Director, Data & AI Platforms

As an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Waste Management (WM), a Fortune 250 company, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America. We are strongly committed to a foundation of operating excellence, professionalism and financial strength. WM serves nearly 25 million customers in residential, commercial, industrial and municipal markets throughout North America through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and waste-based energy production projects. 

I. Job Summary 
Waste Management (WM) is seeking an experienced and innovative Data & AI Platform and Architecture Director to lead and drive the strategic vision, development, deployment and support of our data and AI platform architecture. This role is pivotal in transforming data into actionable insights, leveraging AI to enhance our operations, and ensuring the scalability, reliability, and security of our data infrastructure.  This role will manage a multi-functional team of architects and platform support services.  Day to day focus on ensuing secure, reliable and performant platform services.   In addition, the role will serve as the technical thought leader for Data & AI technologies, sponsoring PoCs, piloting and implementing new Data and AI technologies to serve business objectives and maturity our capabilities.  If you like a fast paced, dynamic, outcome-driven environment where people are valued and work is meaningful, this is it!   

II. Essential Duties and Responsibilities 
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Other minor duties may be assigned.

• Develop and implement a strategic roadmap for the data and AI platform environments, aligning with WM's business objectives and industry technological advancements. 
• Manage a team of principal architects that define the data architecture standards and design the reference architectures applied across solution development. 
• Lead the design, architecture, and implementation of scalable, robust, and secure data platforms to support advanced analytics and AI initiatives. 
• Oversee the management of a managed service that provides platform admin support across our technology ecosystem.   
• Develop metrics to share the overall health and usage of our key platforms within Digital and our business partners 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure the seamless integration of data sources, tools, and technologies. 
• Advise and guide the development and deployment of machine learning models and AI solutions to optimize operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation. 
• Ensure the data platform complies with data governance, privacy, and security standards and regulations. 
• Mentor and guide a team of data engineers, data scientists, and AI researchers, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. 
• Stay abreast of emerging trends and technologies in data management, AI, and machine learning to drive continuous innovation. 

 

III. Supervisory Responsibilities 
The highest level of supervisory skills required in this job is management through one or more managerial levels. This includes: 
 

• Direct supervision of full-time employees including senior management and individual contributor positions; 
• Indirect supervision of full-time employees including management and individual contributor positions.
   

IV. Qualifications 
The requirements listed below are representative of the qualifications necessary to perform the job. 

 

A. Demonstrated Performance 
 

• Leadership potential including ability to influence up, down, and across the organization 
• Proven track record of consistently delivering results
• Strong written and verbal communication skills 
• Demonstrated ability of hiring and developing talented individuals 
   

B. Education and Experience 
 

Education: Bachelor's Degree (accredited) in Computer Science, MIS, Finance or similar area of study or, in lieu of degree, High School Diploma or GED (accredited) and four (4) years of relevant work experience

Experience: Eight (8) years of prior work experience (in addition to education requirement) within Information Technology including at least two years managing a team of two of more individuals

Preferred Education: Master's Degree (accredited) in Computer Sci