Deputy Director of Data, Analytics, and Infrastructure Resource

Job Description

Job Description

Are you passionate about economic fairness and social justice? Do you want to improve the lives of working people and strengthen the labor movement? If you answered, “Yes!” then the AFL-CIO may be the right place for you. We are the largest federation of labor unions in the United States, and our team of dynamic professionals is dedicated to growing worker power and ensuring every working person has a voice on the job. When you work at the AFL-CIO, you’re more than just an individual employee—you’re helping to lead a movement with a proud history and a bright future ahead.

The Deputy Director plays a central role–working closely with the AFL-CIO’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO)–in helping to manage the Data, Analytics and Infrastructure department and moving forward the Federation’s work around new innovations in technology and the use of data to grow the labor movement and build power for working people. Working closely with team managers and staff, they will oversee the technical work of the department, spanning data engineering, infrastructure, analytics and product development.

This role requires a leader who combines strong technical vision with exceptional people management skills. The right candidate will work closely with the CTO to support the department's associate directors, helping them and their teams grow their capabilities while leading the co-creation and implementation of practices and standards that enable high-quality, sustainable work. They will play a central role in the department's evolution from a service-delivery model toward product-centric approaches grounded in product-centric approaches and user-centered design.

You should have strong domain expertise in one or more of: product management, data science, data engineering, software development, technical strategy as well as experience guiding organizations through major transformation efforts, including championing the adoption of modern technology practices to improve quality and enable this evolution. 

The DAIR Department’s goal is to generate lasting power for the labor movement, by building the Federation's programmatic tools, web development, data systems, and analytics capacity. This team serves a broad range of clients across the labor movement - from other AFL-CIO departments, to AFL-CIO affiliates, to state and local labor bodies. Through investment in central infrastructure, training, and direct service work, the department aims to empower its partners to run stronger and more cost-effective political and legislative mobilization, digital, and organizing campaigns.

This position reports to the CTO of the AFL-CIO.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

• Partner with the CTO to support Associate Directors and guiding teams toward greater technical excellence;
• Coordinate and support the department’s implementation of product management practices, and help teams shift from reactive service work toward strategic, sustainable projects;
• Oversee the establishment and maintenance of engineering standards, workflows, and documentation practices across the department;
• Lead technical architecture decisions for products and services;
• Foster a culture–working closely with the management team–where teams are continuously building new skills and ensure that teams have the appropriate resources for professional development, particularly training on moderns tools and practices;
• Serve as department lead for specific program initiatives;
• Establish and maintain processes that promote transparent information collection and sharing to inform department planning and decision-making.
• Collaborate in the management team to support the CTO’s leadership of technical strategy and major initiatives. Serving as proxy for the CTO, where appropriate, to move the department from strategy to implementation;
• Evaluate build-versus-buy decisions for tools and platforms;
• Draft strategic briefs, reports, memoranda, presentations, talking points, and other written materials for the CTO, other AFL-CIO departments, and Federation leadership as needed;
• Working with senior DAIR management, oversee the hiring and onboarding of new staff and the professional development of existing staff;
• Provide strategic guidance on data, technology, and analytics to the officers and executive offices;
• Manage vendor relationships;
• Represent the AFL-CIO in internal and external meetings as requested;
• Manage the department in the CTO’s absence;
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• At least 8 years of related work experience and 4 or more years of experience managing a technical team (data, analytics, web or software development, etc.);
• Demonstrated domain expertise in data, analytics, digital strategy, software development or other technical field;
• Demonstrated strength as a people manager, with experience managing other managers, coaching and developing technical staff, building team capabilities, and creating supportive environments where people do their best work;
• Experience leading teams through major technical transformations or process improvements, particularly in environments with a mix of legacy systems and institutional knowledge;
• Experience with modern data stacks and development tools for: cloud architectures; big data; machine learning and LLM’s; automated testing, integration and deployment; and agentic software development.
• Experience with machine learning or predictive analytics, particularly in applied contexts like audience modeling, targeting or classification, preferred;
• Familiarity with product development practices, including roadmap planning, user research, and iterative development (experience in a product-focused engineering leadership role preferred);
• Knowledge of and experience with both national and local labor structures and experience working in the labor movement preferred;
• Hands-on experience with LLM-based tools and applications, like retrieval-augmented generation, agents, or workflow automation, a plus;
• Proven commitment to building and leading diverse teams of people and creating a supportive working environment for all team members;
• Experience reviewing and managing complex program budgets, work plans and timelines as well as leading and supporting organizational change;
• Excellent active listening, interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills with the ability to connect with different types of stakeholders, including staff;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in politically sensitive and high-pressure environments;
• Experience communicating complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences;
• Commitment to team collaboration and fostering a culture of curiosity in learning new things across a team, including supporting and facilitating professional development opportunities;
• Demonstrated ability to resolve conflicts while maintaining important and effective relationships as well as working collaboratively and respectfully with high-level officers and representatives of the labor movement;
• Ability to work well under tight deadlines;
• Ability to work long and irregular hours, including weekends, and to travel as needed.