[Remote] Director of AI Analytics

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Sur La Table is a community-focused culinary retailer seeking a Director of AI Analytics to lead their analytical efforts across various business functions. In this foundational leadership role, you will define analytical standards, govern AI-enabled workflows, and ensure the organization operates from a unified view of performance.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary analytics leader across eCommerce, Marketing, Finance, Retail, Merchandising, Inventory Planning, and Operations
• Own problem definition for analytics — determining which business questions matter and what decisions insights should inform
• Move analysis beyond "what happened" to "why it happened," "how it happened," and "what we should do next."
• Proactively mine data to identify risks, opportunities, inefficiencies, and performance drivers
• Influence senior leaders through clear implications and actionable recommendations
• Own the integrity, governance, and usability of core commerce, customer, and operational datasets across platforms (eCommerce, POS, CDP, email, data warehouse)
• Validate insights using business context and commercial logic — not just technical correctness
• Define, document, and continuously evolve company-wide KPI frameworks in partnership with Finance and functional leaders
• Identify and resolve cross-functional metric misalignment to ensure a single, trusted understanding of performance
• Establish standards for data quality, documentation, and analytical transparency across the organization
• Leverage AI as a core component of advanced analytical work, including hypothesis generation, exploratory analysis, pattern detection, insight synthesis, and narrative development
• Design, operationalize, and scale repeatable AI-assisted workflows that support recurring company-level decisions (growth, margin optimization, inventory productivity, forecast alignment)
• Establish validation frameworks to pressure-test AI-generated outputs against source data, historical performance, customer behavior, and commercial logic
• Embed AI-enabled insights into planning, forecasting, and executive performance reviews
• Promote responsible, explainable, and outcome-driven AI usage across analytics workflows
• Own web and digital analytics strategy using Heap, including funnel performance, customer journey analysis, and conversion optimization
• Ensure tracking integrity and event schema accuracy, including review of structured data formats (e.g., JSON, data layers) in partnership with Product Engineering
• Translate behavioral data into commercial implications that influence merchandising, marketing, inventory, and operational decisions
• Ensure behavioral insights are aligned with downstream systems and financial realities
• Reconcile demand, margin, inventory, and operational perspectives into cohesive performance narratives
• Support planning, forecasting, and performance alignment across Finance, Retail, Merchandising, and Operations
• Challenge assumptions and reframe business narratives using data-backed insight
• Serve as a connector between commercial strategy and operational execution
• Establish analytical standards that prioritize clarity, trust, commercial relevance, and decision impact
• Reduce reactive ad hoc work by building scalable, decision-focused reporting and automation frameworks
• Design the structure, workflows, and expectations for the analytics function
• Hire, mentor, and develop junior analytics talent once foundational systems are established
• Champion a modern, insight-driven analytics culture across the company

Skills

• 8+ years of experience in Analytics, Strategy, or Data Leadership roles
• Demonstrated experience leading analytics across multiple business functions
• Strong experience in commerce-driven businesses (retail, eCommerce, CPG, marketplace)
• Comprehensive knowledge of all traffic acquisition channels and their downstream impact on site behavior, using that expertise to develop reliable forecasts that drive strategic decision-making
• Advanced SQL and strong analytical modeling capabilities
• Demonstrated experience designing and governing AI-enabled analytics workflows
• Strong capability to pressure-test AI-generated insights against data, customer behavior, and commercial logic
• Hands-on expertise with Heap or similar event-based web analytics platforms
• Comfort working with structured data formats (e.g., JSON), event schemas, and data instrumentation
• Experience defining KPI frameworks and resolving cross-functional metric misalignment
• Proven ability to translate complex data into clear, compelling stories that inform and influence executive decision-making — moving leadership from insight to action with confidence and conviction
• Track record of proactive insight generation, not reactive reporting
• Ability to work standard Eastern Time business hours
• Experience with dbt, Looker, or similar modern data stack tools
• Proficiency in Python for analytical modeling or automation
• Prior experience building or scaling an analytics function from an early-stage foundation
• Familiarity with CDP platforms (e.g., Segment, Klaviyo) and their integration into analytics workflows
• Experience presenting to C-suite or board-level stakeholders in a retail or eCommerce context

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with company match
• Generous PTO
• Employee discounts across Sur La Table and CSC Generation brands
• Access to cooking classes

Company Overview