Sr Manager Applied Intelligence

Academy Sports + Outdoors; Katy (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Academy Sports + Outdoors is seeking a senior data science leader to architect scalable analytics and machine learning capabilities across marketing, customer and omnichannel work. You will partner with CIO, Data Products, Engineering, AI COE, IT pod, platform, and governance teams to drive data models, shared datasets, and data access, enabling safe, scalable analytics in a retail environment.

The ideal candidate has 8+ years in data science or analytics, experience leading teams, and a track

Job description

Who We Are

At Academy Sports + Outdoors our vision is to be the best sports + outdoors retailer in the country — but what truly sets us apart is our people. We’re a passionate, purpose-driven team that’s as committed to each other as we are to our customers.

We’ve spent over 80 years building a culture that puts people first. We believe in creating opportunities for growth, fostering meaningful connections, and supporting every Team Member’s journey. What fuels us? Our belief in the power of fun.

Here, you won’t just help customers gear up for their next adventure — you’ll launch one of your own. Whether you're starting out or leveling up, Academy is a place where fun can’t lose!

What You Will Work On

In this role, you shape scalable, reusable, production-grade data science and artificial intelligence capabilities that support customer, marketing, and omnichannel work. Your leadership helps teams move faster with shared data, feature, modeling, MLOps, and model-lifecycle patterns instead of rebuilding solutions for each need. By embedding quality, fairness, trust, compliance, and practical governance into the work, you help create analytics and machine learning solutions that can be used safely and effectively at scale.

Working across the customer data domain, you translate business needs into technical patterns aligned with enterprise platforms and standards. You influence priorities through evidence, design proposals, and proof-of-value work while enabling data scientists, analysts, and engineers to adopt common approaches and reduce reinvention. Your scope also includes leading Adobe Analytics and Quantum Metrics data capture, governing customer-facing data domains such as tag management, Bridg, and clean room capabilities, and helping define secure, documented customer data flows.

Who You Will Work With

You will partner with CIO, Data Products, Engineering, AI COE, IT pod, platform, and governance teams to influence customer data models, shared datasets, feature reuse, data access, and consumption standards. These partnerships connect customer-domain needs with secure, scalable technical foundations and practical governance for personalization, experimentation, and customer analytics.

Across a matrixed organization, you will support domain-aligned data scientists, analysts, and engineers while building trust with both business and technical stakeholders. The work calls for clear standards, evidence-based influence, and the confidence to let teams execute independently while keeping quality, reuse, and downstream usability in focus.

What You Bring

Bring your energy, your ideas, and your love for sports and the outdoors.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, Statistics, Data Science, or Computer Sciences
• Master's degree in Analytics or data science preferred
• 8+ years in data science, advanced analytics, applied machine learning, or related fields, with retail or B2C preferred
• 4+ years leading teams or major technical initiatives, including people management or matrixed leadership
• 3+ years in B2C, retail, e-commerce, marketing analytics, or customer-facing analytics domains
• 3+ years building, deploying, or enabling production-grade analytics or ML solutions
• Strong engineering mindset with modular code, reproducibility, and production-grade analytics or ML systems
• Background working with digital analytics, customer data platforms, or experimentation data such as Adobe, web or app analytics, or similar ecosystems
• Proven ability to influence across matrixed organizations without direct ownership
• Background partnering with data engineering, platform, and governance teams
• Ability to balance speed to value with long-term scalability
• MLOps or analytics platform enablement preferred
• Exposure to customer analytics, personalization, marketing, or e-commerce use cases preferred
• Background operating in early-to-mid maturity data organizations preferred
• Comfort shaping standards without formal authority preferred
• A team-first attitude; while your core duties are your priority, you're happy to step in wherever you're needed

Work Style And Physical Requirements

• Systems-thinking approach with a pragmatic bias toward delivery
• Ability to build trust with business and technical stakeholders
• Comfort enabling teams to execute independently while influencing across a matrixed organization
• Focus on scale and reuse rather than personal ownership
• Regular in-office attendance is required
• Acceptable level of hearing and vision to perform job duties
• Ability to adhere to company policies and professional standards

Key Skills

Technology Enablement, Data Collection Management, Quality Assurance and Control, Influencing Others, Process Building, Security

Equal Employment Opportunity

Academy is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate with regard to employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by law.