Senior Director Financial Services Analytics and Decisioning

Dentsu International Americas; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 290,000; Full time

Job summary

Merkle, a part of Dentsu International Americas, is hiring a Senior Director to lead customer analytics and modeling for insurance and banking clients. The role connects first-party, customer, and call center data to inform decisions that move growth metrics.

The position sets the strategic direction for the team, owning the overall vision and coordinating with channels for an integrated roadmap. Leadership of Directors and senior modelers is included, with travel as needed.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in analytics/data science, leading modeling delivery for multiple clients or portfolios.
• Track record advising C-level executives in insurance or banking with strong stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Own senior client relationships as analytics partner to C-suite across Marketing, Distribution, Customer, Product, and Finance/Actuarial for insurance or Risk/Finance for banking.
• Set the customer analytics vision and multi-year roadmap aligned to business priorities.
• Lead next best action, lead scoring, CLV design, and measurement standards; translate data into executive-ready recommendations.
• Orchestrate analytics, data science, and engineering as one delivery model with data governance in regulated environments.
• Travel to client sites monthly to quarterly as engagement requires.

Skills

Analytics leadership

C-suite relationship management

Strategic roadmap development

Mentoring and people development

Stakeholder management

Communications

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

MBA/MS/PhD preferred

Tools

SQL

Python

R

Tableau

Power BI

Looker

BigQuery

ETL/ELT tools (SSIS or similar)

Job description

Job Description:

At Merkle, we help top financial services clients grow through data, analytics, and customer insight. We are hiring a Senior Director to lead customer analytics and modeling for insurance and banking clients, connecting first-party, customer, and call center data to the decisions that move each client's growth metric.

Role summary

The purpose of this role is to set the strategic direction for the team, taking ownership of the overall vision and outcomes, liaising with other channels to ensure an integrated approach/roadmap.

Responsibilities

• Own senior client relationships as primary analytics partner to C-suite and senior executives across Marketing, Distribution, Customer, Product, and Finance/Actuarial (insurance) or Risk and Finance (banking)
• Set the customer analytics vision and multi-year roadmap for each account, aligned to business priorities and long-term objectives
• Provide thought leadership on lead management, next best action, incrementality, and customer value, moving clients from point solutions to operating-model answers
• Translate customer, call center, and omnichannel data (dispositions, outcomes, QA/CSAT, operational KPIs) into executive-ready recommendations that drive prioritization and investment
• Set standards for segmentation, propensity, lead scoring, and CLV, including validation, calibration, and champion/challenger design, and review features and performance before client delivery
• Lead next best action and decisioning design, including eligibility rules, business constraints, and offline-to-live validation
• Set measurement and test-and-learn standards so investment decisions rest on evidence, not attribution assertions
• Orchestrate analytics, data science, and engineering as one delivery model, including ETL/ELT, feature frameworks, and data governance in regulated environments
• Partner across operations, marketing, and distribution to turn insight into measurable action
• Modernize legacy data and analytics processes, adopting AI-enabled analytics and unstructured data where they create measurable value
• Establish frameworks, best practices, and documentation standards across the portfolio, and lead through ambiguity and client transitions with clear ownership
• Lead, mentor, and develop Directors, Team Leads, and senior modelers
• Contribute to proposals, expansion, and scoping, with commercial discipline on what is in and out of scope
• Travel to client sites as account needs require, with a typical cadence of monthly to quarterly depending on the engagement

Requirements

• 15+ years in analytics, data science, or related fields, including leading modeling delivery for multiple clients or complex portfolios and managing senior leaders
• Track record advising C-level or senior executives in insurance or banking, with strong stakeholder management and client-facing communication
• Deep understanding of customer lifecycle, acquisition and retention economics, and CLV
• Hands-on depth in propensity, ranking, and CLV modeling, with the ability to review code, features, and validation directly
• Experience with regulated customer data (privacy, consent, GLBA, FCRA and permissible purpose, state insurance regulation, TCPA as applicable)
• Strong SQL and data modeling (facts and dimensions), with working familiarity with Python or R, ETL/ELT (SSIS or similar), and BI tools (Tableau, Power BI, or Looker)
• GCP/BigQuery experience preferred
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MS, PhD) preferred

Strongly Preferred

• Insurance and protection depth (P&C, life, annuity, affinity): persistency, lapse, and value of new business
• Banking and lending depth: deposits, balances, NII drivers, cards, and consumer and commercial lending
• Credit bureau experience, including TransUnion, in consumer lending or underwriting models
• Salesforce or contact center analytics
• Predictive analytics, text and speech analytics, and AI readiness
• Lead management, next best action, or decis