Director, AI and Analytics

Director, AI and Analytics

The Director, AI & Analytics is a collaborative & technical partner that seeks opportunities to learn and engage across the enterprise. The Director, AI & Analytics will lead, architect, and deliver UFCU's portfolio of strategic, operational, and transformational AI solutions, impacting data usage, AI adoption, and predictive analytics impact across the enterprise. This role is a "player-coach" leadership role that requires a rare combination of business influence and deep technical proficiency.

This leader will partner across the organization to deliver innovative and data driven solutions and to turn member insights into competitive advantages.

This position is an exempt role, reports to the VP, Data & AI and leads the AI & Analytics team.

Our Credit Union was founded in 1936 and has grown to serve members throughout Texas and beyond. At UFCU, we are more than just a financial institution, and our people are more than just employees. We are dedicated to our purpose of empowering our Members to achieve financial success and build brighter futures.

In pursuit of our aspiration that UFCU is loved by millions of Members and built to thrive for generations, we are guided by our values:

• Purposefully Member-Obsessed:
  We are driven by a profound sense of empathy to deeply understand our Members' needs and preferences, what brighter futures means to them, and the obstacles in their way. We act in our Members' best interests, forever seeking to empower their financial success.
• Possibilities Reimagined:
  We are inspired to courageously experiment, learn, and iterate in pursuit of positive impact for our Members, UFCU, and coworkers. We challenge assumptions, embrace diverse perspectives, and make use of data and insights.
• Performance Excellence Rooted in Unwavering Integrity:
  We do the right thing, always. We champion teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, and celebrate successful outcomes of others, fostering an inclusive environment of excellence and collaboration.

Essential Functions

Data and Analytics

• Portfolio Execution:
  Lead the end-to-end delivery of AI use cases, from "Next Best Conversation" models to operational efficiency engines, ensuring they move beyond "lab" experiments into resilient production environments
• Technical Sovereignty:
  Define the technical standards for AI delivery, influencing IT and Data Engineering teams on the evolution of the Databricks platform, Unity Catalog, and feature store requirements to ensure they meet the needs of modern data science
• Multi-Disciplinary Leadership:
  Manage and mentor teams across data science, machine learning engineering, and operational business analytics, fostering a culture of "Delivery over Perfection"
• Strategic Partnership:
  Serve as the primary "translator" between executive business goals and technical execution, ensuring the AI roadmap is prioritized based on business value and ROI. Partner with enterprise business function to manage operational, strategic and transformational AI & AI solutions
• Production Excellence:
  Establish CI/CD, MLOps, and monitoring standards for models within the Databricks environment to ensure long-term stability and accuracy
• Develop and execute the organization's AI and analytics strategy in alignment with overall business goals

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, inspire, motivate, and develop team members by providing guidance and training to attain departmental and individual development goals and support organizational needs
• Serve as a role model in transparent communication, two-way dialogue, and proactive communication to the team
• Build a successful team to operate according to UFCU guiding principles, providing guidance and resources and removing obstacles as needed.
• Provide team leadership based on servant leadership principles, caring for the whole person
• Plan, monitor, and appraise job results with an emphasis on coaching and developing employees to achieve desired performance results
• Help teams achieve their career goals. Ensure team members understand how to have an impact and are aware of that impact when they've made it

Strategic Business Partner

• Partner with executive leadership, business units, and technology stakeholders to identify high-impact opportunities for AI and analytics, translating business needs into actionable data and technology roadmaps
• Cultivate a positive, strong, lasting, and meaningful relationship and connection with others, working collaboratively with peers across the organization
• Facilitate joint brainstorming and team collaboration working closely with peers to aid in creating organizational goals and strategies
• Collaborate with departments across the business, supporting their needs to achieve desired operational results
• Collaborate with business partners to determine future needs and support necessary to achieve business unit strategy

Strategy Development/Strategic Planning

• Collaborate with senior leaders and actively participate in the organizational strategic planning…