IT Leader, Data Science

At Dow, we believe in putting people first and we’re passionate about delivering integrity, respect and safety to our customers, our employees and the planet.

Our people are at the heart of our solutions. They reflect the communities we live in and the world where we do business. Their diversity is our strength. We’re a community of relentless problem solvers that offers the daily opportunity to contribute with your perspective, transform industries and shape the future. Our purpose is simple - to deliver a sustainable future for the world through science and collaboration. If you’re looking for a challenge and meaningful role, you’re in the right place.

About you and this role

Dow has an exciting and challenging opportunity for an IT Leader, Data Science on the Data Science & Engineering team within our Enterprise Data & AI organization, located in Houston, TX; Midland, MI; or Champaign, IL . This position may also support Virtual Office .

As the IT Leader, Data Science on our Data Science & Engineering team, you will manage and develop a team of data scientists who deliver advanced analytics and data science solutions that create measurable value for Dow. Your primary focus will be people leadership, team effectiveness, portfolio stewardship, stakeholder partnership, and delivery accountability—not serving as the team’s lead technical practitioner. You will use a strong working understanding of data science teams, their work, and the conditions they need to succeed to represent the team with business and technology leaders, advocate for appropriate priorities and resources, and reinforce a safe, inclusive, and performance-driven culture. You will establish and measure operating discipline across the data science development lifecycle, ensuring the team’s portfolio is prioritized, governed, communicated, and delivered effectively.

Responsibilities

People Leadership and Team Development

Lead, coach, and develop a team of data scientists through clear expectations, feedback, career guidance, and accountability for results.

Create a safe, inclusive, and high-performing environment that supports learning, innovation, constructive challenge, and continuous improvement.

Remove organizational barriers and support workforce planning, hiring, onboarding, recognition, succession, and capability development.

Business Partnership and Value Creation

Build trusted partnerships with business and functional leaders to identify, frame, and prioritize data science opportunities with clear outcomes, success measures, and ownership.

Maintain awareness of relevant data science and emerging AI capabilities and help stakeholders assess where they can create responsible, sustainable value.

Represent the team with technical and non-technical audiences, communicating capabilities, capacity, priorities, trade-offs, risks, and contributions.

Portfolio Leadership and Delivery Excellence

Own and prioritize the team’s portfolio, balancing enterprise needs, business value, capacity, dependencies, development needs, and delivery risk.

Establish disciplined practices for intake, planning, governance, status reporting, risk management, and executive communication across the data science lifecycle.

Ensure initiatives have clear objectives, ownership, stakeholder engagement, measurable outcomes, delivery plans, and decision points.

Lead portfolio reviews and adjust priorities or resources as business needs and delivery conditions change.

Operational Excellence and Development Practices

Partner with senior practitioners and adjacent technology teams to set direction, clarify responsibilities, remove barriers, strengthen reusable practices, and address material technical risk.

Set expectations for fit-for-purpose documentation, governance, model validation, production readiness, monitoring, support, and retirement.

Ensure the team has the standards, tools, expertise, and partnerships needed to apply modern data science, software engineering, and MLOps practices.

Use meaningful measures and stakeholder feedback to improve delivery, adoption, team effectiveness, operating discipline, and business value.

Qualifications

A minimum of a bachelor’s degree, relevant military experience at the E5 rank/Petty Officer 2nd Class or higher is required or 12 years years of experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree.

A minimum of three years of people management experience, including direct responsibility for coaching, performance management, development planning, and team outcomes.

Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional initiatives involving business and technology stakeholders.

A minimum requirement for this U.S. based position is the ability to work legally in the United States. No visa sponsorship/support is available for this position, including for any type of U.S. permanent residency (green card) process.

Preferred qualifications

Degree in IT, Computer Science, Analytics, Engineering, Business, Chemistry, or a related discipline.

Experience managing high-skill technical, analytical, digital, or scientific teams; direct leadership of data scientists or advanced analytics professionals is preferred.

Working knowledge of data science solution lifecycles, software engineering, MLOps, model governance, product delivery, and associated risks.

Experience managing a portfolio of data science, analytics, AI, or digital initiatives, including prioritization, governance, resource planning, risk management, and value tracking.

Proven ability to build effective teams, represent technical capabilities to business leaders, and translate ambiguous challenges into actionable work.

Strong consulting, facilitation, and communication skills, with success influencing across a large, complex enterprise and leading through ambiguity.

Commitment to continuous learning, talent development, inclusion, and improvement.

Your Skills

Leadership of Data Science Teams: Understands the work, lifecycle, risks, and support needs of data science teams and enables strong outcomes without serving as the primary technical expert.

People Leadership and Coaching: Develops talent, sets clear expectations, provides constructive feedback, builds trust, and holds the team accountable for results.

Business Partnership and Influence: Builds credibility, represents the team, communicates capacity and trade-offs, and translates between business needs and technical expertise.

Portfolio Stewardship: Balances priorities, resources, risks, dependencies, value, team sustainability, and stakeholder expectations.

Operating Discipline: Establishes governance, accountability, and measures that improve quality, predictability, transparency, and results.

Strategic and Organizational Leadership: Connects investments to enterprise priorities, removes barriers, and fosters a safe, inclusive, collaborative, and improvement-driven culture.

Additional notes

This position does not offer relocation assistance.

Benefits – What Dow offers you

We invest in you.

Dow invests in total rewards programs to help you manage all aspects of you: your pay, your health, your life, your future, and your career. You bring your background, talent, and perspective to work every day. Dow rewards that commitment by investing in your total wellbeing.

Here are just a few highlights of what you would be offered as a Dow employee:

• •Equitable and market-competitive base pay and bonus opportunity across our global markets, along with locally relevant incentives.
• •Benefits and programs to support your physical, mental, financial, and social well-being, to help you get the care you need...when you need it.
• •Competitive retirement program that may include company-provided benefits, savings opportunities, financial planning, and educational resources to help you achieve your long term financial-goals.
• •Employee stock purchase programs (availability varies d