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Director of Data jobs: 1,080 open roles, pay, industries and skills

1,080 open Director of Data jobs, taken from employers’ own career sites and checked to still be open. Also listed as Data Director, Director, Data, Senior Director of Data, Global Director of Data, Regional Director of Data. Listings that state pay show a median of $219,500 a year.

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The market for Director of Data work

Every figure is counted from verified open listings. Pay is what the employer advertises for the job.

Verified open Director of Data jobs
1,080

Source: NextChapter, checked against employer career sites, last 7 days.

See the detail →
Median pay in listings that state it
$219,500

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

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State with the most openings
California (173)

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

Industry hiring the most
Technology & Software (27%)

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

Listings that are remote
54%

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

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Listings that ask for an AI skill
61%

Source: NextChapter verified openings, read in full.

What a Director of Data does

Director role in Data & Analytics.

A director of data leads a team inside the function and answers for data platforms, analytics, data science and AI work.

Usually reports to a vice president or a C-suite leader, and manages managers and individual contributors. Senior and global director titles are counted here.

Other ways this role is written

  • Director of Data
  • Data Director
  • Director, Data
  • Senior Director of Data
  • Global Director of Data
  • Regional Director of Data
  • Director of Analytics
  • Director of Data Science

Listings under any of these titles are counted on this page. Assistant, associate, manager and staff titles are not.

Open Director of Data jobs

Verified against the employer’s own career site within the last week.

Showing the newest 15 of about 1,080 verified open jobs here. Search all jobs

Search all Director of Data jobs

Director of Data salary

From 322 open listings that state pay. Annual, in US dollars, base pay only.

Lower quarter
$184,500
Median
$219,500
Upper quarter
$260,000

Leadership pay often includes bonus and equity that a listing does not state. Treat these figures as the floor of the conversation, not the whole package.

Best industries for Director of Data jobs

Employers hiring the most, as a share of listings whose employer has a known industry. Median pay shown where at least 8 listings state it.

Where Director of Data jobs are

States with the most open listings; median pay where at least 8 listings state it.

Skills Director of Data jobs ask for

Named in the listings themselves, as a share of 513 Director of Data listings that name skills. Leadership listings name fewer skills than individual-contributor ones, so this is a signal, not a checklist.

Most named in Director of Data listings

  1. 1. machine learning32%
  2. 2. sql22%
  3. 3. python17%
  4. 4. forecasting15%
  5. 5. snowflake12%
  6. 6. aws11%
  7. 7. go-to-market10%
  8. 8. power bi10%
  9. 9. databricks9%
  10. 10. azure9%

Across all Data & Analytics openings

  1. 1. machine learning10%
  2. 2. python9%
  3. 3. sql8%
  4. 4. aws4%
  5. 5. azure3%
  6. 6. etl3%
  7. 7. databricks3%
  8. 8. power bi3%
  9. 9. snowflake3%
  10. 10. excel2%

AI skills for Director of Data jobs

Specific AI skills named in the full posting text, such as prompt engineering, AI governance or an AI tool. A general mention of AI does not count.

61% of 492 open Director of Data listings ask for a specific AI skill, against 27% of all Data & Analytics openings.

AI skills named most often

  1. 1. AI workflow automation25%
  2. 2. Leading AI teams25%
  3. 3. AI tools in daily work24%
  4. 4. AI governance and risk20%
  5. 5. AI strategy and use cases20%
  6. 6. LLM application engineering18%

Do AI skills change director of data pay?

For Data & Analytics roles in general, as of November 9, 2026. This is the function’s figure, not one for director of data alone: one title rarely has enough listings on both sides.

Among Data & Analytics listings, those that ask for an AI skill advertise +43.6% (about $60.5k) compared with similar listings that do not, matched on level and industry.

Listings that ask for an AI skill
$207,500
median, from 2,325 paid listings
Listings that never mention AI
$135,000
median, from 343 paid listings

Advertised pay only: the midpoint of the range an employer posted, on live U.S. postings read from the full text. “Asks for an AI skill” means the posting names a specific AI skill; “no AI” means it never mentions AI. A difference in what is advertised is not a promise of what you would be paid, and it does not show that learning a skill causes a raise.

