AI & Analytics Program Lead
Hybrid; NY/NJ
$125k-$165k plus bonus
For more information on benefits and what we offer please visit us at https://www.exlservice.com/us-careers-and-benefits
The posted range is the hiring range for this role — a subset of the broader range available to employees over time — and reflects base salary across our national hiring scale. Final offers are based on several factors, including the candidate's skills and experience, internal pay equity, work location, market conditions for the role, and the specific scope and responsibilities of the position. The top of the range is reserved for candidates who notably exceed the requirements; the lower end applies to those with less experience or fewer preferred qualifications. For positions based in higher-cost zones (e.g., California, New York, New Jersey), actual compensation may exceed the posted range; your recruiter will share specifics during the process.
As an AI & Analytics Program Lead at EXL, you will play a key role in delivering data-driven consulting solutions that help clients make informed and strategic business decisions. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate complex data into actionable insights, driving measurable impact across diverse industry sectors.
The role involves planning and designing business processes, assisting in formulating recommendations to improve and support business activities, working on system designs and business architecture, supporting development and quality assurance efforts, supervising the documentation of clients' business requirements and processes, and designing, building, and maintaining a stable and efficient infrastructure. Collaboration with development and system SMEs is also essential.
ResponsibilitiesStakeholder Partnership
- Stakeholder Workshop Facilitation: Proven experience designing and running stakeholder workshops for analytics requirements gathering, with the ability to engage senior leaders (VPs, Directors, Senior Directors). Also responsible for documenting session outputs and producing executive-level slides for leadership summaries.
- Conflict Management & Consensus Building: Demonstrated ability to manage conflicting viewpoints among senior stakeholders and drive discussions toward a productive consensus, keeping the group aligned on shared goals.
- KPI Definition & Prioritization: Experience helping stakeholders define, refine, and prioritize KPIs and requirements so that value can be delivered incrementally while maintaining a clear and visible roadmap.
- Executive Communication & Storytelling: Ability to present KPI roadmaps, progress updates, and readouts to senior leadership, distilling complex technical challenges into clear, simple language and proposing actionable solutions.
- Stakeholder Management & Pushback: Confidence and credibility to challenge senior leaders when requirements are unrealistic, overly ambitious, or technically unfeasible, ensuring alignment between business expectations and delivery capacity.
Data and Analytics
- AI and BI Program Expertise: Solid understanding of how to drive AI (RAG) Programs/Products and Business Intelligence Program/Products from both a strategic and operational standpoint.
- Data Source Identification: Ability to work with client data leaders to identify the data sources required to create the defined KPIs.
- Data Storytelling & Architecture: Ability to think through how datasets should be stitched together to tell a coherent story that helps senior leaders understand the current state of their programs, surface key challenges, and enable course correction.
- Technical Translation & Documentation: Ability to translate business and analytics requirements into clear specifications for the data engineering and BI teams, including explaining what the final data outputs should look like, how dashboards should be structured, and how navigation should flow from landing pages to detailed views.
- Technical Literacy: Working knowledge of key concepts across data engineering, data pipelines, business intelligence, and AI/RAG solutions, enabling effective collaboration with technical teams across all workstreams.
- Quality Evaluation & Validation: Ability to validate datasets and dashboards against defined requirements, clearly communicate gaps to the technical team, and collaborate with AI developers to improve output quality by suggesting appropriate guardrails and corrective measures.
- • 10 plus years of experience in analytics strategy, data strategy, AI/ML strategy, or digital transformation advisory.
- • Significant client-facing experience, including presenting to senior executives and influencing strategic decisions.
- • Strong understanding of modern data platforms, analytics tools, governance, and AI/ML capabilities—with the ability to discuss at a strategic level.
- • Outstanding communication, executive storytelling, and facilitation skills.
- • Proven ability to structure ambiguity, lead enterprise assessments, and develop clear, actionable strategies.
- • Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing complex stakeholder groups.
- • Master’s degree preferred (Business, Data Science, Engineering, Economics, or similar); top-tier institutions a plus.
Skills Required
- 10+ years experience in analytics strategy, data strategy, AI/ML strategy, or digital transformation advisory
- Proven experience designing and running stakeholder workshops for analytics requirements gathering with senior leaders
- Significant client-facing experience presenting to senior executives and influencing strategic decisions
- Strong understanding of modern data platforms, analytics tools, governance, and AI/ML capabilities
- Outstanding communication, executive storytelling, and facilitation skills
- Ability to translate business and analytics requirements into specifications for data engineering and BI teams
- Proven ability to structure ambiguity, lead enterprise assessments, and develop clear, actionable strategies
- Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing complex stakeholder groups
- Master's degree (Business, Data Science, Engineering, Economics, or similar)
What We Do
Choosing a digital partner is about more than capabilities — it’s about collaboration and character. Unrealistic overhauls and off-the-shelf products ignore what matters most — your unique needs, culture, goals, and your legacy data and technology environments. At EXL, our collaboration is built on ongoing listening and learning to adapt our methodologies. We’re your business evolution partner—tailoring solutions that make the most of data to make better business decisions and drive more intelligence into your increasingly digital operations. Whether your goals are scaling the use of AI and digital, redesign operating models, or driving better and faster decisions, we’re here to partner with you to help you gain—and maintain—competitive advantage with efficient, sustainable models at scale. Our expertise in transformation, data science, and change management helps make your business more efficient and effective, improve customer relationships and enhance revenue growth. Instead of focusing on multi-year, resource- and time-intensive platform designs or migrations, we look deeper at your entire value chain to integrate strategies with impact. We use our specialization in analytics, digital interventions, and operations management—alongside deep industry expertise — to deliver solutions that help you outperform the competition. At EXL, it’s all about outcomes—your outcomes—and delivering success on your terms. Share your goals with us and together, we’ll optimize how you leverage data to drive your business forward. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.
