Senior Director, Decision Analytics

Description

Sprout Social is seeking a Senior Director, Decision Analytics to join our Strategy & Business Operations team. In this senior leadership role, you will head our centralized Decision Analytics function, overseeing the data science and analytics teams that power strategic choices across the entire company.

This isn't a passive reporting role. You are tasked with reinventing how Sprout approaches data—moving beyond retrospective reporting to build a predictive, insights-driven culture where data actively shapes business outcomes. Inheriting a team mid-transformation, you will define how every major function at Sprout utilizes data to accelerate growth and maximize business impact for years to come.

Why Join Sprout's Strategy & Business Operations Team?

As a pillar of the Strategy & Business Operations organization, you will sit at the critical intersection of business strategy and technical data infrastructure. We are completely rebuilding our centralized data approach, making this role the single most important hire for our department's future.

What we offer: The opportunity to manage real ambiguity with true ownership, backed by direct visibility to the Chief Product Officer and Sprout's executive leadership.

We are a team that values curiosity, a fierce bias toward action, and leaders who can move fluidly between high-level strategy and granular execution. If you want to leave a lasting legacy on a scaling company's data culture, this is where you belong.

What you'll do

• Own and lead Decision Analytics, Sprout's centralized analytics and data science function, spanning domain-specialized pods supporting Marketing, Revenue, Product, and Finance across the full organization
• Set the vision, standards, and operating model for how Decision Analytics works at Sprout, including how the team prioritizes, partners with stakeholders, and measures its own impact
• Drive a fundamental shift in how Sprout's business teams use data: from reactive reporting to proactive, insight-driven decision-making that creates measurable business impact
• Serve as the primary analytics and data science thought partner to senior business stakeholders across the organization, building deep relationships, understanding what each team is trying to accomplish, and guiding the team to deliver the highest-leverage work
• Connect the dots across the organization, understanding what individual pods are working on, what business stakeholders need, and what is the best use of the team's time and capability
• Be a hands-on leader: willing to get into the weeds alongside your team when needed, help work through a complex analysis or model, unblock a problem, or bring the right people into the room
• Lead and develop a team of managers, analysts, and data scientists across multiple domain pods, creating a culture of proactive partnership, intellectual curiosity, and high standards
• Partner closely with the Director of Data Enablement on data infrastructure and analytics engineering requirements, ensuring the analytical layer is built on a trustworthy and scalable data foundation
• Champion AI-forward thinking across the analytics and data science function, identifying opportunities to incorporate AI and automation into how the team works and what it delivers
• Drive change management as the organization completes its transition to a centralized analytics model, building trust with stakeholders, establishing new ways of working, and helping the team thrive in a new operating structure
• Collaborate cross-functionally without ego; this role requires a genuine collaborator who is more invested in outcomes than ownership

What you'll bring

You are a seasoned data leader who pairs technical and analytical depth with sharp business fluency. You are just as comfortable diving into a complex modeling problem with a data scientist as you are advising a CRO on pipeline strategy. A natural collaborator, you excel at translating sophisticated data science into clear, actionable business strategies, and you thrive when transforming ambiguous challenges into structured, high-impact solutions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 12+ years in analytics, data science, or a related field, including 5+ years leading teams within a SaaS or subscription-based business. 
• People Management: 5+ years experience of hiring, developing, and mentoring a high-performing team of managers, analysts, and data scientists.
• Leadership: Proven success scaling and managing a centralized or hybrid analytics function that simultaneously supports diverse cross-functional business units.
• SaaS Fluency: Deep, fluent understanding of core SaaS metrics across the customer lifecycle (e.g., ARR growth/composition, NRR, GRR, pipeline velocity, CAC payback, LTV:CAC, and product activation).
• Strategic Altitude: The ability to move fluidly between high-level executive strategy and granular, hands-on technical execution.

Preferred Qualifications

• Change Management: Experience leading an analytics organization through a major consolidation, restructure, or operating model transformation.
• Technical Depth: Hands-on familiarity with the modern data stack (SQL, Python, dbt, cloud warehouses, BI/visualization tools like Tableau/Hex/Looker) and a foundational understanding of ML modeling frameworks and experimentation design.
• Capability Building: Experience expanding advanced data science capabilities alongside core analytics, including predictive modeling and ML-based forecasting.
• AI Innovation: An AI-forward mindset with practical experience integrating AI tools and automation to accelerate and scale analytical workflows.

