Director of Data Services

Gibson Dunn is a leading global law firm advising clients on significant transactions and disputes. Our exceptional teams craft and deploy creative legal strategies that are meticulously tailored to every matter however complex or high-stakes. The firms work is distinguished by a unique combination of precision and vision.

Based in Los Angeles New York or Washington D.C. the Director of Data Services will be responsible for managing the way Gibson Dunn captures governs integrates and activates its data across every financial system matter client relationship and AI model that the firm deploys. This role will establish the data foundation upon which the firms AI program business intelligence capability and operational decision-making rest. This executive-level role will build the firms first enterprise-grade data architecture create a lasting data governance culture and deliver analytics products that give firm leadership and practice group heads a level of strategic intelligence the firm has never had before.

This role reports to the Chief Legal Operations Officer.

Responsibilities include:

Enterprise Data Strategy

• Owning and continuously evolving the firms enterprise data strategy and multi-year roadmap approved by firm leadership integrating with the AI strategy and aligning to the firms financial operational and competitive priorities.
• Advising the CLOO on datas strategic implications including: the value of data assets the firm already holds the investments required to realize that value and the risks of continued data fragmentation.
• Establishing Gibson Dunns data vision by articulating what the firms data estate will look like at full maturity what decisions it will enable and how it will position the firm competitively.
• Building and chairing the firms Data Governance Council.
• Leading annual data strategy reviews with firm leadership presenting progress ROI and updated priorities against the multi-year roadmap.

Data Architecture & Engineering

• Designing and overseeing the build of the firms enterprise data architecture creating a unified governed data layer integrating Aderant (financial/billing) iManage (document management) Intapp (conflicts NBI risk) CRM HR systems and operational platforms.
• Leading the selection and implementation of modern data infrastructure tools and platforms including cloud data warehouse (Snowflake Databricks Azure Synapse or equivalent) ETL/ELT orchestration data catalog and lineage tooling.
• Establishing and enforcing enterprise data standards taxonomies and metadata policies resolving the multi-definition problem affecting key firm metrics such as realization rate utilization and client revenue.
• Owning the firms master data management (MDM) program establishing authoritative systems of record for clients matters attorneys rates and timekeeper hierarchy.
• Overseeing the data engineering team and setting technical standards for pipeline development data quality testing schema design and system integration architecture.

Analytics & Business Intelligence

• Owning a Practice Intelligence platform providing firm leadership practice group co-chairs and administrative leaders with self-serve access to matter pipelines utilization realization client revenue lateral productivity and workforce analytics.
• Partnering with Finance to deliver analytics beyond standard reports providing partner-level matter-level and client-level economic insight that informs compensation pricing and staffing decisions.
• Partnering with Business Development to build client intelligence products including relationship analytics cross-sell opportunity modeling client revenue trend analysis and competitive positioning data.
• Partnering with Human Resources to provide workforce analytics including staffing models associate advancement tracking DEI reporting and lateral hiring ROI analysis.
• Establishing a BI Center of Excellence selecting governing and supporting firm BI and visualization tooling (Power BI Tableau or equivalent); building a community of data users; and expanding self-serve analytics capability across the firm.

Data Governance & Compliance

• Developing and owning the firms comprehensive Data Governance Policy covering data ownership access controls classification retention lineage quality standards and AI training eligibility reviewed and approved by firm leadership IT Security and General Counsel.
• Managing the firm-wide Data Stewardship Program.
• Working with OGC ensure all data practices comply with GDPR CCPA applicable bar confidentiality rules client contractual data obligations and the firms information security policies; serving as the firms data compliance authority.
• Representing the firms data interests in enterprise technology decisions ensuring architecture security and governance requirements are built into every major system procurement.

AI Data Enablement

• Serving as an essential executive business partner on AI infrastructure: owning the data layer that powers all firm AI programs including retrieval-augmented generation pipelines vector databases embedding workflows and the knowledge retrieval infrastructure attorneys use to surface precedents and work product.
• Defining and enforcing data quality classification and access-control standards governing which firm data is eligible for AI retrieval training or fine-tuning ensuring all AI use of firm data meets confidentiality privilege and security requirements.
• Building and maintaining AI-ready data infrastructure at the pace the AI Team program requires coordinating with IT to remove data blockers for every AI deployment.
• Owning the firms data audit logging infrastructure (Harmonic) for AI tools ensuring complete auditable records of what data AI tools accessed when and by whom.

Executive Leadership

• Building leading and developing a high-performing organization of professionals across data governance analytics records and governance with deep commitment to talent development and succession planning.
• Serving as an executive sponsor for data literacy and data culture initiatives across the firm demonstrating personally that data-driven decision making is how Gibson Dunns leadership operates.
• Maintaining a strong external network with data leaders in professional services technology and financial services to continuously benchmark the firms data maturity and import relevant innovations.

Qualifications:

• 15 years of progressive experience in data engineering data architecture analytics or enterprise data strategy; at least 5 years in a Director VP or executive director-level role.
• Proven track record building enterprise data infrastructure from the ground up in a complex multi-system environment including data warehouse architecture ETL/ELT pipeline development and enterprise data governance.
• Deep expertise in modern data stack technologies: cloud data warehouses (Snowflake Azure or equivalent) orchestration tools data catalog and lineage platforms and BI visualization tooling.
• Proven experience developing and implementing data governance frameworks that achieve lasting organizational adoption including data ownership models classification schemas and stewardship programs.
• Exceptional executive presence: ability to translate data complexity into strategic insight for partners managing partners and peers.
• Strong track record building and leading multidisciplinary data organizations spanning engineering analytics and governance.
• Professional services legal financial services or other highly regulated data-sensitive industry experience.

Experience:

• Prior experience at a law firm in-house legal department or legal technology company.
• Familiarity with legal systems: Aderant (financial/billing) iManage (DMS) Intapp (conflicts/risk/NBI) or comparable platforms.
• Experience building AI data infrastructure: RAG pipelines vector databases embedding workflows and LLM evaluation data architectures.
• Understanding of attorney-client privilege confidentiality rules and professional responsibility as applied to data management and AI.
• Experience with master data management (MDM) in a multi-entity multi-jurisdictional environment.
• Advanced degree in Data Science Computer Science Information Management Statistics or related field; or JD/MBA with strong quantitative background.
• Professional certifications in data governance architecture or cloud platforms (CDMP TOGAF Snowflake SnowPro AWS/Azure data certifications).

Gibson Dunn will consider for employment qualified Applicants with Criminal Histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of local law.

Compensation & Benefits:

The annual compensation range for this position is $300k 380k. The salary offered within this range will depend upon qualifications and other operational considerations.

Benefits offered for this position include health care; retirement benefits; paid days off including sick time and vacation time; parental leave; basic life insurance; Flexible Spending Accounts; as well as discretionary performance-based bonuses.

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Gibson Dunn is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants including individuals with disabilities. We strive to ensure an inclusive and accessible hiring experience. The Firm will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable participation in the application and recruitment process unless doing so would impose an undue hardship in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

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