CDW
Head of Data & AI
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Job Summary
Responsible for leading CDW's Data & AI Solution Sales team which sits within the Solution Sales organisation. This strategic leadership role will (predominantly) have specialist sales, alliance leadership and technical presales as direct reports and will be responsible (alongside the Head of Solution Sales) for setting and managing the standards, directional plans and continuously driving improvement into the team for future business, team and personal growth. The Data & AI team’s primary goal is delivering exceptional business outcomes for our customers through the sale and delivery of market leading products and value-added solutions and services.
The defining purpose of this Centre of Excellence (CoE) is to add significant value to our customers by improving and preparing their data – its quality, structure, governance, security and accessibility – so that they can enrich and unlock the full value of AI. The role holder is accountable for building a UK practice that leads with data readiness and converts it into sustained AI adoption and measurable customer outcomes.
The primary objectives of this role are:
- To deliver exceptional internal and external customer experiences and outcomes within the Data & AI portfolio and wider Solution Sales organisation whilst also driving a profitable outcome for CDW
- To clearly define (alongside the office of the CTO and the broader, key AI stakeholder group) the Data & AI Strategy and go to market – which technology areas we focus on, how we sequence data foundations ahead of AI, and how we continue to manage and grow a positive P&L within this team
- To work in partnership with various internal business units, supporting initiatives that drive improvements to the way we operate through process and platform, always demonstrating balanced flexibility and a passion to engage
- Provide success against revenue and GP targets relating to Data & AI such as modern data platform, data engineering and integration, data governance and quality, analytics, and applied AI
- To establish CDW as the UK's most credible partner for making customer data AI-ready, building repeatable assessment-led propositions that convert into platform, governance and AI programmes
- To ensure our propositions are delivered within UK regulatory, data protection, sovereignty and responsible AI expectations, in collaboration with the Security business unit, Legal and Compliance
- To create and evolve learning and development programmes (in collaboration with other business units) ensuring co-workers are continuing to develop individually and in line with business objectives, including vendor certification pathways across data and AI
What you will do
- Build the UK's best Data & AI Solution Sales business by leading and developing this growth CoE (consisting of modern data platform and lakehouse, data engineering and integration, data governance, quality and lifecycle management, analytics and business intelligence, and applied AI and agentic solutions that provide the foundations for businesses to make trusted, data-driven decisions)
- Proactively drive exceptional and consistent customer and seller experiences innovating our delivery model, drive increased opportunity win rates and customer up/cross sell through progressive and credible Solution Sales expertise – Always seeking to 'raise the bar'
- Create and execute on a business plan which is aligned to CDW's business strategy and delivers profitable outcomes.
- Own and evolve the data readiness proposition – define, package and scale the assessment, discovery and remediation offerings that prepare customer data estates for AI, and the land-and-expand motion that grows them into full transformation programmes
- Continue to evolve the CoE to ensure relevance and forward thinking in an exceptionally fast-moving market – never standing still.
- Proactively engage with sales leadership, sellers, and the wider business to assess and support opportunities in various stages of flight (pre-sales through delivery) considering resource requirements and constraints.
- Develop market insights and competitive intelligence in collaboration with the Solution Sales leadership team, Office of the CTO, Partner Management, Marketing and Sales teams that aid in the development and success of the Data & AI team.
- Own the senior relationship with Microsoft and other strategic Data & AI vendors, maximising partner funding, co-sell programmes, competency attainment and joint go to market in the UK.
- Host, attend and participate in internal, customer or partner events to showcase CDW's capability, acting as a visible UK thought leader on data readiness for AI.
- Drive deliberate and exceptional collaboration across all Solution Sales business units delivering broad business outcomes for our customers – particularly with Modern Workspace (Copilot adoption), Security (data protection, Purview and access hygiene) and Hybrid Platforms (infrastructure and cloud foundations)
- Work with the delivery and managed services organisations to ensure sold outcomes are deliverable, repeatable and supportable, and that customer value is realised beyond the initial sale
- Establish the governance, guardrails and internal standards for how CDW sells AI responsibly – managing customer expectations, qualifying out where data foundations are not in place, and protecting CDW's reputation as a trusted advisor
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Management Responsibilities
- Create and foster an environment conducive to innovation, high productivity, and high quality, regularly observing the performance of direct and in-direct reports, ensuring they maintain focus, motivation, adhere to and improve quality standards.
- Lead and develop teams and individuals within their responsibility, motivating, mentoring, coaching and nurturing talent with a positive attitude – Ensuring teams are highly motivated, quality-minded, and commercially focused.
- Assist in the development of training and certification plans for the Integrated Technology business in collaboration with the Learning & Development department aligned with business growth plans, ensuring the team maintains currency across rapidly evolving data and AI technologies
- Contribute to the ongoing development of the Integrated Technology business culture, promoting diversity, team building, and learning opportunities – promoting a progressive environment that is fun to work in
- Attract new and retain existing coworkers that have technical or professional expertise that maintains and promotes capabilities needed by the UK business, in a highly competitive market for data and AI skills
- Conduct monthly 121 meetings with the team, monitoring performance, supporting development, and completing the coworker life cycle process in line with Co-worker Services Guidance
- Accountable for accurate departmental financial forecasting, cost center management, opportunity cost model standards, staffing, recruitment, and coworker performance management
- Build and maintain strong relationships with other departmental leads (including US and Canadian peers) to maintain an awareness of developments within the wider business and support opportunities for standardisation across geographies where applicable.
- Act as a senior escalation point for business-critical events related to the business unit you lead, taking ownership of issues and driving remediation activity as necessary
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What we expect of you
- Proven successful experience in the Information Technology market with demonstrable experience working in a leadership position as well as a track record of developing teams and individuals
- Demonstrable experience of building, leading or scaling a data, analytics or AI business, practice or sales team, ideally within a reseller, systems integrator or consultancy environment
- Proven C-level interaction, engagement and relationship management, including with Chief Data Officers, CIOs, CTOs, CISOs and transformation leaders
- Demonstrable track record of driving revenue and profit growth, managing cost, and attracting, retaining, and developing talent
- Strong understanding and experience of the procurement lifecycle including negotiation, contracting, and the management of third parties
- Commercial fluency across consumption, licensing, annuity and services-based models, and the ability to build multi-year value cases for data modernisation and AI programmes
- Experience in building internal departmental brand and engaging with multiple internal business units
- Core technical breadth across the Data & AI domain sufficient to lead credibly: modern data platform and lakehouse architectures (Microsoft Fabric, Azure, Databricks), data engineering and integration, data governance, cataloguing, lineage and quality (Microsoft Purview), analytics and BI (Power BI), and applied AI (Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio and agents, Azure AI/OpenAI, machine learning)
- A clear understanding of what makes a data estate AI-ready – content quality and structure, metadata, unstructured data preparation, permissions and oversharing risk – and the ability to shape propositions around it
- Working knowledge of the UK data and AI regulatory landscape including UK GDPR and the Data (Use and Access) Act, ICO expectations, data residency and sovereignty, sector requirements (financial services/FCA, NHS DSPT and healthcare, public sector), and emerging AI governance standards such as ISO/IEC 42001 and the EU AI Act where UK customers are in scope
- Knowledge of UK routes to market and public sector procurement frameworks (e.g. G-Cloud, Crown Commercial Service agreements)
- Experience of senior vendor and partner management, ideally including Microsoft, with a record of leveraging partner funding, incentives and co-sell to accelerate growth
- Professional certifications (desirable) such as Sales, Business Administration or Leadership & Management qualifications; vendor certifications in data or AI (e.g. Microsoft Azure/Fabric fundamentals or equivalent) are desirable
CDW is committed to being an AI-fluent organization
As a leader, you will champion and be accountable for our vision of becoming an AI-fluent organization. We expect leaders to model curiosity, encourage responsible AI adoption, and foster a culture of continuous learning. You don’t need deep technical expertise, but you should be comfortable exploring how AI can enhance strategy, decision-making, and team performance. Your role includes guiding others in building confidence and capability with AI tools and practices, while promoting openness to experimentation and shared learning.
Additionally, CDW is committed to fostering an equitable, transparent, and respectful hiring process for all applicants. During our application process, our goal is to understand your experience, strengths, skills, and qualifications. As an AI forward company, we see AI not just as a tool, but as a catalyst for new ways of thinking, creating, and communicating. We encourage candidates
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