See the AI-skill pay table for every function · Check your own pay against these listings

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The Data & Analytics ladder

The same function at other levels: where this role comes from and where it leads.

All Data & Analytics jobs

Job titles under Director of Data

The exact titles employers use, with their own job and salary pages.

Employers hiring for Director of Data roles

  • Navitus Health Solutions 28
  • Harnham 11
  • Capital One 10
  • Omnicom 8
  • EY-Parthenon 8
  • Salesforce 7
  • Liberty Mutual Insurance 7
  • Databricks 7
  • AbbVie 5
  • Autodesk 5
  • Coca-Cola 5
  • Code and Theory 5

Recruiters who place Director of Data roles

Search firms with live public searches in Data & Analytics, counted from their own job postings, not self-described. Each has at least two at this level.

  • Harnham Inc.

    13 live public searches in Data & Analytics at this level

  • Brio

    3 live public searches in Data & Analytics at this level

  • JRG Partners

    3 live public searches in Data & Analytics at this level

  • Considine Search

    2 live public searches in Data & Analytics at this level

  • Green Key Resources

    2 live public searches in Data & Analytics at this level

  • Hirewell

    2 live public searches in Data & Analytics at this level

All Data & Analytics search firms

Conferences for Director of Data leaders

Events tagged for Data & Analytics, with dates, cost and how to speak.

Showing 6 of 67 conferences, 67 with dates announced.

All conferences

Training for Director of Data leaders

AI and Data & Analytics courses from named providers, with cost shown.

All 4 Data & Analytics courses

Podcasts and media Director of Data leaders follow

Hand-picked, each checked to be live. Links go to the publisher.

  • Data Engineering Podcast

    Podcast · Tobias Macey

    Interviews on data pipelines, platforms and tooling.

  • Super Data Science

    Podcast · Jon Krohn

    Interviews on machine learning, AI and data careers.

  • The Analytics Power Hour

    Podcast · Michael, Tim, Moe and co-hosts

    A discussion show on analytics practice and the work of analysts.

  • Practical AI

    Podcast · Daniel Whitenack and Chris Benson

    Episodes on applying AI and machine learning in real projects.

  • Data Skeptic

    Podcast · Kyle Polich

    Interviews on data science, machine learning and statistics.

Director of Data questions

What does a Director of Data do?
A director of data leads a team inside the function and answers for data platforms, analytics, data science and AI work. Usually reports to a vice president or a C-suite leader, and manages managers and individual contributors. Senior and global director titles are counted here.
What else is a Director of Data called?
The same job is also written Data Director, Director, Data, Senior Director of Data, Global Director of Data, Regional Director of Data, Director of Analytics, Director of Data Science.
How many Director of Data jobs are open?
1,080 verified open Director of Data jobs, each checked against the employer’s own career site within the last week.
How much does a Director of Data make?
Among 322 open Director of Data listings that state pay, the median is $219,500 a year, and half of listings fall between $184,500 and $260,000. This is pay the employer advertises for the job, not total compensation such as bonus or equity.
Where are Director of Data jobs?
California (173), New York (160), Massachusetts (84), Texas (71) have the most open Director of Data listings. About 54% of listings that state a work arrangement are remote.
Which state pays a Director of Data the most?
Of the states with enough listings that state pay, California has the highest median at $275,000.
Which industries hire for Director of Data roles?
Technology & Software (27%), Financial Services & Banking (18%), Healthcare & Hospital Systems (14%), Pharmaceuticals & Biotech (13%), as a share of listings whose employer has a known industry.
What skills do Director of Data jobs ask for?
The skills named most often in open Director of Data listings are machine learning, sql, python, forecasting, snowflake.
Do Director of Data jobs ask for AI skills?
61% of 492 open Director of Data listings read in full name a specific AI skill. The most common is AI workflow automation.

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