Senior Vice President, AI & Data Intelligence

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS :

The Senior Vice President, AI & Data Intelligence will lead Navacord's enterprise AI and data strategy, with a mandate to transform data, analytics, and artificial intelligence into measurable business outcomes. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer and maintaining a highly visible strategic partnership with the Chief Financial & Operating Officer, this executive will serve as a critical bridge between business and technology. Success in this role requires a leader who operates as a business executive first and a technology leader second. Someone who engages directly with Regional Presidents, operating partners, practice leaders, advisors, and operational teams to identify opportunities, drive adoption, and deliver tangible results. This is a hands-on operator role focused on translating AI potential into real business impact. The successful candidate will build and scale high-value AI use cases across the brokerage, including cross-sell opportunity identification, coverage gap detection, policy checking, carrier placement optimization, submission preparation, operational workflow automation, and enterprise decision intelligence.

The SVP will be accountable not only for defining strategy, but for ensuring AI capabilities become embedded within core business processes and deliver measurable improvements in productivity, revenue growth, client experience, operational efficiency, acquisition integration, and enterprise decision-making. Working closely with regional and business leadership across Navacord's national platform, this leader will establish trusted enterprise data foundations, develop scalable AI-enabled capabilities, and create a culture of adoption and accountability that turns information and intelligence into competitive advantage.

WHAT YOU’LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR:

Enterprise Data Foundations & Governance

• Define and execute the enterprise data strategy, governance framework, and roadmap
• Establish trusted data foundations through stewardship, quality management, lineage, accountability, and standardized business data across acquisitions and operating companies
• Develop enterprise data products, services, and information models that improve interoperability, accessibility, and readiness for analytics, automation, AI, and decision intelligence
• Structure and govern data from policy documents, carrier feeds, Applied Epic, and other enterprise systems to create AI-ready datasets and trusted reporting environments
• Oversee the Azure-based data platform, enterprise data dictionary, ownership models, and change controls to ensure consistent, reliable access to information across the organization

Decision Intelligence & Analytics

• Define and lead the enterprise decision intelligence and analytics strategy
• Develop analytics and decision intelligence capabilities that improve decision-making
• Standardize reporting, measurement, and performance insights across the enterprise and acquired businesses
• Embed predictive, prescriptive, and operational intelligence directly into business processes and workflows
• Deliver analytics solutions that support revenue growth, retention, client outcomes, operational performance, and producer effectiveness
• Enable self-service access to actionable insights across regional leadership, practice groups, and frontline teams

AI Strategy & Business Transformation

• Define and execute the enterprise AI vision, strategy, roadmap, and value realization framework
• Identify, prioritize, and scale high-value AI opportunities that improve productivity, client service, operational performance, and growth
• Partner with executive and business leaders to align AI investment decisions with strategic priorities and measurable business outcomes
• Drive enterprise adoption of AI capabilities across brokerage and operational functions, ensuring successful transition from experimentation to scalable business capabilities
• Lead build-vs-buy decisions across enterprise AI platforms, third-party solutions, and custom development
• Lead the deployment of AI-enabled solutions including cross-sell intelligence, coverage gap detection, carrier placement optimization, submission preparation, policy checking, workflow automation, and producer enablement tools

Reducing Operational Friction

• Partner with regional and functional leaders to identify opportunities where AI, analytics, and automation can improve efficiency and reduce manual work
• Prioritize initiatives based on measurable business outcomes, including time savings, accuracy improvements, revenue growth, and enhanced client service
• Ensure all solutions are designed for adoption, scalability, and sustainable business impact

AI Engineering, MLOps & Platform Governance

• Establish enterprise standards, governance, and operating models for AI platforms and services
• Lead AI engineering, MLOps, model lifecycle management, monitoring, testing, auditability, and operational controls
• Govern enterprise AI infrastructure, reusable services, and deployment patterns to ensure scalability, reliability, and security
• Partner with technology leadership to ensure AI capabilities remain compliant, supportable, and production-ready

Enterprise AI Governance

• Co-lead enterprise AI governance alongside Legal, Risk, Privacy, Security, and Architecture stakeholders
• Establish and maintain AI policies, standards, controls, approval frameworks, and oversight processes
• Govern enterprise and vendor-provided AI capabilities to ensure transparency, accountability, compliance, and risk management
• Support executive and Board reporting related to AI governance, adoption, and risk

M&A Data & Intelligence Enablement

• Define repeatable onboarding and integration standards for data, analytics, reporting, and AI capabilities across acquisitions
• Accelerate value realization through standardized data foundations, intelligence platforms, and reporting frameworks
• Partner with integration teams to reduce fragmentation and improve enterprise consistency across acquired businesses

Leadership & Organizational Development

• Lead and develop high-performing AI, data, analytics, and intelligence teams
• Build leadership capability, succession plans, operating rhythms, governance processes, and performance standards
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, and business value delivery
• Attract, develop, and retain top AI, analytics, and data talent

Executive Stakeholder Management & Value Realization

• Partner closely with the CFOO, Regional Presidents, operating partners, and executive leadership team to identify opportunities and drive AI adoption across the organization
• Serve as the primary executive bridge between business strategy and technology execution, ensuring AI and data initiatives are aligned to business priorities
• Define, measure, and communicate business outcomes tied to AI, analytics, and data investments
• Drive organizational readiness, adoption, accountability, and change management for AI-enabled transformation
• Provide executive, board, lender, and investor reporting related to value realization, strategy, governance, risk, and performance

KEY LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS:

• Strong business acumen and commercial mindset along with a proven track record of building enterprise capabilities rather than isolated technical solutions
• Ability to link technology investments directly to business outcomes
• Executive presence and credibility with senior leaders and Boards including exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Strong understanding of enterprise data, analytics, and AI
• Experience operating in complex, acquisition-driven organizations
• Ability to balance innovation, governance, risk, and value realization

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE ROLE:

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, digital transformation, data, technology, or innovation functions
• Proven experience building and scaling enterprise AI capabilities within a complex organization
• Demonstrated success delivering measurable business outcomes through AI, analytics, automation, and digital transformation initiatives
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams including AI product management, data science, machine learning engineering, analytics, and data platforms
• Strong understanding of generative AI, machine learning, agentic AI, enterprise data platforms, AI governance, and responsible AI practices
• Experience building AI products and capabilities that move beyond proof-of-concepts into enterprise adoption and operational value
• Experience working with senior executive teams, Boards, and business leaders to prioritize investments and drive organizational change
• Experience operating within highly regulated or governance-intensive industries is considered an asset
• Experience supporting M&A-driven organizations and integrating acquired businesses is considered an asset
• Experience within the insurance, brokerage, financial services, or other highly regulated industries is considered a strong asset, particularly where AI, advanced analytics, digital transformation, or data-driven business capabilities have been deployed at enterprise scale
• Familiarity with Applied Epic or similar agency management systems is considered an asset
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Data Science, Information Technology, Mathematics, Business, or a related discipline
• Master’s degree in business administration (MBA), Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field is preferred
• Relevant industry certifications in AI, cloud platforms, analytics, or enterprise architecture are considered an asset

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Health and Dental Benefits
• RRSP Match Program
• Bonus
• Hybrid Work Environment
• Paid Vacation Time
• Sick Days
• Additional PTO available

This is a new position.

Navacord DOES NOT utilize artificial intelligence in the screening, assessment, or selection of applicants for this position.