Director of Data & AI

This is a senior leadership role within a private equity backed manufactuing and distribution business, focused on turning data into measurable commercial impact. The business wants faster, better decision making and real value from AI rather than experimentation. You will set the roadmap, build the capability and ensure adoption across the organisation.

You will report to c-suite and partner closely with executives to identify high value opportunities, lead delivery, and embed a genuine data driven culture.

What you’ll be doing

• Define AND execute the enterprise data, analytics and AI strategy
• Build and lead a multidisciplinary data team across engineering, analytics and data science
• Deliver scalable platforms including data lakes, warehouses and pipelines
• Drive analytics adoption through dashboards, insights and predictive models
• Take AI initiatives from idea to production including GenAI and automation
• Govern data quality, security and regulatory compliance
• Manage third parties and vendors to accelerate delivery

• Proven delivery of analytics or AI programmes with measurable business outcomes
• Strong cloud data platform experience (AWS, Azure or GCP) and relevant technical skills
• Background working across engineering, analytics and business stakeholders
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into commercial decisions
• Experience building and mentoring data teams

This role suits someone commercial and pragmatic who can operate at exec level but still hands on enough to deliver instant impact