VP of Data at Indiana Fever

Pacers Sports & Entertainment is seeking a visionary VP of Data to lead the enterprise data strategy - guiding our data engineering, analytics enablement, AI innovation, and data governance initiatives across the organization. They will own and evolve PS&E's enterprise data ecosystem - shaping our data vision, building scalable architecture, and delivering insights that transform the way we operate and engage fans. This leader will oversee a high-impact team of four direct reports and will partner closely with business leaders, technology teams, and digital innovation functions.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership
• Develop and execute a comprehensive data strategy aligned with corporate goals and digital transformation initiatives.
• Define the enterprise data architecture, platform roadmap, and engineering standards across PS&E.
• Lead data governance, quality, and stewardship frameworks in collaboration with Security, Legal, and Business Intelligence.
• Partner with Marketing, Finance, Ticketing, and Operations to drive data-driven decision-making and automation.
• Influence executive and board-level discussions on how data creates strategic advantage.
• Data Engineering & Platform Development
• Lead design and evolution of PS&E’s data platform, pipelines, and infrastructure (ETL/ELT, data lake/warehouse, streaming, APIs).
• Ensure performance, scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency across data systems.
• Champion best practices in DevOps, CI/CD, monitoring, and infrastructure-as-code for data workloads.
• Advanced Analytics, AI & Data Science
• Guide the integration of AI/ML solutions — predictive modeling, personalization, natural language, and computer vision use cases — into business operations and fan engagement.
• Partner with the AI specialist and engineering teams to design scalable model deployment and MLOps frameworks.
• Drive experimentation and data innovation, exploring generative AI, advanced forecasting, and digital fan intelligence.
• Data Governance & Privacy
• Oversee data privacy, classification, retention, and compliance frameworks.
• Collaborate with the Data Privacy Expert, Legal, and Information Security teams to maintain adherence to regulations (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA where applicable).
• Embed “privacy by design” into all data engineering and product development practices.
• Team Leadership & Development
• Build, inspire, and retain a multidisciplinary data team.
• Establish clear goals, KPIs, and growth paths for direct reports.
• Create a collaborative, learning-focused environment that encourages experimentation and continuous improvement.
• In every position, each employee is expected to align with PS&E's mission and core values along with actively participating in company-sponsored community outreach programs.
• Other duties as assigned.
  

Qualification Requirements

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• 10+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, data architecture, or analytics leadership.
• 5+ years in a senior leadership role managing technical data teams.
• Expertise with modern cloud data ecosystems (AWS, Azure, or GCP), orchestration frameworks, and analytics platforms.
• Strong experience in data modeling, governance, and AI/ML enablement.
• Proven track record in transforming data functions into scalable, high-impact business partners.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills — capable of translating technical strategy into business value.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or a related field required; master’s preferred.
  
  

Physical And Environmental Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to:

• Sit
• Stand
• Walk
• Reach
• Lift
• Use a computer
• Speak, hear, and write
  
  

While performing the duties of this job, the noise level in the office work environment is usually moderate and the noise level in the Fieldhouse / game environment is usually loud. The stress level may become high during certain times of the year.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, marital status, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

At Pacers Sports & Entertainment (PS&E), we are dedicated to delivering best-in-class sports and entertainment experiences while making a positive impact on our community. As the home of the Indiana Pacers, Indiana Fever, Noblesville Boom, Pacers Foundation, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse, we strive to exemplify our core values of respect, teamwork, trust, passion, and excellence in everything we do. Our mission is to create memorable moments for our fans and foster a culture of inclusivity and excellence both on and off the court. Our purpose is winning, serving, and entertaining.