Senior Director, Data at Navan

<h2><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Position Overview</strong></span></h2> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">As our Senior Director of Data, you will serve as the strategic visionary and executive engine powering our company’s data transformation. In this high-impact leadership role, you will redefine how we leverage information by driving enterprise data strategy, pioneering AI data readiness, commanding end-to-end pipeline engineering, and unlocking competitive advantages through cutting-edge predictive analytics. You will champion, build, and inspire a world-class team across data engineering, analytics, and data science, scaling modern infrastructure, deploying production-grade ML models, and relentlessly embedding a fearless, evidence-based, data-driven culture across every level of the organization.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong></span></h2> <h3 style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>1. Strategy &amp; Organizational Data Leadership</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Define and execute the enterprise data, AI data readiness, and analytics strategy aligned with business objectives.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Champion a data-driven culture across departments by elevating data literacy and self-service analytics.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Build, mentor, and lead high-performing teams of data engineers, data scientists, and analysts.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>2. AI Readiness &amp; Data Science Leadership</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Drive the AI data strategy, ensuring data is curated, labeled, and optimized for ML/AI model development and deployment.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Oversee the end-to-end lifecycle of machine learning models, predictive analytics, and feature store infrastructure.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Collaborate with business partners to identify high-impact AI/ML opportunities that drive strategic value.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>3. Pipeline Engineering &amp; Infrastructure</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Oversee modern data engineering, architectural design, and reliable ETL/ELT pipelines for batch and real-time processing.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Architect scalable data warehouses, data lakes, and modern data stack operations (MLOps).</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 style="padding-left: 40px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>4. Governance, Analytics &amp; Reporting</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Establish governance policies to ensure high data quality, security, and global regulatory compliance (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Deliver key executive dashboards, visualizations, and A/B testing frameworks to measure operational KPIs.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Qualifications</strong></span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Experience:</strong> 10+ years of progressive leadership experience across data engineering, analytics, and data science.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Leadership:</strong> Proven track record of managing data engineering and ML teams while fostering a data-driven organizational culture.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Technical Mastery:</strong> Strong hands-on knowledge of Python, SQL, modern ETL tools, cloud data warehouses, and major ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn).</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Architecture &amp; Pipelines:</strong> Deep expertise in pipeline design, streaming data architectures, MLOps, and feature store management.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Education:</strong> Master's or Ph.D. in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or related quantitative field.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Communication:</strong> Excellent capability to translate complex technical concepts into clear strategic insights for non-technical stakeholders.</span></li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p>The posted pay range represents the&nbsp;anticipated&nbsp;low and high end of the compensation for this position and is subject to change based on business need. To determine a successful candidate’s starting pay, we carefully consider a variety of factors, including primary work location, an evaluation of the candidate’s skills and experience, market demands, and internal parity.<br><br>For roles with on-target-earnings (OTE), the pay range includes both base salary and target incentive compensation. Target incentive compensation for some roles may include a ramping draw period. Compensation is higher for those who exceed targets. Candidates may receive more information from the recruiter.</p></div><div class="title">Pay Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$194,400</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$432,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Navan uses AI-assisted Automated Employment Decision Tool (Metaview) to assist with evaluating resumes against job qualifications for this role. All final decisions are made by human recruiters and hiring managers.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Human oversight:</strong>&nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Metaview does not automatically reject candidates or make final hiring decisions. Our recruiters and hiring managers review all outputs and make the final hiring decision regarding every application.&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li> <p><strong>Your rights: </strong>If you prefer to have your application reviewed without AI assistance, you may request a human evaluation by entering your email <a href="https://my.metaview.app/applications/opt-out?organization=15dd7e883f">here</a>. Your decision to do so will not affect how your candidacy is evaluated.&nbsp;</p> </li> </ul> <p>Please refer to our<a href="https://navan.com/candidate-privacy-notice"> Candidate Privacy Notice</a> for more information about our processing of personal data, and your rights.</p></div>