Business Ops Directorate team-Data & AI Director

Data & AI Director

20

Chief Operating Officer

TBC

TBC

Works closely and ExCo and Senior Leaders across People's Partnership, Corporate Board and Trustees

Agencies, Consultant companies, Suppliers and contractors

Information and Service Providers

Linked 3rd party organisations

5

Senior Leader (Please refer to the Behaviour Framework on Gateway)

Please refer to the Fit & Proper Policy and Procedure

The Director of Data & AI is responsible for defining and delivering an enterprise-wide data and artificial intelligence strategy that ensures responsible and secure use of data and AI, achieves meaningful improvements in data governance and control, and drives measurable business value and innovation.

The role requires not only deep experience in data and AI but also a continuous outward-looking perspective - actively engaging with industry peers, partners and thought leaders to understand best practice and the evolving "art of the possible," and translating this into pragmatic, business-relevant opportunities for the organisation.

Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, the Director will perform an enterprise-wide role and work closely with the Chief Information Officer who holds accountability for technology platforms, information security and architecture underpinning AI, the Chief Risk Officer who is the accountable data protection officer as well as the Strategy Director. The role also collaborates closely with the rest of the Executive Committee and senior leadership to understand use cases, and embed data and AI into strategic decision-making, and with Trustees and the Board to ensure both data and AI strategies align to risk appetite, regulatory expectations and long-term organisational objectives.

The Director will sponsor key data and AI projects, in alignment with the Enterprise Transformation Office and wider Change processes.

A critical aspect of the role is managing the inherent tension between the cautious and responsible use of AI, and the need to be bold and ambitious in capturing its benefits. The Director must balance the risks associated with adoption (e.g. ethics, bias, governance, regulatory compliance) with the equally material risk of non-adoption - ensuring the organisation remains competitive, efficient and future-ready.

As a result, the Director will build organisational confidence in both the opportunities and risks of AI adoption.

The role is as much about establishing strong foundations as it is about enabling transformation - setting standards, frameworks and governance – ensuring responsible, ethical and compliant use of data and AI, while also driving innovation, experimentation and value delivery through AI and advanced analytics. The role holder should recognise that the barriers to adoption are related to governance, technology, behaviour and trust.

The Director leads the organisation’s data foundations and AI capabilities as two distinct but interdependent domains:

• Data governance and strategy - ensuring trusted, well-governed, secure and accessible data assets
• AI - leveraging those assets to deliver automation, insight, augmentation, business and customer experience transformation

The Director ensures these capabilities operate in alignment, recognising that AI effectiveness depends on strong data governance, architecture and accessibility, while data strategy must anticipate AI‑led use cases and future innovation.

• Define and own the enterprise
  
  Data & AI strategy, aligned to business objectives and transformation priorities
• Act as a…