How you'll grow

Within 1 month, you'll plant your roots, including:

• Build relationships with your direct reports, key business stakeholders, and cross-functional partners across Data Enablement, Product Operations, and Strategy & Business Operations
• Develop a deep understanding of Sprout's business model, the domains your team supports, and the current state of the analytics and data science function you're inheriting
• Assess the team's current ways of working, backlog, and stakeholder relationships — and identify the highest-leverage opportunities to build trust and early momentum

Within 3 months, you'll start hitting your stride by:

• Establishing a clear operating model for how Decision Analytics works — how work gets prioritized, how pods partner with stakeholders, and how the team communicates its impact
• Building credibility as a strategic analytics and data science partner with senior stakeholders across the organization
• Identifying gaps in tooling, process, or capability and developing a clear point of view on how to address them

Within 6 months, you'll be making a clear impact through:

• Owning the full Decision Analytics function with confidence — managing pod leads, guiding prioritization across domains, and serving as the primary escalation path for the business
• Demonstrating a measurable shift in how business stakeholders experience the analytics function: more proactive, more strategic, more trusted
• Beginning to shape the longer-term vision for how Decision Analytics evolves as Sprout's data maturity and analytical ambition grow

Within 12 months, you'll make this role your own by:

• Leading Decision Analytics through its next phase — from a newly consolidated function to a mature, high-performing team with a clear identity and a strong reputation across Sprout
• Establishing a team culture defined by curiosity, proactive partnership, and a relentless focus on business impact — not just analytical output
• Positioning Decision Analytics as an indispensable driver of how Sprout makes decisions, allocates resources, and pursues growth

Of course what is outlined above is the ideal timeline, but things may shift based on business needs and other projects and tasks could be added at the discretion of your manager.

Our Benefits Program 

We’re proud to regularly be recognized for our team, product, and culture. We invest in our team with a comprehensive, competitive benefits program:

• Comprehensive Health & Wellness: Premium BCBSIL medical, dental (high/low plans), and vision (Eyemed) insurance for you and your eligible dependents.
• Premium Mental Health Support: Full, free access to Modern Health for you and your dependents, including coaching, therapy sessions, and digital wellness resources.
• Retirement Savings: 401(k) plan with a 50% company match on your first 6% of contributions (a 3% total match).
• Financial Security: 100% employer-paid Life and Disability insurance for your peace of mind.
• Flexible Paid Time Off: A flexible PTO policy, supplemented with additional company-wide Rest & Recharge days throughout the year.
• Paid Parental Leave: Up to 16 weeks of paid leave for new parents to support you in expanding your family.
• Annual Lifestyle Stipend: A $1,000 USD annual Lifestyle Spending Account to spend on your physical, mental, and financial well-being.
• Work From Home Support: A one-time $550 USD stipend to set up your home office, plus a monthly $50 USD stipend for internet.
• Giving Back: 16 hours of paid volunteer time annually, plus a $100 annual match for your charitable donations.
• Additional Financial Perks: Access to pre-tax commuter benefits, subsidized child/eldercare (Care.com), discounted pet insurance (Figo), and no-cost personalized financial wellness support through Your Money Line.

*This list is for informational purposes only. Benefit offerings are discretionary and subject to change and do not constitute a contract or guarantee of benefits.

Whenever possible, Sprout wants to provide our team with the flexibility to work in the location that makes the most sense for them. Sprout maintains a remote workforce in many places in the United States. However, we are not set up in all states, so please look at the drop-down box in our application to see whether your state is listed. Few roles require an office setting. If your position requires a physical presence in a Sprout office, it will be evident in the job listing and your offer letter.

Our salary ranges reflect the expected earning potential for this role. Individual pay is based on geographic zone, relevant experience, and skills.

We share both our current hiring range and our broader geographic salary bands to provide transparency into our compensation philosophy. This ensures you understand not only your starting potential but also the long-term growth potential available as you progress in your role.

We have two geographic pay zones in the United States:

Zone 1 (New York, California, Washington): $220,000 – $302,500

Zone 2 (All other US states): $200,000 – $275,000

These ranges were determined by a market-based compensation approach; we used data from trusted third-party compensation sources to set equitable, consistent, and competitive ranges. We also evaluate compensation bi-annually, identify any changes in the market and make adjustments to our ranges and existing employee compensation as needed.

Sprout Social is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on identity- race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged or sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. Because Sprout Social is a federal contractor, we affirmatively recruit individuals with a disability and protected veterans. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our latest DEI Report.

If you require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the interview process or to submit your application, please email us at [email protected]. Include the nature of your request and your preferred contact information. We'll do everything we can to support your success during our recruitment process while upholding your privacy. Please note that only inquiries regarding accommodations will receive a response from this email address; other inquiries will not be addressed (e.g., you send your resume but are not requesting an accommodation). 

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please click here (1) Equal Opportunity Employment Poster and (2) Sprout Social's Affirmative Action Statement. 

Additionally, Sprout Social participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law. 

Sprout Social Inc. and its subsidiaries process personal data submitted through your application to assess your qualifications for employment and to inform our hiring decision and, where applicable, for required governmental reporting. For more information, please review Sprout's Global Applicant Privacy Notice.