Director, Sports Analytics & Strategy (Athletics)

William & Mary and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Williamsburg (VA); On-site; USD 113,000 - 138,000; Full time

Job summary

The Associate Athletics Director for Sports Analytics at William & Mary oversees data, analytics, and AI strategy across all 23 varsity sports, turning complex information into actionable decisions for coaches and administrators.

The role requires credibility with coaches, strong communication, and the ability to lead cross-functional projects while ensuring privacy and FERPA/NCAA compliance. It reports to Athletics leadership and engages with university IT and sports programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in analytics, statistics, data or computer science, sport management, business, or a related field.
• Significant, progressively responsible experience in collegiate or professional sports analytics, sports technology, performance science, or athletics administration.
• Demonstrated ability to build credibility with coaches and translate between athletics and technical teams.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Working knowledge of business intelligence, data visualization, and contemporary AI capabilities and risks.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including translating technical findings for nontechnical audiences.
• Experience managing staff, budgets, or vendors.

Responsibilities

• Set and lead a department-wide analytics, AI, and technology strategy across all 23 sports, in partnership with coaches, sport administrators, and university technology partners.
• Build a prioritized roadmap — with milestones, ownership, and success measures — that balance enterprise standards against each program’s needs.
• Advise the Director of Athletics and executive staff on technology investment, competitive intelligence, and organizational performance.
• Serve as Athletics’ primary liaison to the university’s Sports Analytics minor (proposed launch Fall 2027), supporting experiential-learning opportunities for students.
• Partner with coaches to build recruiting analytics — prospect evaluation, video, statistics, and transfer-portal data — that sharpen identification and communication.
• Support roster construction and scholarship/NIL resource planning so coaches get maximum return from resources.
• Apply AI-assisted evaluation methods responsibly, with human review and clear privacy safeguards for prospective student-athletes.
• Partner with coaching and performance staff on opponent scouting, game planning, and in-game and post-game decision support.
• Translate wearable, video, tracking, and biometric data into training-load and readiness insights, in coordination with Sports Medicine and Sports Performance.
• Deliver tailored dashboards and tools built around how each sport actually prepares and competes.
• Partner with University IT to build a secure, scalable data architecture and integrate systems spanning recruiting, video, wearables, academics, and business operations.
• Establish a responsible AI framework — approved tools, human review for high-impact decisions, and staff training.
• Chair the athletics data-governance function, setting access, privacy, and security standards consistent with FERPA, HIPAA (where applicable), and NCAA/conference rules.
• Build executive dashboards spanning competitive, academic, financial, and operational performance.
• Support budgeting, scheduling, and resource-allocation decisions with forecasting and scenario modeling.
• Deliver an annual analytics impact report on adoption, outcomes, and return on investment.
• Hire, supervise, and develop analytics staff, graduate assistants, and student analysts.
• Manage the analytics/technology budget, vendor contracts, and system implementations.
• Represent Athletics on university data-governance and technology committees.

Skills

Credibility with coaches

Cross-functional leadership

Data visualization

Executive communication

Staff management

Education

Bachelor's degree in analytics, statistics, data or CS

Master’s degree

Tools

SQL

Python or R

Cloud data platforms

BI tools

Job description

The Associate Athletics Director for Sports Analytics at William & Mary oversees data, analytics, and AI strategy across all 23 varsity sports, turning complex information into actionable decisions for coaches and administrators.

The role requires credibility with coaches, strong communication, and the ability to lead cross-functional projects while ensuring privacy and FERPA/NCAA compliance. It reports to Athletics leadership and engages with university IT and sports programs.