Director, Advanced Analytics & Governance

Director, Advanced Analytics & Governance

Addison, TX; Montpelier, VT

Come join one of America's fastest-growing insurance companies. Since 1848, National Life Group has aimed to keep our promises, providing families with stability in good times and in bad. Throughout that history, we have provided peace of mind to those families as they plan their futures.

Our mission extends beyond the insurance and annuities policies that we offer. We strive to make the world a better place through our grants from our charitable foundation, paid volunteer time for our employees, environmentally sustainable and healthy workplaces, and events that promote the work of nonprofits in our own backyard.

We foster a collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and encourage our associates to live our values: Do good. Be good. Make good.

Please note that we do not offer visa sponsorship for this position.

Role Summary

At National Life Group, our enterprise data and analytics practice is well established, and we are now focused on further evolving and maturing how we organize, govern, and unlock value from our data. To sustain that progress it is critical that we have timely, accurate, consistent and well-defined data throughout the organization. Success depends on strong commitment & collaboration from all areas of the organization, and the Advanced Analytics & Governance team within the Chief Data Office is central to advancing this work.

The Director, Advanced Analytics & Governance is a senior leadership role within the Chief Data Office responsible for driving the continued maturation of the organization's analytics and reporting capabilities and for advancing enterprise-wide analytics standards. In this role, you will lead a team of data analysts, analytics engineers, reporting governance specialists, and data stewards to deliver high-impact solutions while ensuring data is trusted, secure, compliant, and governed effectively across the enterprise. You'll operate at the intersection of business, analytics, and technology bridging technical innovation in advanced analytics with robust data governance, privacy, and ethical standards.

This position currently offers an onsite work schedule, with the expectation that you will be in the office four (4) days per week during onsite core days. Our current onsite core days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The work schedule type and core days are subject to change with advance notification and manager discretion.

As a senior leader on our data team, the Director, Advanced Analytics & Governance will set the strategy and oversee execution of analytics initiatives across the organization, building on an established foundation. Key responsibilities include:

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Evolve and execute the enterprise strategy for advanced analytics and reporting governance in alignment with the overall CDO vision and business objectives.
• Lead the design, development, and deployment of advanced analytics solutions including predictive modeling, machine learning, deep learning, and optimization and oversee the end-to-end analytics lifecycle from problem framing through model deployment and monitoring.
• Mature and scale the enterprise analytics platform and self-service analytics environment to empower business users while maintaining governance controls.
• Oversee production support and administration of the data analytics systems, ensuring reliability, availability, and operational excellence across the environment.
• Continuously refine and strengthen the enterprise analytics governance framework, including policies, standards, quality metrics, SLAs, metadata management, and remediation processes.
• Lead reporting stewardship programs and ensure clear ownership and accountability across business and technology teams; oversee compliance with data-related regulations (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA, etc.) and internal policies for privacy, security, and ethical data usage.
• Build, mentor, and lead the Business Informatics team, manage talent acquisition, performance management, career development, and succession planning.
• Partner with business leaders, IT, and other CDO functions to identify high-value use cases where advanced analytics can drive revenue, efficiency, customer experience, or risk mitigation.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the CDO and executive leadership; present complex analytics findings and governance strategies to senior executives and non-technical stakeholders in clear, actionable terms.
• Evaluate and recommend analytics and governance tools and technologies (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, Databricks) and drive adoption of modern analytics and reporting architectures leveraging the enterprise data platform.
• Champion a data-driven culture by deepening adoption of analytics insights and governed data assets across the organization.

Obviously, we are looking for someone who loves data! Beyond that, a successful candidate will be a strategic leader who is energized by the work of further maturing and evolving an established analytics practice. They will also contribute to the culture of National Life where servant leadership, company values & applying learnings to performance are valued above all else.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Information Systems, Analytics, or a related quantitative field
• 10+ years of progressive experience in data analytics, data science, or data governance, with at least 5+ years in a leadership role
• Proven track record of advancing and scaling advanced analytics capabilities in a complex organization
• Strong experience refining and operating enterprise analytics governance programs, including data quality, metadata, and compliance frameworks
• Analytical mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity in decision making and to translate complex technical concepts into business language
• Deep expertise in modern data platforms (cloud, Databricks, Snowflake, etc.) is preferred
• Strong knowledge of programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL, and big data technologies (Spark, Hadoop, etc.) is preferred
• Experience with MLOps, model lifecycle management, data cataloging, lineage, and quality management platforms is preferred
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern data architectures is preferred
• Experience working in a Chief Data Office (CDO) or similar central data organization is preferred
• Industry experience in Life Insurance is preferred
• Certifications such as CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional), DAMA, or analytics governance certifications are preferred

Key Competencies & Personal Attributes:

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to align technical capabilities with business outcomes.
• Leadership & Influence: Proven ability to lead without direct authority and influence at all levels.
• Communication: Exceptional ability to translate complex technical concepts into business language.
• Collaboration: Strong partnership-building skills across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Innovation Mindset: Passion for leveraging emerging technologies to solve business problems.
• Ethical Orientation: Deep commitment to responsible data and analytics practices.
• Results-Oriented: Demonstrated ability to deliver measurable business impact through analytics and governance.

Base Pay Range. The base pay range for this position is the range National Life reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position taking into account the wide variety of factors, including: prior experience and job-related knowledge; education, training and certificates; current business needs; and market factors. The final salary or hourly wages offered may be outside of this range based on other reasons and individual circumstances. Additional Compensation and Benefits. The total compensation package for this position may also include a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered. The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in National Life's discretionary annual incentive programs, subject to the rules governing such programs. If hired, the employee will be in an "at-will position" and National Life reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors. National Life is accepting applications for this role on an ongoing basis and the role remains open until filled.

Salary Pay Range. $135,000 - $198,000 USD