Vice President, Data & Analytics

Hillenbrand Corporate; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 210,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Hillenbrand is seeking a Vice President of Data & Analytics to lead the data strategy, governance, and AI initiatives while hands-on with platform engineering. You will guide a global team, establish data contracts and disciplined delivery, and align data work with business goals.

You will drive enterprise data architecture, modeling, and governance, partnering with security and compliance to manage risk and enable informed decision-making across the organization.

Qualifications

• 10+ years leading analytics, BI, or data platforms in large enterprises.
• Strong data governance, data quality, and stewardship experience.
• Proven ability to set strategy and execute with hands-on platform work.
• Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive leadership for data strategy, governance, and AI initiatives.
• Build and mentor a global data/AI team and set operating model and priorities.
• Oversee Databricks lakehouse, governance, and cost-management practices.
• Partner with business leaders to translate priorities into scalable data products.

Skills

Leadership

Data governance

Executive communication

Platform engineering hands-on

AI strategy & governance

Education

Bachelor's in CS/DS/related

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Databricks

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

SQL/BI tooling

Job description

The Vice President, Data & Analytics provides executive leadership for the organization's data strategy, data governance, enterprise data warehouse, business intelligence, and AI initiatives — and is a true player-coach: an executive who sets direction and builds the team while remaining hands-on in the platform working alongside the team they lead. This role ensures that data and AI are treated as strategic assets, enabling informed decision-making, operational excellence, and business growth.Work You’ll Do:Leadership & strategyPlayer-coach profile: leads a small, global team but personally engaged in deep technical workStrong documentation and knowledge-management habits — data contracts, table docs, and query patterns as first-class deliverablesVendor/platform cost management: compute governance, storage lifecycle policies, and experience managing the cost / value equationPartner with business and enterprise stakeholders to align data initiatives with broader organizational prioritiesBuild, mentor, and retain a high-performing global team; set the operating model, hiring plan, and delivery prioritiesEstablish enterprise data governance and stewardship — data ownership, quality standards, and access policy — partnering with security, legal, and complianceHands-on lakehouse engineeringExpert-level Databricks (or similar technology): Delta Lake internals (MERGE/CDC patterns, OPTIMIZE, vacuum/retention, time travel), SQL warehouses, and workflow/job orchestrationDeep experience with medallion (bronze/silver/gold) architectures — efficicent load design, dedup strategy at ingestion, and grain/key discipline through each layerStrong Unity Catalog governance skills: access model design, lineage, and system-table observabilityData architecture & modelingProven dimensional-modeling depth (Kimball-style facts/dims): define and enforce fact grain, conformed dimensions, and surrogate-key disciplineMulti-ERP integration experience (SAP, Dynamics, Navision, JDE/E1, IFS or similar)CDC/replication architecture: choosing and implementing change-capture patterns that minimize storage and compute requirementsAssessment & redesign capabilityTrack record of leading a platform assessment and rationalization: data-quality profiling, source-to-target lineage reconstruction, and storage/compute cost reductionCapability to develop and stand up a continuous data-quality framework: automated grain/duplication/reconciliation tests in the pipelines (e.g., dbt tests, Delta Live Tables expectations, or equivalent)Financial reconciliation mindset: experience tying warehouse facts to reported financials (orders vs bookings vs GL) and documenting where they legitimately divergePragmatic migration planning: can sequence a redesign while keeping certified models and executive dashboards liveAI & advanced analyticsDefine and drive the AI/ML and generative-AI strategy: identify, prioritize, and sequence high-value use cases tied to measurable business outcomesStand up responsible-AI and model governance: evaluation, monitoring, data-privacy, and risk controls for both predictive and generative systemsEnable self-service analytics and citizen development through governed data products and a trusted semantic layerReporting:Reporting to the Chief Enterprise Business Services Officer, the Vice President leads a team spanning data warehouse and AI, and partners with a much larger group of indirect stakeholders across the business.Basic Qualifications:Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field — or equivalent experience.Preferred Qualifications:10 or more years of progressive experience in analytics, business intelligence, and data administrationExpertise in data governance, data architecture, BI platforms, and cloud data technologies,Strong proficiency with data modeling and analytics methodologiesStrong executive communication and strategic planning skillsDemonstrated people-leadership: building, mentoring, and retaining technical teams while remaining hands-on in the platformExperience setting AI/ML and analytics strategy and standing up data or AI governance at enterprise scaleWho we are:Hillenbrand ( www.hillenbrand.com ) is a global industrial company that provides highly engineered, mission-critical processing equipment and solutions to customers in over 100 countries around the world. Our portfolio is composed of leading industrial brands that serve large, attractive end markets, including durable plastics, food, and recycling. Guided by our Purpose — Shape What Matters For Tomorrow — we pursue excellence, collaboration, and innovation to consistently shape solutions that best serve our associates, customers, communities, and other stakeholders.EEO: The policy of Hillenbrand Inc. is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual's age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or veteran status. Additionally, Hillenbrand Inc. and our operating companies are committed to being an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer and offers opportunities to all job seekers including individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, email us @[e-mail] . In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying. At Hillenbrand, everyone is welcome to apply and "Shape What Matters for Tomorrow".