Global Data & AI CoE Lead

Avanade is seeking the next Global Data & AI CoE Lead … could it be you?

Avanade is seeking an experienced, passionate, and driven Global Data & AI Center of Excellence Lead to join our Global Solution Area (GSA) organization.  The successful candidate will manage, build, and lead a team of professionals to enable Avanade to achieve accelerated growth across the Regions by driving client impact, showcasing technical leadership & advancing our offerings across Microsoft Data Platform Modernization, AI & IoT and Intelligent Automation (including Power Platform services).  The successful candidate should have long-term experience helping clients amplify their existing data and analytic platforms by implementing state-of-the-art, best-in-breed data platform, IoT architectures, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning models.

The areas of influence for our Data & AI CoE include:

Driving Client Impact: Increasing win rates through presales, including competitive positioning, and solutioning support on key deals.  Delivering through shared best practices, harvesting innovation, incubating new Offerings, implementing methodology, and providing quality assurance across region and areas.

Showcasing Technical Leadership: Demonstrating Avanade’s technical leadership in the market (e.g., speaking, conferences, webcasts, blogging).  Helping regions transition from sales to delivery and jump-starting projects. When large, complex projects arise, our Data & AI COE members will play a delivery subject matter expert role.  Fostering the technical skills required to be recognized in the market; supporting the Regions to develop these skills.

Advancing our Offerings: Collaborating with key stakeholders across our business units and offerings to evolve points-of-view (POVs), whitepapers, assets, and differentiators to assist in winning and delivering successful projects.  Tracking the best client sales and delivery stories.

As the Data & AI CoE Lead aligned to our Data & AI Practice, you will leverage your business, leadership, creativity, and technology acumen to influence Avanade’s Data & AI practice and lead across our data platform, AI, IoT and automation capabilities in the CoE to achieve our growth targets.   You will be a pivotal member of the GSA team and key to the success of Avanade’s innovative Data & AI Center of Excellence.   The successful candidate should be open-minded in bringing and learning from best practices, being a thought leader as well as experienced practitioner and business lead.

About You:

You have expertise in selecting optimal architectures and delivery approaches that will service clients’ needs with a balance of costs, capability, and risks to achieve business outcomes.  You have experience in developing client roadmaps, program building, incorporating intelligent processes into existing business process, and solution planning.  You have a deep understanding of the Data &AI space (Azure preferred) and, more importantly, you know how to connect with clients and lead a global team to its goals.  You are curious about digital disruption and innovation, you are organized, energetic and as comfortable in front of a board room as before a white board with your development team.  You like both branches of the business, the sales/presales and the customer/delivery.

You have experience working within a highly matrixed, geographically dispersed professional services organization where you have applied business technology leadership, consulting and project-based leadership with a passion for driving positive business outcomes.  You have demonstrated people leadership, “leading by influence” and effective peer teaming expertise.  You have experience assessing and managing opportunities and risks associated with managing a business.

Key Responsibilities:

Data & AI Technical Responsibilities

·       Business requirements mapping: Translate business requirements to technical solutions leveraging strong business acumen

·       Business process improvement: Analyze current business practice, processes, and procedures as well as identifying future business opportunities for leveraging Microsoft Azure Data & AI services

·       Support Avanade’s IP & Assets: Ensure practices that generate, reuse and protect Intellectual Property and Avanade assets

·       Data & AI Advisor & SME: Key Advisor and to Global and Regional Leadership teams supporting business-led conversations on how data & AI can drive digital transformation. 

·       Architecture expertise: Provide high-level architectural expertise to sales, project, and other analytics teams

Leadership & Team Management Responsibilities:

·       Resource & skills planning: Monitor growth and delivery performance along with forecast to identify resource and skill needs to deliver solutions for clients

·       Strategic vision & roadmap: Develop overall solution plans and strategic vision for Data & AI solutions, providing a comprehensive roadmap for clients’ needs

·       Asset development & prioritization: Develop and drive offering dev prioritization while being adaptable as new opportunities arise

·       Team inclusion & diversity: Ensure an inclusive and diverse approach is embedded into how the team is managed and run

·       People management: Support the greater people ecosystem, including but not limited to recruiting, performance reviews, compensation, and rewards

·       Client leadership & support: Demonstrate personal client leadership to help build client relationships and deliver business value

·       Driving team utilization: Enabling and supporting client impact and value across the globe through the Data & AI CoE team while helping to meet a team market utilization goal

Key Skills & Capabilities:

·       Excellent client management skills

·       Be known for your “client centric” approach and delivery excellence

·       Proven client experience selecting architecture that services clients’ needs with the balance of costs, capability, and risk to meet clients’ business objectives

·       Demonstrated experience of turning business use case and requirements to technical solutions

·       Strong understanding of the value proposition(s) associated with AI, Data, PaaS (Azure preferred), and DevOps

·       Demonstrated ability to work in roles with growing responsibility within professional services/management consulting or technology firms.

·       Experience successfully solutioning Data & AI programs and system integration projects across multiple work streams and geographically dispersed teams

·       Experience designing and solutioning Data platform/AI & IoT or automation deals (depending on area of deeper expertise)

·       Experience partnering on transformation sales pursuits

·       Some experience of one or more industries is welcome and an eagerness to learn more is preferred.

·       High degree of integrity, judgement, discretion, credibility, resilience, confidence, and character

·       Excellence in communicating and presenting complex information to technical and non-technical stakeholders

Preferred Education Background:

You possess a Bachelor’s degree and/or Masters in a field such as Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Statistics, Mathematics or have an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred Years of Work Experience:

You likely have about 8-10 years of applied experience solutioning programs and system integration projects that include Modern Data Platform and Advanced Analytics, preferably in a business consulting (technology focus) environment or a combination of experience and relevant education.

Preferred Years of People Management Experience:

3-5 years – good to have

About Avanade

Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences delivered through the power of people and the Microsoft ecosystem. Our professionals bring bold, fresh thinking combined with technology, business and industry expertise to help fuel transformation and growth for our clients and their customers. Avanade has 30,000 digitally connected people across 24 countries, bringing clients the best thinking through a collaborative culture that honors diversity and reflects the communities in which we operate. Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation. Learn more at www.avanade.com.

Avanade® Is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Avanade prohibits discrimination and harassment against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, veteran, military, or marital status, genetic information or any other protected status.