Merkle · 1 day ago
Senior Manager, Analytics - Applied AI
Chicago, IL
Full-time
Hybrid
Mid, Senior Level
$113K/yr - $183K/yr
7+ years expMerkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled global performance marketing agency specializing in personalized customer experiences. The Senior Manager, Analytics - Applied AI will lead the delivery of production-grade AI solutions and manage client relationships for complex AI engagements, ensuring clients can own and evolve the systems built together.
AdvertisingMarketing
Responsibilities
Lead the delivery of knowledge extraction and insights generation systems including conversational analytics, text-to-SQL solutions, unstructured data processing, and agentic workflows that unlock value from client data at scale
Own client relationships as the technical lead for complex AI engagements, translating business requirements into technical approaches and communicating progress, risks, and results to non-technical stakeholders
Lead AI evaluation engagements that help clients understand how their AI systems are performing, assessing accuracy, reliability, and business impact while building continuous improvement cycles
Guide the design and implementation of semantic layers and data architectures that enable accurate natural language interfaces across complex enterprise data environments
Lead small teams (2-5 practitioners) through the full delivery lifecycle: requirements gathering, solution design, implementation, evaluation framework creation, and successful client handoff. Ensure clients are positioned to own and evolve the systems we build
Establish and execute evaluation frameworks including golden datasets, accuracy metrics, quality benchmarks, and business impact measurement, both for systems we build and as standalone evaluation engagements for clients
Drive technical quality through architecture reviews, solution design guidance, and hands-on contribution where needed, while enabling your team to do the primary build work
Champion system transparency and explainability, ensuring clients deeply understand how AI systems make decisions and where limitations exist
Contribute to the technical roadmap for AI Analytics capabilities including evaluation of emerging technologies, proof of concepts for new approaches, and methodology development
Stay current with the evolving AI landscape, synthesizing research, whitepapers, and industry best practices into practical frameworks and approaches that advance our capabilities and benefit our clients
Represent the practice in client presentations, internal knowledge sharing, and thought leadership that positions Merkle's Analytics Innovation team as a leader in applied AI
Develop team members by providing technical mentorship, delivery coaching, and career guidance to AI practitioners on your engagements
Qualification
Required
7+ years in analytics, data science, or related fields with at least 3 years focused on AI/ML systems, preferably including knowledge extraction, conversational analytics, or insights generation implementations
Track record leading small teams or workstreams through technical delivery, whether as a tech lead, engagement manager, or senior practitioner who guided junior team members
Demonstrated ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical audiences. You can explain how an AI system generates insights to a marketing executive and why evaluation metrics matter to non-technical leaders
Deep familiarity with cloud data platforms. Stack agnostic but specific experience in Databricks (Unity Catalog, Genie) or Snowflake (Cortex, Intelligence) strongly preferred
Hands-on experience building LLM-based applications including prompt engineering, RAG implementations, and natural language interfaces for structured and unstructured data
Strong SQL proficiency and experience working with complex enterprise data models. You understand what makes semantic layers work
Consulting, agency, or client-facing delivery experience preferred. You're comfortable owning a client relationship and navigating ambiguity
Production experience with evaluation frameworks, quality measurement, and continuous improvement processes for AI systems
Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field (Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, or related); Master's degree preferred
Strong Python skills and software engineering fundamentals
Expert-level SQL and experience with query optimization, data modeling, and semantic layer design
Familiarity with AI evaluation methodologies including accuracy measurement, reliability testing, and continuous improvement frameworks for LLM-based systems
Experience with cloud platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern data infrastructure; comfort working across client tech stacks
Understanding of LLM capabilities/limitations, RAG architectures, and agentic frameworks
Proven ability to lead delivery teams and drive technical decisions while keeping clients informed and aligned
Excellence in technical storytelling and translating complex AI system behavior into business terms
Strong presentation skills with ability to engage executives and practitioners in the same conversation
Experience navigating ambiguity and making trade-off decisions in client-facing environments
Preferred
Experience building evaluation frameworks and golden datasets for AI/LLM systems
Background in marketing analytics, customer insights, or business intelligence
Experience with both structured data (SQL, data warehouses) and unstructured data (documents, text) pipelines
Published work or presentations on AI/ML topics
Certifications in Databricks, Snowflake, or cloud platforms
Benefits
Medical, vision, and dental insurance
Life insurance
Short-term and long-term disability insurance
401k
Flexible paid time off
At least 15 paid holidays per year
Paid sick and safe leave
Paid parental leave
Company
Merkle
Merkle is a customer relationship management agency that designs, executes and evaluates integrated marketing programs.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Merkle has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (53)
2024 (67)
2023 (58)
2022 (56)
2021 (85)
2020 (81)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$123.54MKey Investors
TCV
2016-08-08Acquired
2016-03-08Series Unknown· $10M
2015-08-14Series Unknown· $5.67M
Leadership Team
Amanda Gessert
Senior Vice President, Analytics
Jen Todd Gray
SVP, GM Promotions & Gamification / Head of Experience Creative
Recent News
2025-09-17
Company data provided by crunchbase