Sr. Director, AI & Data Science

Job description

Sr. Director, AI & Data Science

Wayzata, Minnesota

Full Time



Ideal Candidate

• Data Science, AI, Analytics + industry experience (Commercial, Sales, Agriculture)


• Experience being a strategic champion to drive AI at scale – success measured by compounding value


• The role requires collaboration with senior leaders to discuss AI and data science possibilities in business terms, modernize processes, and improve efficiency.
  
  The individual is expected to be a thought leader in data science and demonstrate emotional intelligence (EQ).


• The individual is accountable for leading a team of 16 data scientists to deliver data science solutions and models.
  
  They are transitioning from a regional role to a global team.
  
  


• The role will be located in Wayzata, MN (relocation available for candidates outside of Minnesota)

The Sr. Director of AI & Data Science is a visionary leader responsible for uncovering and enabling differentiated, high-impact applications of artificial intelligence across the business.

This role partners closely with business leaders to identify innovative opportunities where AI can be a strategic differentiator, fueling competitive advantage and driving measurable outcomes.

Beyond leading the development and deployment of AI solutions, this role plays a critical part in shaping how AI can transform decision-making, operations, and customer experiences.

The Sr. Director also champions responsible AI practices, ensuring governance, risk mitigation, and ethical use of AI are embedded in every initiative.

With a focus on business value, quality, and foresight, this role drives cross-functional collaboration to turn AI potential into sustainable impact.



Key Accountabilities

Partners with business leaders to identify and accelerate AI opportunities through re-imagining how work is performed, embracing new and modern optimization techniques and changing the pace by which business value is realized.

Translates complex AI capabilities into compelling business narratives, presenting to and influencing non-technical audiences and senior stakeholders to drive informed strategic decisions and foster confidence in AI-driven innovation.

Provides strategic direction of product delivery to ensure scope, timeline and budget are prioritized and in compliance with related regulations and policies.



Leads all aspects of ongoing efforts to guide and improve artificial intelligence and data science design & development practices, champions a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the organization and partners with key team members to drive artificial intelligence literacy and adoption.



Develops and sponsors a community of practice of global data scientists to drive reuse, awareness and alignment to further the company's adoption and value through analytics solutions

Presents and sells artificial intelligence solutions to non-technical audiences to influence strategic related decisions.



Accountable for delivering measurable business outcomes from artificial intelligence investments, with responsibility for handling a significant budget and achieving defined value impact targets.



Builds strategic partnerships and alliances with key business and industry entities to achieve organizational objectives and improve the value of investments.



Manages team members to achieve organization goals, provides technical coaching & guidance, drives accountability for high performance and develops and sustains an environment for data scientists to thrive in an inclusive culture.



Other duties as assigned





MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS



Bachelor's degree in data science, computer science, math, engineering or related field or equivalent experience

Minimum of eight years of related work experience

Experience in a minimum of two machine learning algorithms approaches: unsupervised, supervised and reinforcement learning

Confirmed ability to present to non-technical audiences





PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS



Master's degree or PhD in data science, computer science, math, engineering or related field

Five years of experience leading teams

Experience driving analytics adoption and mobilizing business transformation through AI adoption

Broad expertise of business processes and functions

Proficient in communicating to senior executives on opportunity and value, relating to the audience at hand

Experience working with continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines

Experience working with distributed computing frameworks

Experience working with AWS

Experience in software development environment and code management or versioning

Experience in agriculture



Recruiter Submission Template – Sr. Director, AI & Data Science



Full Name:

Degree Major with University & Completion Year:

Experience influencing and educating non-technical audiences on AI impact?



Ability to build strategic partnerships and alliances?



Culture fit for "visionary leader” in innovation-driven, collaborative environment?



Able to thrive in fast-paced, global business settings with executive visibility?

Total Years of Experience in AI/Data Science/Analytics:

Experience leading teams of data scientists (minimum 5 years)?

Yes/No (Specify team size & duration)

Experience managing a team of 10+ data scientists?



Experience transitioning a team from regional to global?

Yes/No (Details)

Experience driving enterprise-level AI strategy and adoption?

Yes/No (Briefly explain)

Proven track record of delivering measurable business outcomes using AI?

Yes/No (Details)

Experience with supervised learning algorithms?



Experience with unsupervised learning algorithms?



Experience with reinforcement learning?



Ability to translate technical AI concepts into business terms for senior leadership?

Yes/No (Details)

Prior experience working in agriculture, food, or commercial industries?

Yes/No (Specify industry)

Experience in AI/ML solution deployment in commercial or sales functions?

Yes/No

Familiarity with responsible AI principles and risk governance?



Proficiency working with CI/CD pipelines?



Experience with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Hadoop)?

Yes/No (Specify which)

Experience working with AWS cloud services?

Yes/No (List services used)

Experience in a software development environment (code versioning, Git, etc.)?



Broad knowledge of business processes and functions?



Experience in executive stakeholder management and strategic presentations?

Yes/No (Details)

Strong emotional intelligence (EQ) and cross-functional collaboration skills?

Contact Number:

Email ID:

LinkedIn Profile URL (if available):

Full Address (Street, City, State, Zip):

Notice Period (in weeks):

Current Work Authorization Status (e.g., US Citizen, Green Card, H1B, etc.):

Expected Salary:

Are you willing to work onsite in Wayzata, Minnesota?

(Yes/No):

Required Skill Profession

Other General