against because of gender identity and expression, race, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, colour, region, creed, national origin, or sex. We are dedicated to growing a diverse team while continuing to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels safe and empowered to be themselves.
What you can expect if you apply:
Department: Technology & Product
Employment Type: Permanent
Location: Cardiff, UK
Description
We are seeking a dynamic and visionary leader to join our team as Sr. Director / VP of Data Strategy and ML/AI. This role is responsible for shaping and driving our enterprise-wide data strategy-leveraging data as a strategic asset to deliver actionable insights, enable innovation through ML/AI, and support scalable, secure, and trustworthy data practices.
This high-impact leadership role requires cross-functional collaboration across Product, Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Compliance. You will be the steward of our data ecosystem, championing a culture of data excellence, insight-led decision making, measurable business outcomes, and embedded ML/AI capabilities.
What that means day to day
Architecture & Platform Leadership:
- Architect a unified and scalable enterprise data platform supporting structured and unstructured data.
- Build a modern Data Lakehouse/Warehouse as a single source of truth.
- Implement reporting and dashboarding solutions that empower internal teams and customers.
- Ensure platform reliability, observability, and security.
- Promote reusable, curated datasets and self-service analytics across teams.
- Collaborate with BI, Engineering, and business stakeholders to enhance analytics delivery.
- Leverage cloud platforms and modern pipeline tooling (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, Azure, AWS).
ML/AI Strategy & Execution:
- Lead the design and deployment of scalable ML/AI capabilities on top of the data infrastructure to enhance our applications and business processes.
- Deliver high-impact initiatives such as predictive modeling, advanced analytics, and intelligent automation.
- Collaborate with Product and Engineering to embed ML/AI into core application features and workflows.
- Establish success metrics and a governance model for AI deployments.
Data Strategy & Governance:
- Define and execute a modern, enterprise-wide data strategy aligned with business objectives.
- Foster a culture of trusted data stewardship, literacy, and transparency.
- Establish data governance practices including change control, provenance tracking, and auditability.
- Build and evolve a robust data integration, reporting, and analytics platform using a Data Lakehouse, Warehouse, or Data Mart architecture.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Align data initiatives with Product, Engineering, and Operations roadmaps.
- Act as a unifying force across departments to eliminate silos and improve insight delivery.
- Lead enterprise reporting initiatives, benchmarking, and data-driven transformation.
- Ensure measurable outcomes from all data and analytics programs.
What you'll need to be successful
Required Qualifications:
- Degree educated in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related field; Master's/PhD preferred.
- 10+ years in data strategy, analytics, or ML/AI leadership roles.
- Proven experience with platforms like Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, etc.
- Deep expertise in data architecture, pipeline orchestration, and real-time analytics.
- Ability to influence executive stakeholders and communicate complex ideas clearly.
- Strong leadership and organizational change skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in high-growth or private equity-backed environments.
- Familiarity with SaaS, compliance, or workforce management platforms.
What you'll get in return
Alcumus has a hybrid workplace policy, where you will work from the office 3 days per week. We want you to be able to do your best work here. We emphasize providing many ways to support our team to do their best work and below are some of the perks and benefits we offer:
Personal Health & Wellbeing / Benefits
> Enhanced Parental Leave
>Generous annual leave
> Healthcare Plan
> Annual Giving Day - an extra day to give back to yourself or your community
> Cycle-to-work Scheme
Future Planning
>Pension scheme with employer contributions
> Life Assurance - 3X base salary
> Rewards Program - access to discounts and cashback
> LinkedIn Learning License for upskilling & development
Interested but don't feel you meet all the requirements?
Our recruitment team assesses and reviews all applications against the role and business needs. We believe in people having transferable and soft skills and want you to know that we do consider where an individual might not meet all the criteria, but have the aptitude and capability, nonetheless. Our priority is to ensure we set people up for success. We will make a final call based on our determining whether we can offer the necessary support to upskill or provide the developmental support needed for you to get the best out of this opportunity with us!
Bring Your Whole Self to Work.
Alcumus is proudly an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to ensuring that no candidate is discriminated against because of gender identity and expression, race, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, colour, region, creed, national origin, or sex. We are dedicated to growing a diverse team while continuing to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels safe and empowered to be themselves.
What you can expect if you apply:
- A response to your application within 15 working days
- An interview process consisting of:
- An initial discovery call with the recruiter
- A first stage interview via Microsoft Teams
- Additional interview (likely face to face) with the stakeholders you'll be working with closely in the role
'/%3e%3cpath%20d='M101.744%2012.4726L102.894%2016.1947L99.0021%2013.2201L101.744%2012.4726ZM105.3%208.40937H100.488L99.0026%203.59473L97.5116%208.41047L92.7%208.40385L96.5965%2011.3834L95.1055%2016.1942L99.0021%2013.2196L101.408%2011.3834L105.3%208.40992V8.40937Z'%20fill='white'/%3e%3cdefs%3e%3clinearGradient%20id='paint0_linear_5593_1381'%20x1='90'%20y1='9.44471'%20x2='99'%20y2='9.44471'%20gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3e%3cstop%20stop-color='%2300AD70'/%3e%3cstop%20offset='0.998594'%20stop-color='%2300B67A'/%3e%3cstop%20offset='1'%20stop-color='%23DCDCE6'/%3e%3c/linearGradient%3e%3c/defs%3e%3c/svg%3e){kind=small}
Land a better
job faster
job faster
Follow us
