Director of Data Services

The role

The Director of Data Services will manage how the firm captures, governs, integrates, and activates data across financial systems, client relationships, and AI models. This executive role builds the enterprise data architecture and establishes a data governance culture to support AI programs and business intelligence.

What you will do

• Own and evolve the firm's enterprise data strategy and multi-year roadmap.
• Advise the CLOO on data strategic implications, investments, and risks.
• Build and chair the firm's Data Governance Council.
• Design and oversee the build of the firm's enterprise data architecture.
• Lead the selection and implementation of modern data infrastructure tools.
• Establish and enforce enterprise data standards, taxonomies, and metadata policies.
• Own the firm's master data management program.
• Oversee the data engineering team and set technical standards.
• Own a Practice Intelligence platform for firm leadership.
• Partner with Finance, Business Development, and Human Resources to deliver analytics.

Required 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
• Deep expertise in modern data stack technologies including cloud data warehouses, orchestration tools, data catalog, and BI visualization tooling
• Proven experience developing and implementing data governance frameworks
• Exceptional executive presence
• Strong track record building and leading multidisciplinary data organizations
• Professional services, legal, financial services, or other highly regulated, data-sensitive industry experience

Nice to have

• Prior experience at a law firm, in-house legal department, or legal technology company
• Familiarity with legal systems: Aderant, iManage, Intapp, 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
• 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)

Benefits

• health care
• retirement benefits
• paid days off, including sick time, and vacation time
• parental leave
• basic life insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• discretionary, performance-based bonuses

About the company

Gibson Dunn is a leading global law firm, advising clients on significant transactions and disputes.