Director of Data & AI

Think of Us; Washington; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Talkspace access

Short-Term Disability

Long-Term Disability

FSAs

401(k) Plan

Work-from-home stipend

Flexible PTO

Sick leave and holidays

Learning & development

Job summary

Think of Us is seeking a Director of Data & AI to lead the data function end to end, guiding strategy, architecture, and governance while hands-on with the team for 6–12 months. You will shape how we leverage a 51k+ lived-experience dataset, supervise data engineering and applied data science, and partner with leadership on technical direction.

You will build robust data governance, ensure HIPAA-adjacent compliance, and drive responsible AI across ConnectMe and internal platforms, balancing

Qualifications

• 7+ years in data, analytics, or ML roles, with leadership experience
• Hands-on experience with applied AI (RAG, agents, LLM evaluation)
• Ability to design data architecture and assess AI pipeline quality
• Experience leading a small data team (2–8 people)
• Experience working with youth/family systems or a strong commitment to these domains
• Ability to operate as a player-coach and build data governance foundations

Responsibilities

• Define and drive TOU’s data strategy and roadmap
• Direct Databricks data lake architecture and data quality standards
• Lead AI evaluation and applied data science direction
• Own governance, privacy, and HIPAA compliance
• Directly manage and grow the data team
• Collaborate with executives and cross-functional leaders to translate data insights into product and policy decisions
• Oversee evaluation layers and ensure safety/quality of AI-powered outputs

Skills

Data leadership

Applied AI

Data architecture

Python

Tools

LangFuse

Databricks

OpenAI

Claude

Job description

About Think of Us

Think of Us (TOU) is transforming the child welfare system into one where young people and families can heal, develop, and thrive. We drive purpose-driven work aligned with meaningful systems change, powered by data and the insights of lived experience. Our focus is on prevention, keeping families strong before crisis, and on building kinship-first systems so children grow up with people they know and trust. Through bold collaborations with leaders and innovators across the public and private sectors — from Presidential Administrations to local providers — we identify leverage points and co-create solutions that re-architect child welfare for the future.

Here’s what this looks like:

• Built the Lived Experience Engine into the largest dataset of its kind (51,000+ voices), powering AI tools and shaping reforms
• Partnered with California to launch the Kinship Accelerator in 8 counties, backed by $150M and a budget increase from $317M → $896M
• Drove a national kin-first shift: 39 states (plus 5 tribes) adopting kinship standards, unlocking $3B for families
• Operate one of the largest direct resource networks, connecting 1,827 families to $28M+ in support

Our team members share a commitment to driving systems change through creative problem-solving, obsessive curiosity, and a love of quickly driving innovative, measurable, and impactful results.

Position Overview

Department: Technology & Innovation

Reports to: Executive Leadership

Direct Reports: Data Engineer, Senior Applied Data Scientist

Stack: Python, SQL, Databricks (bronze/silver/gold). AI pipeline on Anthropic Claude +

OpenAI, with LangFuse for observability and evaluation.

Location: Hybrid; Washington, DC (min. 3 days in the office)

Category: Full Time/Exempt

As the senior leader for data at Think of Us, you’ll be a working player-coach: contributing hands-on alongside the existing data team for the first 6–12 months before growing it further. You’re not a pure strategist or a pure manager: you’ve built a data function before and know how to do the work while building the systems around it.

Data is one of TOU’s most powerful strategic assets, and none is more central to our mission than the largest dataset of its kind: perspectives from over 51,000 individuals impacted by the child welfare system. As TOU integrates AI across its operations, expands geographically, and deepens its policy and programmatic impact, we need a leader who can turn this proprietary dataset into a durable technical advantage. You’ll lead TOU’s data function end to end: strategy and architecture, AI and evaluation, analysis and insight, and governance. You’ll directly manage the team that delivers this work, today a data engineer and applied data scientist, and grow it over time.

Your data team also powers TOU’s applications, most centrally ConnectMe, our warmline platform where Care Navigators work directly with youth and families. Its AI pipeline drafts assessments, support plans, and resource matches, always reviewed and owned by a Community Responder before anything reaches a help-seeker. Your team owns the evaluation layer and quality bar that tell us whether any of it is actually working, all within a HIPAA-compliant environment.

You’ll partner closely with executive leadership on technical direction, with the engineering team on AI infrastructure and quality, and with Product, Design, Program, and Policy leaders on how data informs what we build, ship, and advocate for. We operate as a modern data team: framing the right questions, shipping insights and evaluations into product and policy decisions, and iterating based on what we learn from real-world data.

Key Responsibilities

Own Data Strategy and Architecture

• Define and drive TOU’s data strategy and roadmap, anchored on the Lived Experience Engine
• Direct the architecture of our Databricks data lake: what goes in each tier, how the data model evolves, and what standards apply
• Set standards for data quality, governance, and platform reliability
• Translate organizational priorities into data investments and team structure

Lead AI Evaluation and Applied Data Science Direction

• Build evaluation frameworks (LangFuse plus custom) for TOU’s AI pipelines and agents, the systems that tell us whether AI is actually working
• Own decisions on when and how TOU goes beyond cloud models: RAG architecture, agent grounding, retrieval quality, and future ML capability
• Negotiate the boundary between the data team and Applied AI Engineering on evals and AI data infrastructure
• The data team owns the data and evaluation layer that makes agents work; Applied AI Engineers own the engineering of agents themselves

