Director of Business Intelligence

Director of Business Intelligence

Location: Milwaukee, WI (Onsite)

Client: Milwaukee School of Engineering

Employment Type: 6-Month Contract-to-Hire

Compensation:

• W2: Up to $85–$90/hr
• Expected Permanent Conversion Salary: Approximately $140K annually

Reports To: Associate Vice President (AVP), Business Intelligence

Position Summary

The Director of Business Intelligence serves as the execution leader for the Business Intelligence function, responsible for delivering the BI roadmap and ensuring high-quality analytics solutions across the organization. This role translates the strategic vision established by the Associate Vice President into actionable plans and successful execution.

Note: This is primarily a leadership and delivery role. While a strong technical foundation is required, this position is not hands-on and does not involve coding or code reviews.

The Director will oversee BI operations, team performance, project delivery, data governance initiatives, and stakeholder engagement while enabling data-driven decision-making across the institution.

Key Responsibilities

BI Roadmap Execution & Delivery

• Lead execution of the Business Intelligence roadmap and ensure projects are delivered on time and within scope.
• Drive initiatives involving:
• Azure Cloud Data Platform / Microsoft Fabric
• Power BI reporting and dashboards
• Data governance frameworks
• Salesforce and Education Cloud analytics
• Advanced analytics and AI/ML initiatives
• Translate strategic goals into project plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, standups, and retrospectives.
• Identify risks, manage dependencies, and communicate project status to stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with IT governance and delivery processes.

Team Leadership & Development

• Manage, mentor, and develop BI team members.
• Foster a high-performing, collaborative, and accountable culture.
• Oversee workload prioritization, resource allocation, and capacity planning.
• Partner with the AVP on performance management and talent development.
• Build a self-sufficient team focused on quality and operational excellence.

Data Architecture & Engineering Oversight

Provide leadership and oversight for BI solutions built within the Microsoft ecosystem, including:

• Azure Data Factory
• Azure Data Lake
• Microsoft Fabric
• Power BI
• SQL Server

Additional responsibilities include:

• Ensuring adherence to data governance, security, and quality standards.
• Leading onboarding of enterprise data sources such as Salesforce, Finance, Enrollment, and other institutional systems.
• Maintaining architecture documentation, runbooks, and monitoring processes.

Analytics & Reporting

• Oversee development of executive dashboards and operational reports.
• Support analytics across enrollment, academics, finance, retention, and other institutional functions.
• Enable self-service reporting through governed semantic models.
• Support AI/ML initiatives with measurable business outcomes.

Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary BI point of contact for business stakeholders.
• Gather requirements and align analytics initiatives with business objectives.
• Collaborate with application, infrastructure, and operations teams.
• Support executive reporting, KPI tracking, and governance discussions.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships through consistent delivery.

Strategic Contribution

• Support IT leadership with roadmap planning and strategic initiatives.
• Represent the BI organization in enterprise programs and cross-functional projects.
• Stay current with emerging trends in data analytics, AI/ML, and higher education.
• Drive continuous improvement of BI capabilities.

Core Competencies

• Strategic execution and delivery leadership
• Strong people management and mentoring skills
• Data-driven mindset
• Excellent communication with both technical and executive audiences
• Strong understanding of data governance and data quality principles
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Solid technical foundation in modern BI platforms and data architecture

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, or a related field.
• 5 years of experience in Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, or Data Engineering.
• 2 years of leadership or people management experience.
• Strong experience with the Microsoft BI ecosystem, including:
• Azure Data Factory
• Azure Data Lake
• Microsoft Fabric
• Power BI
• SQL Server
• Strong understanding of data modeling, semantic layers, and reporting architecture.