Senior Director Financial Services Analytics

Job Description:

Merkle’s Marketing and Customer Intelligence (MCI) practice is hiring a Senior Director to lead customer analytics and data science across financial services clients.

You’ll own the analytics relationship and analytics strategy for senior executives, leading the AI, data science, and advanced analytics that turn first-party behavioral, call center, and omnichannel data into a decision-ready view of the customer: who to engage, what they’re worth, and whether the investment is working. You’ll set the roadmap for your accounts and the modeling standard within them, and connect insight to activation and measurement, partnering with client, engineering, operations, and strategy teams. This is an agency role judged on client outcomes. You’ll lead an account as primary partner, or provide senior oversight across accounts, and lead the team that delivers the work, staying hands-on in the analytics where the account needs it. Travel as account needs require. Reports to VP, Analytics, Financial Services.

We’re looking for a leader with a clear point of view on where customer analytics is going in regulated financial services.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary analytics partner to senior executives, influencing C-level decisions where the account requires it

• Own data quality and governance standards for assigned accounts in regulated environments, ensuring trusted, secure, and compliant data use

• Build the multi-year analytics roadmap for assigned accounts, aligned to the FS direction set by the VP and to client business priorities and long-term strategic objectives, with thought leadership that moves clients from point solutions to operating-model answers

• Turn customer, call center, and omnichannel data into executive-ready stories and recommendations that drive investment and prioritization

• Where accounts run business reviews, lead the insight narrative with client executives, bringing a clear point of view on what the findings mean and what to do next, and partner with strategy where the account calls for it

• Set standards for segmentation, propensity, CLV, and personalization, including validation and champion/challenger design

• Shape next best action and decisioning strategy, including eligibility rules and business constraints

• Oversee scalable data assets, models, and frameworks that support decisioning

• Set measurement and test-and-learn standards so investment decisions rest on evidence

• Lead shared frameworks and documentation standards across accounts, and lead through ambiguity and client transitions

• Partner with client marketing, data, engineering, and operations teams on ETL/ELT, data modeling, and scalable data design, and drive modernization of legacy processes, including AI, unstructured data, and BI tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, Looker)

• Lead, mentor, and develop the analytics team, including directors, managers, and modelers across onshore and offshore delivery, to ensure quality, consistency, and scalability

• Shape proposals, pitches, and expansion opportunities, with commercial discipline on what is in and out

Requirements

• 15+ years in analytics, data science, or related fields, including leading modeling delivery across multiple clients or complex portfolios, managing senior leaders, and building high-performing teams

• Executive presence and storytelling: composed and credible with C-level audiences, able to frame a recommendation, hold a position under challenge, and manage stakeholders

• Track record advising senior marketing and customer executives in financial services, with influence on C-level decisions

• Working understanding of insurance customer economics (persistency, lapse, value of new business) and the regulation behind it, such as state insurance rules—Ability to apply the same discipline to banking and payments customer economics (deposits, balances, activation, merchant growth) a plus

• Clear, current point of view on customer analytics in regulated financial services, including incrementality, next best action, and AI, that they can defend with clients

• Deep understanding of customer lifecycle, acquisition and retention economics, and CLV

• Experience with regulated, PII-heavy customer data (e.g., GLBA, FCRA, state insurance regulation, TCPA, PCI DSS, privacy and consent)

• Customer and service analytics across call center and omnichannel interaction data

• Working depth in propensity, ranking, and CLV modeling, with the ability to challenge features, validation, and assumptions

• Experience driving scalable solutions and frameworks across clients, not only account-level delivery

• Strong SQL and data modeling (facts and dimensions), with working familiarity with Python or R and ETL/ELT tools (e.g., SSIS)

• Agency or consulting experience in complex, multi-workstream, fast-changing environments

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative or business field; advanced degree (MBA, MS, or PhD) a plus

Strongly preferred

• Deep insurance experience (P&C, life, or annuity customer analytics) or client-side leadership at an insurer

• Client-side analytics leadership at a bank, card issuer, or payments company

• Banking and lending depth (e.g., deposits, NII drivers, cards) or payments and fintech depth (e.g., activation, merchant growth, take rate, churn)

• Experience with large member-based or multi-product customer organizations

• Ownership of data science and advanced analytics initiatives

• Orchestrating analytics, data science, and engineering at scale

• Predictive, text and speech analytics, and AI readiness

• Next best action or decisioning platform experience

• Hands-on Python or R modeling, including code review

• Cloud data platforms, such as GCP/BigQuery

• CRM and contact center analytics (e.g., Salesforce, Adobe, Microsoft Dynamics)

• Military or veteran customer data (SCRA, MLA)

• Business development and expansion track record

The annual salary range for this position is $143000-$224,000. Placement within the salary range is based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and other factors permitted by law.

Benefits available with this position include:

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance,

• Life insurance,

• Short-term and long-term disability insurance,

• 401k,

• Flexible paid time off,

• At least 15 paid holidays per year,

• Paid sick and safe leave, and

• Paid parental leave.

Dentsu also complies with applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in accordance with its plans and policies. For further details regarding Dentsu benefits, please visit www.dentsubenefitsplus.com.

At dentsu, we believe great work happens when we’re connected. Our hybrid way of working combines remote flexibility with regular in-person collaboration to spark ideas and strengthen our teams. Many of our employees who live within commuting distance (90 minutes) from one of our Headquarter or Hub Offices (New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles) are required to work in the office 2-3 days per week including one Team Day. The minimum number of days may vary by office and role. Dentsu may designate other HQ or Hub offices at any time. Those who do not live near an office may be designated as a remote employee, depending on the role and business needs. Regardless of your work location, we expect you to be flexible to meet the needs of our Company and clients, which may include attendance in an office from time to time.

To begin the application process, please click on the “Apply” button at the top of this job posting. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and qualified candidates will be contacted for next steps.

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About dentsu

For over 120 years, innovation has been a core tenet of our offering – exploring new ways to reach, engage and nurture relationships with audiences. Together we drive a multiplier effect for clients at a global scale, through the development of Integrated Growth Solutions that are underpinned by our promise to clients: innovating to impact.

Be a force for good. Sustainability is a vital part of our business and an important area of focus for our clients. We’re leading the way – helping to build a more sustainable planet.

Dream loud. In this moment of transformation, we need our people to be fearless, embracing change and ambiguity, driven by the love for their work and excitement for the future.

Team without limits. We create opportunities for connection and collaboration between our colleagues and clients, building a sense of belonging and having some fun along the way.