# Head of Data

**Company:** [Linktree](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/linktree)
**Location:** Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA
**Role:** Executive Leadership
**Salary:** $320k – $340k/yr
**Experience:** 12+ years
**Skills:** Data Science, Machine Learning, AI, Data Engineering, Python, SQL, Scalable Systems, Experimentation, Self-Service Analytics, Ml Platforms
**Posted:** 2026-01-22

> Leads data organization, defining strategy from data collection to AI features, driving technical execution, team building, and cross-functional collaboration to enable data-driven decisions and AI-powered products. Requires 12+ years in data fields with 5+ years leadership and deep ML/AI expertise.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities

### Technical Leadership & Strategy
- Define and drive the company-wide data strategy end-to-end, from raw data collection to user-facing AI features or internal decision making.
- Ensure teams have capabilities for sound data-driven decisions and build platforms/frameworks for high standards.
- Advance transformation into insights- and AI-powered product with differentiated value proposition.
- Make critical architecture and systems design decisions for scalability, maintainability, security, and performance.
- Stay current with technology trends, especially modern AI, and evaluate/adopt beneficial innovations.

### Hands-On Execution
- Contribute to major technical components, critical feature-launches, code, or insights deep dives.
- Involved in solution design for high-complexity or high-risk data or AI investments.
- Lead or participate in technical deep-dives for cross-team initiatives.

### Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Collaborate with Engineering, Product, and Design to integrate data capabilities.
- Ensure data & AI platforms empower user-facing teams for high velocity.
- Represent Data to executive team, communicate insights, tradeoffs, risks, timelines.
- Collaborate on budget, resource allocation, technology investments.

### Team Building, Mentorship & Management
- Build, grow, and mentor senior leaders (managers and ICs).
- Recruit and retain top data talent, define hiring strategy, interviewing, onboarding.
- Foster culture of learning, decision quality, ownership, psychological safety, accountability.
- Lead adoption of AI-driven tools for productivity.

### Process, Governance & Scaling
- Establish best practices across data lifecycle (instrumentation, data engineering, insights, experimentation, ML/AI validation).
- Maintain effectiveness/reliability of AI and insights solutions with monitoring, alerting, remediation.
- Partner with Product and Engineering to evolve org structure for growth.

## Requirements
- 12+ years in data-related fields (data science, data engineering, ML engineering) with at least 5+ years leading managers or directors in growing, fast-paced environments.
- Track record of designing and launching large-scale user-facing data or AI-driven product capabilities with measurable impact.
- Track record of transforming organizational culture to data-driven, including self-service insights and experimentation.
- Deep technical expertise in data science, ML, AI, and relevant engineering (data and AI platforms).
- Proven track record of direct technical contributions as a leader.
- Excellent leadership, mentoring, people-management skills; ability to recruit/retain strong talent.
- Strong collaboration, communication; simplify technical issues for executives/cross-functional teams.

## Nice-to-Haves
- Experience scaling teams across multiple geographies.
- Prior experience in SaaS/consumer tech.

## Compensation
- Base salary targeted at $320,000-$340,000 for roles based in San Francisco and Los Angeles (final offers depend on location, experience, expertise, role scope).

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