Senior Director, Data Platform
Senior Director, Data Platform
Mission
Shape the company's data platform vision
Tour of Duty
Solve a platform problem that transforms productivity
About This Job Family
People in this job family build the infrastructure that turns raw data into reliable, accessible information. They design pipelines, maintain data warehouses, and ensure data quality at scale. When done well, their work is invisible—analysts and data scientists just get the data they need, when they need it.
What You'll Do
Data Platform Engineers build the internal platforms that make data accessible—self-serve query tools, data catalogs, and the infrastructure that lets analysts and scientists work independently. Their customers are internal data consumers. Success means data teams that move fast without waiting on engineering.
- • Set data platform strategy company-wide
- • Align platform with data organization goals
- • Build hiring and development for platform team
- • Define industry-leading platform capabilities
- • Shape company-wide platform operating model
- • Lead platform planning and investment
Every responsibility is an accomplishment waiting to happen. The question is: will you own the outcome, or just do the task?
Manage a Team?
Great managers are practitioners first. The IC responsibilities above are your foundation—the craft you model for your team. Your management responsibilities are additive:
- • Hire people you'd trust locked in a room—skills matter, but trust matters more
- • Build a team that balances technical depth with business curiosity
- • Run 1:1s that connect data work to business impact—not just sprint tickets
- • Give feedback that builds both technical and communication skills
- • Remove blockers—fight for data access, compute resources, and stakeholder clarity
Your team's accomplishments are your accomplishments. Help them craft S.M.A.R.T wins—specific, measurable, and ready to stand on their own.
AI as an Accelerator
AI isn't a skill we call out. It's invisible in the accomplishment but easily visible in the velocity and scale of your outcomes. Here's how people in this role are accelerating their work with AI:
- → Modeling platform evolution
- → Analyzing trends
- → Creating vision documents
Your Career Record
**Your Career Record. Your Portable Proof.**
Log accomplishments as you go — not skills you claim, but work you've shipped. When you're ready for your next chapter, TailorCV turns your track record into a promotion case or tailored resume.
Your career story. Your control.
The Competencies That Matter
Skills fill your toolbox. Competencies are how you wield them. Three matter most at this level:
1. DATA ENGINEERING (2) Strong Data Engineering skills required at this level.
2. IT OPERATIONS (2) Strong IT Operations skills required at this level.
3. STRATEGY (2) Strong Strategy skills required at this level.
The radar shows the full picture. These three are where you need to be undeniable.
Your Journey From Here
Going up? Your next Tour of Duty:
→ VP, Data Platform - Data Platform (L8) "Build a platform team that enables data teams"
The L7 → L8 gap is about ORGANIZATIONAL IMPACT: • From functional leadership → company leadership • From technical strategy → business strategy • From building teams → building organizations
These are your stretch accomplishments. Start doing L8 work now. When you can prove it with accomplishments, you're ready.
Going sideways? That's valid too.
Up isn't the only direction. It's your career. You own it.
Competency Requirements
Competency Shape
- Data Engineering
- Proficiency: 2
- IT Operations
- Proficiency: 2
- Strategy
- Proficiency: 2
- Software Engineering
- Proficiency: 1
- Information Security
- Proficiency: 1
- Operational Excellence
- Proficiency: 1
See Your Match
Create your free account to see how your accomplishments compare to this role's competency requirements.
Get Started — It's FreeAbout Reference DRS
This isn't a job posting. It's a Reference DRS—a competency blueprint for what success looks like at this level. Pin it to your MasterCV and track your accomplishments against it. Your career is yours to own; this is just the map.
Effective Date
July 2025
Related Variants
Tailor Your CV for Senior Director, Data Platform
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Targeting an internal move? Use this spec to build your promotion case — a structured document that maps your verified accomplishments to the competencies this level demands. Whether it's a lateral move into a new variant or a step up to the next level, your career record already has the evidence. Peer-verified accomplishments make the case your manager can't ignore.
Your Master CV is the source of truth. Your resume is the tailored perspective.
Why competencies, not skills? Skills change with every employer. Competencies deepen across your career. Learn why →
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