Senior Vice President, Data Strategy & Analytics

100 LEARFIELD; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

HSA

Life Insurance

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave

Paid Holidays

401(k) + Match

Disability

Job summary

Learfield, a leading media and technology company powering college athletics, seeks a Senior Vice President of Data Strategy & Analytics in Irvine, CA. You will define the company’s data strategy, accelerate commercialization through data products and AI, and deliver insights to strengthen school partnerships and sponsorship sales.

You will lead a 15+ person team across product, data engineering, and BI analytics, building a scalable data platform and governance framework to enable analytics,

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in data, analytics, or data engineering with senior leadership roles.
• Experience building and leading multidisciplinary teams across engineering, product, and analytics.
• Hands-on experience with cloud data providers such as Snowflake or Databricks.
• Experience applying LLMs and AI-native approaches to data accessibility and actionability.
• Proven track record in data governance, privacy, and security for large-scale data.

Responsibilities

• Define Learfield's enterprise data strategy in collaboration with executive leadership.
• Lead a 15+ person team across product managers, data engineers, and BI analysts.
• Translate data capabilities into commercial value and competitive differentiation.
• Own and evolve the enterprise data platform across fan identity, ticketing, donations, and marketing data.
• Build data governance, privacy, and compliance practices for large consumer and transactional data.
• Develop data products and AI-enabled solutions that drive measurable business growth.

Skills

Data leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Data architecture

AI/LLM applications

Snowflake/Databricks

Job description

We are the leading media and technology company powering college athletics— holding the largest first-party college athletics fan database in the world. Our platform connects fans, schools, and brand partners across the full fan journey, creating a powerful data ecosystem spanning ticketing, fundraising, digital engagement, sponsorship, marketing, and fan behavior. As Learfield continues to invest in data and AI, we are seeking a strategic executive to transform this unmatched data asset into a competitive advantage.

The Senior Vice President, Data Strategy & Analytics will define our enterprise data strategy, accelerate commercialization through data products and AI, and deliver actionable insights that strengthen relationships with school partners, empower sponsorship sales, and drive measurable business growth.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Strategy & Leadership Partner with the Chief Data & Technology Officer and our corporate strategy team to define and execute Learfield's enterprise data strategy, aligning data, AI, engineering, and product investments with business growth and client outcomes.
• Lead, develop and evolve a team of 15+ across product managers, data engineers, and BI analysts —while evaluating organizational structure and capabilities to support future growth.
• Effectively partner with executive, product, sales, and client-facing teams to translate data capabilities into commercial value and competitive differentiation.
• Data Architecture & Platform Own and evolve Learfield's enterprise data platform spanning fan identity, ticketing, donations, digital engagement, sponsorship, campaign, and marketing data to create a scalable foundation for analytics, activation, and commercialization.
• Establish strong data governance, quality, privacy, and compliance practices appropriate for handling large volumes of consumer and transactional data.
• Build and operate data clean rooms to enable secure, privacy-safe data collaboration with sponsors, partners, and clients.
• Drive Data & Products With Commercial Impact Drive a product-led approach to data by developing scalable products that create measurable value for schools, brand partners, sponsorship sales, and internal stakeholders.
• Advance audience segmentation and personalization capabilities that improve fan engagement, ticket sales, fundraising, sponsorship activation, and digital marketing performance.
• Leverage data to unlock new sponsorship opportunities, improve campaign measurement, enable premium sponsorship pricing, and create new revenue opportunities for Learfield and its partners.
• Deliver analytics and BI that quantify fan engagement and revenue generation and clearly demonstrate ROI to clients.
• Serve as a senior, credible voice with strategic clients and partners on data strategy, capabilities, and value.
• Guide the team to build native-AI sematic layers across disparate datasets leveraging agentic AI — LLM-powered interfaces, natural-language querying, and intelligent data services that make insights accessible to non-technical users.
• Define the common data model and semantic layer that connects fan, ticketing, donation, campaign, web, email, and partner data into trusted metrics, reusable segments, and activation-ready audiences.

Minimum Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in data, analytics, or data engineering, including significant time in senior leadership roles.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading multidisciplinary teams (engineering, product, and analytics) of people across both enterprise data architecture and data products — not just one or the other.
• Hands‑on experience with leading cloud data providers such as Snowflake or Databricks is required.
• Experience applying LLMs and other AI‑native approaches to make data accessible and actionable.
• Demonstrated success using data to power personalization, fan/customer engagement, and revenue generation.
• Strong grounding in data governance, privacy, and security for large‑scale consumer and transactional data.
• Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management, including client‑facing experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands‑on familiarity with data clean rooms and privacy‑safe data collaboration.
• Experience in live events, sports, ticketing, fundraising/donations, or college athletics.
• Background in ad tech, MarTech, and/or sponsorship measurement.
• Experience commercializing data products in a B2B software environment.

Pay Transparency

The approximate national base pay range for this position is $250,000 to $300,000. Please note that this is a good faith estimate for the position at the time of posting. Individuals may also be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus and/or sales compensation based on individual and company performance. Placement on the range may vary based on factors including but not limited to job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience, and geographic location. The pay rate will comply with all minimum federal, state, and local wage/salary requirements.

Benefits

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Health Savings Account
• Life Insurance and Other Insurance Plans
• Flexible Paid Time Off (minimum 10+ days annually)
• Parental Leave
• 20 Paid Holidays
• 401(k) + Match
• Short/Long Term Disability

Leave benefits are consistent with state and local laws, including the Colorado Health Families and Workplaces Act.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Learfield is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We provide equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race; color; sex; gender identity; sexual orientation; religious practices and observances; national origin; pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; status as a protected veteran or spouse/family member of a protected veteran; or disability.

We are the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With data‑based solutions for a 365‑day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions. Our people‑first culture is the foundation of our business and is reflective of our approach to building meaningful relationships with our employees, partners, and fans. The company strives each day to deliver the mission statement and embody the core values that make Learfield an exciting place to work. Our Mission Powering the connection of fans to the brands and experiences they love. Our Core Values Build Trust | Be Fans of One Another | Power Tomorrow | Create & Connect Communities | Have Fun