Own Governance, Privacy, and HIPAA Compliance

• Build and maintain TOU’s data governance posture and HIPAA-adjacent compliance standards
• Own data access controls, privacy policies, and the ethical framework for lived-experience data
• Ensure TOU’s handling of sensitive PII from youth in the child welfare system meets legal and ethical standards

Build and Manage the Data Team

• Directly manage the data team (currently a Sr. Data Engineer and Sr. Applied Data Scientist), and grow the team over time
• Build the processes, culture, and norms of TOU’s data function
• Be IC-first for 6–12 months, with management load growing as the team grows

On a Typical Day, You Might…

• Give architectural feedback on a new Databricks gold-layer model the Data Engineer is building
• Design an evaluation framework for the ConnectMe AI pipeline, defining what “good enough” means for human-vetted output
• Meet with program leadership to translate research questions into data roadmap priorities
• Review AI pipeline outputs to assess whether resource recommendations are accurate and equitable across demographic groups
• Sit with the Sr. Applied Data Scientist on a recent eval, then decide what’s ready to ship, what needs another iteration, and what to brief Product on
• Draft a data access policy for how lived-experience narratives are stored and accessed internally

About You

We recognize that candidates may not meet every listed qualification. Research shows that individuals from underrepresented groups are more likely to opt out of applying if they don’t meet 100% of the criteria. If you believe you meet many of the criteria and can succeed in this role, we encourage you to apply — we want to learn about your unique strengths and experiences.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years in data, analytics, or ML roles, with at least 2 years in a leadership or team-building capacity
• Direct, hands‑on experience with applied AI such as RAG, agents, and LLM evaluation; candidates without this will not be considered
• Technically credible: can design data architecture, read and review Python, evaluate AI pipeline quality, and hold substantive technical conversations with engineers
• Has built or led a small data team before, in the 2–8 person range; what matters is that you’ve done it, not the scale
• You bring experience working with or alongside systems that impact youth and families — or you’re deeply committed to learning about these systems and approaching the work with humility, curiosity, and care.
• You’re motivated by impact and systems change. You thrive in a fast‑growing, evolving organization and see change as an opportunity to innovate, learn, and make things better.

Desired / Nice to Have:

• Experience with Databricks, Delta Lake, or similar modern data lake platforms
• Experience with LLM observability and evaluation platforms (LangFuse or similar)
• Background in civic tech, public health, human services, or mission‑driven organizations
• Experience with data governance or HIPAA‑adjacent compliance
• Prior experience as a player‑coach who remained hands‑on while building a team

How You Work:

• Lead as a player‑coach: you are as comfortable doing the work and building the systems as you are growing the people who will own them
• Operate in ambiguity: you make sound calls in a resource‑constrained, fast‑moving environment without waiting for perfect information
• Translate across audiences: you move easily between a technical design discussion with engineers and a data‑informed conversation with program, product, and policy leaders
• Bring judgment and care to sensitive data: you carry the ethical weight of lived‑experience data and let it shape how you build, not just what you build
• Set a high bar and grow it in others: you establish the standards for data and evaluation quality and build a team that holds them

Why This Role Matters

Think of Us holds something rare: the Lived Experience Engine, perspectives from over 51,000 individuals impacted by the child welfare system, built with deep community trust. No government agency, academic institution, or nonprofit has this at our scale or depth of community connection. The Director of Data & AI is the person who makes that asset usable, building the infrastructure, standards, and team that let TOU extract insight from data that can change policy, improve products, and ultimately change the lives of children and families across the country.

Compensation & Benefits

At TOU, we believe that taking care of our people is foundational to the impact we aim to make. Our compensation philosophy is rooted in transparency and a holistic understanding of people’s needs. We believe fair, market‑competitive pay is essential to attracting and retaining the exceptional talent needed to achieve our ambitious goals. As a not‑for‑profit organization, we design our compensation packages—including both salary and benefits—with care and in alignment with our financial sustainability.

The annual salary for this role is $1** 5 0 ,000–$1 8 0,000**. Starting salaries for new hires will be determined based on a combination of the new hire’s relevant experience and market demands.

TOU’S benefits go beyond the basics. They’re designed to support your well‑being, growth, and sense of purpose at work and beyond. From comprehensive health coverage to professional development support and meaningful time off, our benefits reflect our commitment to nurturing a workplace where people can thrive, both personally and professionally.

Health & Insurance

• 100% employer‑paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees; 50% for dependents.
• Access to Talkspace for confidential therapy and mental health support.
• Short‑Term Disability, Life, and AD&D Insurance included.
• Optional Long‑Term Disability and Supplemental Life Insurance.
• Health Care and Dependent Care FSAs available.

Financial Benefits

• 401(k) Plan for pre‑tax retirement contributions.
• Work‑from‑home setup stipend to optimize your workspace.

Paid Time Off

• Flexible PTO policy, plus sick leave and paid leaves of absence.
• 8 company holidays, plus two organization‑wide seasonal breaks.

Learning & Development

• TOU values continuous learning and invests in the professional development of its employees in alignment with organizational needs based on role, performance, business needs, and Company policies.
• Regular organization‑wide learning sessions on relevant and reflective topics.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Think of Us is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome and value applicants of all backgrounds, knowing that diverse perspectives strengthen our work with children, youth, and families. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. We provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and for applicants’ religious practices as required by law.