Sr. Director, Data Analytics & AI Innovation

When you join VerizonYou want more out of a career. A place to share your ideas freely — even if they’re daring or different. Where the true you can learn, grow, and thrive. At Verizon, we power and empower how people live, work and play by connecting them to what brings them joy. We do what we love — driving innovation, creativity, and impact in the world. Our V Team is a community of people who anticipate, lead, and believe that listening is where learning begins. In crisis and in celebration, we come together — lifting our communities and building trust in how we show up, everywhere & always. Want in? Join the #VTeamLife.As the Senior Director of Data Analytics & AI Innovation, you will serve as a core strategic leader reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer. Your mission is to evolve our data function into a proactive growth and innovation engine. By spearheading data standardization, democratization, and modern AI/ML integration across the entire operational footprint, you will uncover hidden business insights that directly transform our business model and accelerate revenue and margin growth.You will lead, champion, and mentor two high-impact global teams: the Business Intelligence Center of Excellence and the Advanced Data Analytics division, equipping them with the cutting-edge capabilities needed to lead in an AI-first economy.Key Responsibilities:Business Transformation & Value Realization: Architect and execute a data roadmap tied directly to operational efficiency and the P&L. Partner closely with Sales, Product, and Finance to build predictive revenue and margin models that stress-test new commercial strategies.AI-First Insights & Proactivity: Shift the team’s focus from descriptive reporting to predictive and prescriptive analytics. Utilize AI tools to uncover proactive insights regarding customer churn, pricing optimization, and operational expansion opportunities.Data Democratization & Self-Service: Lead the strategic evolution toward an automated self-serve data sandbox model. Implement user-friendly semantic layers and data literacy training to empower non-technical business units to pull reliable data safely.Data Standardization & Governance: Modernize our data quality framework. Use automation and machine learning to clean, tag, and standardize messy legacy data systems, ensuring a single source of truth across all platforms.Team Development & AI Future-Proofing: Act as a champion and mentor for the current analytics team, empowering them to thrive in an AI-first environment. Drive a culture of continuous development and equip the team with next-generation skills and productivity tools (e.g., automated data pipelines, intelligent coding assistants) to eliminate repetitive tasks. This will free up team capacity, allowing them to solve complex operational challenges and elevate their impact as strategic business partners.Strategic Operating Rhythm: Oversee the operational rhythm of company-wide Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) alongside the COO, ensuring cross-functional roadmaps align with data capabilities and long-term business strategy.What we’re looking for…Education: Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field (Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics) or equivalent practical experience.8+ years of relevant experience.Leadership: 7+ years of experience leading, scaling, and cultivating talent within large, diverse, global data teams.Industry Context: 5+ years of deep experience within a fast-paced SaaS or technology enterprise.Financial Acumen: Proven track record of financial analysis, commercial model creation, and tying data initiatives directly to gross margin improvements.Process Excellence: Strong experience in business process improvement and optimization (e.g., Lean Six Sigma, Agile methodology) applied directly to modern technology environments.Even better if you have:A Master’s degree or MBA.Demonstrated success designing cloud-native data strategies using modern data stacks (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Looker/Tableau).Hands-on experience implementing data governance or data contracts to support AI/ML pipelines.Superb executive presence; the ability to act as a "data translator" who can simplify complex technical concepts to influence senior stakeholders and client relationships.Where you’ll be workingIn this hybrid role, you'll have a defined work location that includes working from home and a minimum of three days per week in the office, which will be set by your manager. Employees are responsible for maintaining compliance with hybrid work policies.Scheduled Weekly Hours40Equal Employment OpportunityVerizon is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to veteran status, disability or other legally protected characteristics.Benefits and CompensationOur benefits are designed to help you move forward in your career, and in areas of your life outside of Verizon. From health and wellness benefit options including: medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability, basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, AD&D insurance, identity theft protection, pet insurance and group home & auto insurance. We also offer a matched 401(k) savings plan, up to 8 company paid holidays per year and up to 6 personal days per year, paid parental leave, adoption assistance and tuition assistance, plus other incentives, we’ve got you covered with our award-winning total rewards package. Depending on the role, employees have the opportunity to receive compensation in the form of premium pay such as overtime, shift differential, holiday pay, allowances, etc. Newly hired employees receive up to 15 days of vacation per year, which grows with additional service. For part-timers, your coverage will vary as you may be eligible for some of these benefits depending on your individual circumstances.The salary will vary depending on your location and confirmed job-related skills and experience. This is an incentive based position with the potential to earn more. For part-time roles, your compensation will be adjusted to reflect your hours.The annual salary range for the location(s) listed on this job requisition based on a full-time schedule is: $165,000.00 - $316,000.00.SummaryLocation: Basking Ridge, New JerseyType: Full time