Director of Data Engineering & Data Science - IAA

About the RoleIAA is seeking a Director of Data Engineering & Data Science to lead a highly visible, business-critical function at the intersection of data, analytics, machine learning, and business transformation. This leader will define and drive the vision, architecture, and execution for IAA’s data engineering and data science capabilities, ensuring the organization can scale advanced analytics, BI, forecasting, machine learning, and AI solutions that directly support business growth and operational excellence.This role requires a strong technical leader and business problem solver who can partner across a broad set of stakeholders including Operations, Business, Sales, Marketing, Product, and Engineering. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in the Azure BI and data ecosystem, strong people leadership, and the ability to translate complex business needs into practical, scalable data and AI solutions.This position reports directly to the VP of Engineering and is a critical, high-visibility leadership role within the organization.What You’ll DoLead the Data Engineering and Data Science Engineering function for IAA, setting technical vision, delivery strategy, and operating rhythmBuild and evolve scalable data platforms, BI architecture, and ML-enablement capabilities using the Azure data and analytics stackDrive strategy and execution across Microsoft Fabric, Synapse, Power BI, Azure BI technologies, and modern cloud data platformsPartner with business and functional leaders to solve high-value problems across Operations, Sales, Marketing, Product, and other key areasGuide the design and implementation of robust pipelines, semantic models, dashboards, self-service analytics, forecasting solutions, and machine learning systemsHelp shape the roadmap for advanced analytics, predictive modeling, experimentation, and AI-driven insightsMentor, coach, and grow data engineering and data science talent while raising the technical bar across the teamEstablish strong engineering practices across architecture, delivery quality, scalability, governance, and operational excellenceCollaborate closely with engineering leaders and cross-functional teams to ensure data and AI solutions are aligned with platform, product, and business prioritiesAct as a senior thought partner to leadership on data strategy, technical tradeoffs, and investment prioritiesWhat We’re Looking ForProven experience leading Data Engineering, BI, Analytics, and/or Data Science Engineering teams at the Director level or equivalentDeep expertise in the Azure BI / data technology stack, including:Microsoft FabricAzure Synapse AnalyticsPower BIBroader Azure data and analytics servicesStrong understanding of data engineering architecture, modern analytics platforms, and scalable data pipelinesStrong foundation in data science, machine learning, and model operationalizationDemonstrated ability to solve complex business problems through data, analytics, and technical leadershipStrong mentoring, coaching, and people leadership skills with experience growing high-performing technical teamsExcellent communication and stakeholder management skills; able to work effectively with a wide range of technical and non-technical partners such as Ops, Business, Sales, Marketing, Product, EngineeringAbility to operate successfully in a fast-paced, high-visibility environment with multiple priorities and stakeholdersStrong executive presence and the ability to connect technical decisions to business outcomesPreferred ExperienceExperience supporting enterprise use cases across operations, commercial functions, and product-driven organizationsExperience driving both BI modernization and data science / ML adoption within the same organizationFamiliarity with cloud-native engineering practices, production-grade data platforms, and secure, scalable AI/ML environmentsExperience leading organizations that combine data engineering, analytics engineering, BI, and data scienceunder one leadership modelIAA Data Science / Engineering Technology EnvironmentWe are looking for a leader who can guide and expand a modern data and AI ecosystem. Relevant technologies include Azure BI capabilities as well as IAA’s broader data science and ML toolset, including technologies such as Python, SQL, Azure Event Hub, Apache Airflow, Synapse, Fabric, Docker, Terraform, DBT, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Vertex AI, Gemini, GPT, Prophet, TBATS, SARIMAX, scikit-learn, CI/CD pipelines, and Azure cloud platform.Why This Role MattersThis is a critical leadership role for IAA. The Director will help shape how the company uses data, analytics, BI, and AI to make better decisions, improve business performance, unlock operational efficiencies, and create scalable competitive advantage. This leader will influence both technical direction and business outcomes across the organization.