Principal Data Consultant - AI Readiness

The Principal Data Consultant is a senior consulting leader who serves as the Engagement Lead and primary executive advisor across the full client engagement lifecycle. This role is accountable for client success, delivery excellence, financial performance, executive stakeholder relationships, strategic direction, and overall engagement outcomes.

Principal Data Consultants lead complex data, analytics, AI, cloud, and digital transformation initiatives by aligning business objectives to technology solutions that deliver measurable value. They set engagement strategy, establish governance, guide executive decisions, mitigate risk, and ensure delivery quality, transparency, and operational discipline. On smaller engagements, they may also act as Project Manager; however, their primary responsibility is strategic engagement leadership while enabling Project Managers and delivery teams to execute successfully.

Beyond client delivery, Principal Data Consultants help advance the Data Practice by developing future leaders, improving consulting methodologies, shaping service offerings, supporting business development, and contributing to the long-term growth and maturity of the practice.

Roles & Responsibilities

Client Delivery

• Own the success of complex engagements, including delivery quality, client satisfaction, financial performance, business outcomes, and strategic account growth.
• Serve as the primary Engagement Lead and executive advisor, building trust and maintaining executive relationships throughout the engagement lifecycle.
• Define engagement strategy, governance, communication cadence, success measures, and executive reporting.
• Lead executive steering committees, governance meetings, roadmap workshops, and strategic planning sessions.
• Partner with Project Managers, Solution Architects, and Technical Leads to ensure execution aligns to client objectives with the right level of executive oversight.
• Provide strategic direction across workstreams to maintain alignment with business priorities, contractual commitments, and long-term client goals.
• Proactively manage executive risks, organizational change, stakeholder alignment, staffing challenges, and delivery issues before they affect outcomes.
• Ensure engagements meet AHEAD quality standards, delivery methodologies, financial objectives, and governance expectations.
• Provide executive-level recommendations that support informed decisions and measurable business results.

Business Development and Account Growth

• Build trusted advisor relationships with executive business and technology leaders, including CIOs, CDOs, CISOs, and other senior stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to expand client engagements through a deep understanding of client priorities, organizational challenges, and business goals.
• Lead discovery workshops, executive strategy sessions, and solution development efforts that shape future engagements.
• Partner with Client Directors and Practice Leadership to develop account strategies, multi-phase roadmaps, and long-term growth plans.
• Lead proposal strategy, solution development, estimation, pricing discussions, and executive presentations.
• Ensure proposed solutions are technically feasible, operationally executable, financially sound, and aligned to client outcomes.

Practice Leadership and Growth

• Evolve consulting methodologies, engagement frameworks, governance standards, reusable intellectual property, and delivery best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement that enhances delivery quality, operational excellence, financial performance, and client satisfaction across the Data Practice.
• Mentor and coach Senior Consultants, Consultants, and emerging Engagement Leads through leadership guidance, performance feedback, and development support.
• Build organizational capability by supporting recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, succession planning, leadership development, and career growth.
• Promote collaboration across consulting, delivery, architecture, engineering, project management, sales, and client success teams.
• Maintain expertise in emerging technologies, industry trends, business transformation strategies, and modern data platforms while representing AHEAD as a trusted industry advisor.

Expectations

Principal Data Consultants are expected to consistently demonstrate executive leadership, strategic thinking, business acumen, consulting excellence, and accountability while driving successful client engagements and advancing the Data Practice.

Leadership and Ownership

• Demonstrate end-to-end ownership for engagement success across delivery quality, client satisfaction, financial performance, and strategic outcomes.
• Establish clear direction, priorities, governance, and accountability across cross-functional teams.
• Make timely, informed decisions that balance business priorities, delivery risks, financial objectives, and client expectations.
• Anticipate challenges early, remove organizational obstacles, and lead teams through complexity with confidence and transparency.
• Develop future leaders through coaching, mentoring, delegation, and growth opportunities.

Consulting and Business Acumen

• Understand client strategies, organizational priorities, industry trends, and operational challenges.
• Translate business strategy into practical roadmaps and transformation initiatives.
• Connect engagement activity to measurable business value, value realization, and long-term client success.
• Make financially sound decisions that protect profitability while maximizing outcomes.
• Influence executive decisions through strategic insight, business-focused recommendations, and thoughtful guidance.

Technical and Consulting Excellence

• Apply structured thinking and consultative problem solving to complex business and technology challenges.
• Guide solution strategy and ensure recommendations are practical, scalable, technically sound, and aligned to business objectives.
• Challenge assumptions, evaluate alternatives, and provide a clear point of view grounded in business and technical rationale.
• Ensure consistency, quality, and technical excellence across engagement deliverables.
• Advance consulting excellence by improving methodologies, frameworks, accelerators, and reusable intellectual property.

Executive Relationships and Stakeholder Management

• Build long-term trusted advisor relationships through credibility, integrity, and consistent delivery.
• Communicate complex ideas clearly and confidently with a business-first perspective to influence executive decisions.
• Facilitate alignment across business and technology stakeholders while managing competing priorities and organizational dynamics.
• Proactively identify concerns, resolve conflict, and build consensus to enable successful outcomes.
• Represent AHEAD with executive presence, professionalism, and a commitment to exceptional client service.

Practice Leadership and Growth

• Lead initiatives that strengthen consulting capabilities, delivery excellence, governance, and operational maturity across the Data Practice.
• Develop and mentor future Engagement Leads and consulting leaders through coaching, feedback, and leadership development.
• Contribute to business development, practice strategy, service offerings, innovation, and thought leadership.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and consulting excellence.
• Serve as a role model for AHEAD values, leadership principles, and client-first culture.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, Business, or a related field.
• Typically 12-15+ years of progressively responsible experience leading enterprise data, analytics, AI, cloud, or digital transformation initiatives.
• Minimum seven years of consulting or professional services experience leading complex enterprise engagements.
• Demonstrated success as an Engagement Lead, Program Lead, or senior consulting leader for large, cross-functional transformation initiatives.
• Proven experience managing executive client relationships, engagement financials, delivery governance, organizational change, and strategic account growth.
• Experience leading executive workshops, steering committees, governance forums, and strategic planning sessions.
• Strong understanding of enterprise data platforms, analytics, AI, cloud technologies, governance, and modern architecture principles.

Core Competencies

• Executive leadership with the ability to influence senior business and technology stakeholders.
• Exceptional consulting skills, including structured thinking, consultative problem solving, strategic planning, and executive communication.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to align technology investments to measurable business outcomes.
• Proven ability to lead multiple teams while maintaining accountability for engagement success.
• Excellent relationship management, facilitation, negotiation, conflict resolution, and executive presentation skills.
• Strong financial management skills, including forecasting, margin management, budget oversight, and commercial decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to develop leaders, build high-performing teams, and foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Executive presence, sound judgment, professionalism, and the ability to lead through influence.

Preferred

• Master’s degree or MBA.
• Professional certifications in cloud platforms, enterprise architecture, project management, Agile, AI, or data management.
• Experience with Snowflake, Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Azure, AWS, GCP, or similar enterprise technologies.
• Experience leading enterprise modernization, operating model transformation, data strategy, governance, AI adoption, or large-scale digital transformation programs.
• Experience developing consulting offerings, strategic partnerships, or practice growth initiatives.