Ralph Lauren Global Head of Data Science CIX

Company Description

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. At Ralph Lauren, we unite and inspire the communities within our company as well as those in which we serve by amplifying voices and perspectives to create a culture of belonging, ensuring inclusion, and fairness for all. We foster a culture of inclusion through: Talent, Education & Communication, Employee Groups and Celebration.

Position Overview

Ralph Lauren is seeking a visionary and transformational Vice President, Global Customer AI & Data Science to lead the next era of customer intelligence, predictive decisioning and AI-powered personalisation across the enterprise. This executive leadership role will define and operationalise Ralph Lauren's global customer AI strategy, driving the evolution from traditional CRM and segmentation toward real-time, predictive and agentic customer experiences powered by advanced data science, machine learning and AI orchestration.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Enterprise AI & Customer Intelligence Strategy

• Define and lead the enterprise-wide vision, strategy and roadmap for Customer AI, Data Science and Predictive Intelligence across Ralph Lauren's global ecosystem
• Shape the long-term evolution toward an AI-powered customer and orchestration platform supporting hyper-personalised, omnichannel customer experiences
• Drive the transition from campaign-based marketing to adaptive, real-time customer decisioning and orchestration
• Establish AI and advanced analytics as strategic enterprise capabilities that influence customer growth, loyalty, pricing, media investment, ecommerce, retail and clienteling
• Partner with executive leadership to embed customer intelligence into broader business planning and commercial decision-making
• Drive innovation across AI-enabled personalisation, recommendation systems, conversational AI, customer agents, predictive loyalty and contextual experience optimisation
• Champion responsible AI practices, governance, explainability and ethical data usage across customer intelligence initiatives

Global Data Science & AI Leadership

• Lead, inspire and scale a world-class global Customer AI & Data Science organisation spanning:
  • Predictive modeling
  • Customer lifetime value and retention science
  • Segmentation and behavioral intelligence
  • Recommendation systems and next-best-action frameworks
  • Measurement science and causal inference
  • Experimentation and optimisation
  • AI-driven personalisation and orchestration
  • Feature stores, model deployment and MLOps enablement
• Build and evolve the organisational structure, operating model and talent strategy required to support Ralph Lauren's long-term AI ambitions
• Create a high-performance culture balancing innovation, experimentation, operational excellence and commercial impact
• Develop strong leadership pipelines and mentoring frameworks across data science and analytics teams
• Foster deep collaboration between global and regional teams to ensure scalable, locally relevant adoption of AI capabilities
• Serve as an executive thought leader and trusted advisor across the organisation on AI, data science and customer intelligence strategy

AI-Powered Personalisation & Orchestration

• Lead the development and scaling of next-generation personalisation capabilities across CRM, ecommerce, clienteling, media and retail touchpoints
• Oversee the evolution of recommendation systems, propensity models, lifecycle models and dynamic targeting frameworks
• Drive the adoption of AI-powered orchestration platforms enabling connected, full-funnel customer experiences
• Advance real-time and contextual decisioning capabilities leveraging customer signals, behavioral data and predictive intelligence
• Partner with digital, product and technology teams to operationalise AI solutions into customer-facing experiences
• Shape future-state innovation opportunities including conversational clienteling, AI concierge experiences, customer agents and digital twins
• Ensure personalisation strategies balance automation with elevated luxury brand storytelling and customer experience principles

Measurement, Commercial Impact & Optimisation

• Establish enterprise measurement frameworks that quantify the commercial value of AI, personalisation and customer intelligence investments - Lead advanced measurement capabilities including:
  • Incrementality testing
  • Multi-touch attribution
  • Marketing mix optimisation
  • Causal inference and experimentation
  • ROI and profitability measurement
• Drive adoption of unified customer KPIs and performance frameworks across regions and functions
• Translate complex analytical outputs into clear business recommendations and executive-level narratives
• Identify opportunities to improve acquisition efficiency, retention, loyalty, share of wallet and customer lifetime value
• Build scalable test-and-learn frameworks to accelerate innovation and optimisation across customer journeys

Data, Technology & Ecosystem Enablement

• Partner closely with Global Technology, Engineering and Data Platform teams to shape the future customer data ecosystem and AI infrastructure
• Drive data quality, governance and accessibility standards to support scalable AI and decision intelligence
• Evaluate emerging AI, machine learning and analytics technologies to accelerate innovation and operational agility
• Identify strategic partnerships and external innovation opportunities across technology providers, academia and AI ecosystems
• Ensure data science capabilities are scalable, productionised and globally deployable across markets

Cross-Functional Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Build strong executive relationships across:
  • Marketing
  • Ecommerce
  • Retail
  • Clienteling
  • Technology
  • Finance
  • Regional leadership teams
• Partner with regional organisations to drive adoption, capability building and business value realisation
• Influence senior stakeholders through strategic storytelling, data-driven recommendations and future-focused innovation leadership
• Collaborate with external agencies, consulting partners and technology providers where required
• Represent Ralph Lauren externally as a thought leader in customer AI, luxury personalisation and data-driven customer experience

Experience, Skills & Knowledge

• Substantial, proven experience in Data Science, AI, Customer Intelligence, Advanced Analytics or Marketing Science leadership roles
• Significant executive leadership experience within retail, luxury, consumer, technology or digitally native organisations
• Proven track record building and scaling high-performing global data science and AI organisations
• Deep expertise in: o Machine learning and predictive modeling o Personalisation and recommendation systems o Customer lifetime value and retention science o Segmentation and behavioral analytics o Marketing and measurement science o AI-enabled customer experiences
• Demonstrated experience operationalising AI and analytics into scalable enterprise products and business processes
• Experience leading large-scale transformation initiatives involving customer data platforms, AI infrastructure or enterprise analytics modernisation
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to connect advanced analytics to measurable business impact and growth
• Experience influencing senior executive stakeholders and operating effectively within complex global matrix organisations

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Statistics, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Economics, Data Science, Behavioral Science or related quantitative field
• Experience within luxury, fashion or premium consumer brands preferred
• Familiarity with modern AI ecosystems including GenAI, recommendation engines, experimentation platforms and MLOps frameworks
• Experience working across global markets and multicultural organisations

Leadership Profile

• Visionary leadership with the ability to define the future of AI-powered customer experiences
• A balance of strategic thinking and operational execution
• Exceptional storytelling and executive communication skills
• Deep curiosity and innovation mindset
• Strong commercial orientation and customer obsession
• Ability to inspire and influence across technical and non-technical audiences
• High emotional intelligence and collaborative leadership style
• Entrepreneurial energy combined with enterprise leadership maturity
• Luxury and brand sensitivity with appreciation for elevated customer experiences
• Passion for developing talent and building high-performing teams

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