Senior Director, Digital Transformation

SSA & Company; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

SSA & Company in New York is seeking a senior data leader to drive data strategy, modernization, and governance for top clients across industries. You will define roadmaps, advise on platforms, and lead cross-functional teams to deliver measurable business impact.

The ideal candidate brings 10+ years in data leadership, hands-on experience with Snowflake/Databricks/BigQuery, and a proven track record of delivering transformative analytics programs with executive-level communication.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent in a related field.
• 10+ years in data leadership or data transformation roles.
• Experience with data strategy, governance, and transformation initiatives.
• Industry experience in financial services or regulated environments.
• Proficiency with modern data platforms and cloud-based data services.
• Experience with AI applications and presenting strategies to executives.

Responsibilities

• Lead data transformation engagements for top clients in insurance, financial services and other industries.
• Define data architectures and roadmaps to modernize data ecosystems.
• Advise on platforms, tools, and technologies to enable advanced analytics.
• Drive improvements in revenue, cost optimization, risk management, and customer experience through data solutions.
• Establish metrics and KPIs to track transformation success.
• Collaborate with data scientists and analytics teams to align models with business needs.
• Mentor cross-functional teams of data engineers, scientists, and analysts.
• Provide executive-level communications on project status, risks, and mitigation.
• Participate in industry events to showcase expertise and build brand recognition.
• Promote adoption of modern data and AI tools across client engagements.
• Travel up to 80% to US-based client sites; telecommuting permitted more than 50% from local area.

Skills

Data leadership

Stakeholder management

Analytics strategy

Executive communication

Mentoring

AI/GenAI awareness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, Engineering, Business Analytics, or related field

Tools

Snowflake

Databricks

BigQuery

Data visualization tools

Job description

Job duties:

• Lead consulting engagements with top-tier clients in insurance, financial services, and other industries.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, ensuring alignment of data initiatives with overarching business strategies and objectives.
• Define data transformation strategies, roadmaps, and architectures to modernize data ecosystems.
• Advise on best-in-class data platforms, tools, and technologies to enable advanced analytics and data-driven decision-making.
• Drive measurable improvements in revenue, cost optimization, risk management, and customer experience through data and analytics solutions.
• Establish metrics and KPIs to track the success of transformation initiatives.
• Collaborate with data scientists and analytics teams to ensure models and algorithms align with business requirements.
• Stay current with AI/ML trends, especially Generative AI and Agentic and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) flows, to advise on cutting-edge applications that unlock new opportunities for clients.
• Manage and mentor cross-functional teams, including data engineers, data scientists, and business analysts.
• Provide thought leadership and executive-level communication on project status, risks, and mitigation strategies.
• Serve as a trusted advisor on modern data and analytics technologies, influencing the broader market perspective.
• Participate in industry events, workshops, and conferences to showcase expertise and build brand recognition.
• Internal leadership in building capabilities and adoption of modern data and (Gen)AI tools and techniques
• Telecommuting permitted more than 50% from local area
• Up to 80% unanticipated travel to U.S.-based client sites

Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree, or foreign equivalent, in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, Engineering, Business Analytics, or a related field

Experience:

10 years of experience in a data leadership or data transformation-related role.

Special Skills/other Requirements:

• 10 years of experience leading data strategy, analytics, or data governance initiatives
• Experience leading data transformation, data management, or data governance initiatives
• Experience working within financial services industries (including insurance, banking, or wealth management) or other regulated environments
• Experience applying data transformation principles across multiple industries (e.g., retail, healthcare, manufacturing)
• Experience working with data architecture, data governance frameworks, and data quality methodologies
• Experience with modern data platforms, including data integration, storage, processing, and visualization technologies
• Experience working with cloud-based data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, or similar)
• Experience with data science lifecycle processes, analytics methodologies, or artificial intelligence applications (including generative AI)
• Experience presenting data or technology strategies to executive leadership and communicating technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders