Vice President, Data Platforms

Company Description

NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. We create world-class content, which we distribute across our portfolio of film, television, and streaming, and bring to life through our theme parks and consumer experiences. We own and operate leading entertainment and news brands, including NBC, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports, Telemundo, NBC Local Stations, Bravo, USA Network, and Peacock, our premium ad-supported streaming service. We produce and distribute premier filmed entertainment and programming through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Universal Studio Group, and have world-renowned theme parks and attractions through Universal Destinations & Experiences. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

Our impact is rooted in improving the communities where our employees, customers, and audiences live and work. We have a rich tradition of giving back and ensuring our employees have the opportunity to serve their communities. We champion an inclusive culture and strive to attract and develop a talented workforce to create and deliver a wide range of content reflecting our world.

Comcast NBCUniversal has announced its intent to create a new publicly traded company ('Versant') comprised of most of NBCUniversal's cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. The well-capitalized company will have significant scale as a pure-play set of assets anchored by leading news, sports and entertainment content. The spin-off is expected to be completed during 2025.

Job Description

Versant Media is seeking an innovative and strategic VP, Data Platforms to lead the transformation and normalization of our data landscape. This critical role focuses on establishing robust policies and standards for data operations, architecture, and engineering. The candidate will be the steward of Versant’s data strategy, shaping how data fuels innovation, engagement, and business growth. The ideal person will architect and champion the platforms, data pipelines, governance models, and teams that turn raw data from across our diverse business units into actionable insights. By integrating traditional broadcast engineering with modern data architecture, this role is crucial to integrating data-centric models into our content delivery and business operations.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Data Governance

• Set strategic direction for data platforms by guiding technology selection and lifecycle management for core data platforms, middleware, data warehouses, and data lakes.
• Prioritize and align the development of data products to support revenue strategy, including services that directly support business needs such as audience segmentation tools, content performance dashboards, and predictive analytics models.
• Lead the design of the company’s overall data architecture, ensuring it is scalable, resilient, and optimized for both live broadcasting and streaming clients.

Data Pipeline & Architecture

• Develop and execute a comprehensive data pipeline strategy to ingest, normalize, and process data from a variety of sources across all Versant business units.
• Lead the design and implementation of a new central data store (middleware) to serve as a single source of truth for all enterprise data, ensuring data quality, consistency, and accessibility.
• Architect and oversee the construction of scalable and resilient ETL/ELT pipelines capable of handling both real-time streaming data and large-scale batch processing from diverse sources (broadcast feeds, digital properties, and subscriber data).
• Collaborate with data producers across all business units to establish data contracts and ensure the integrity and governance of incoming data.

Data Strategy & Vision

• Partner with content, marketing, advertising, and distribution leaders to ensure data capabilities, including normalized data pipelines and centralized data access directly supporting business growth and audience engagement goals.
• Define a cohesive data strategy that aligns with the organization's goals for content delivery, audience engagement, and revenue generation. This includes setting the technical direction for all data-related initiatives.
• Stay at the forefront of the rapidly evolving technology landscape and provide strategic guidance to Versant’s executive leadership on emerging trends and their potential impact on the media industry.

Team Leadership

• Build, manage, and mentor high-performing teams of data professionals across Versant.
• Oversee the budget for data platforms and allocate resources effectively across the various teams and projects. This includes managing hiring plans, technology spend, and vendor relationships.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate is a strategic leader with a strong technical background in data architecture, engineering, and governance. You possess a keen understanding of both the opportunities and the risks inherent in managing vast quantities of proprietary data, and you're adept at transforming complex technical concepts into clear business strategies. You are a natural collaborator who can navigate a large, matrixed organization and build consensus around a vision for a robust, scalable, and secure data ecosystem.

• Proven experience in a leadership role overseeing multi-disciplinary data, analytics, or related technology teams, with a history of progressive responsibility, successful delivery, and a specific focus on building and managing scalable data pipelines and middleware platforms.
• A strong track record of success in overseeing an enterprise-wide data strategy and the development of robust data pipelines and normalization platforms, ideally within the dynamic media or broadcast industry.
• Experience in delivering enterprise-scale data solutions that have a measurable impact on key business outcomes, including boosting operational efficiency and growing content monetization.
• Diverse portfolio of successfully delivered data projects, from initial platform design to full-scale implementation.
• Passionate on pioneering new data solutions with a meticulous and rigorous commitment to security, ethics, and legal compliance.

Additional Requirements:

•  Hybrid: This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from the office a minimum of three days per week.

This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks. Learn more about the benefits offered by NBCUniversal by visiting the Benefits page of the Careers website. Salary range: $225,000 - $275,000 (bonus and long-term incentive eligible) 

We are accepting applications for this position on an ongoing basis. 

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to AccessibilitySupport@nbcuni.com.

Although you'll be hired as an NBCU employee, your employment and the responsibilities associated with this job likely will transition to Versant in the future. By joining at this pivotal time, you'll be a part of this exciting company as it takes shape.