Position Title: Director of Data Partnerships & Strategy
About the job:
At John Burns Research and Consulting (JBREC), we are seeking an exceptional Director of Data Partnerships and Strategy to lead the firm’s external data investment portfolio. This role owns vendor strategy and ROI discipline across the portfolio, driving renewals, expansions, and sunset decisions based on usage, business value, and platform fit. The Director also evaluates new data investments, manages third-party partnerships, and builds business cases for high-conviction additions. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in the real estate data ecosystem and a strong ability to align external data partnerships with business and analytics objectives.
Reporting Structure:
This position will be part of the technology group, reporting to the Chief Data and Analytics Officer.
Key Responsibilities:
Own JBREC's external data investment portfolio. Drive ROI-based decisions on renewals, expansions, and sunsets, leveraging usage data from the client portal and internal adoption signals to support fact-based cost/benefit analysis. Establish the analytical framework and KPIs that determine which vendors and datasets earn continued investment.
Lead the evaluation, vetting, and integration of new data vendors and datasets, assessing strategic fit, business value, use cases, and integration pathways into operations and analytics workflows.
Partner with Data Engineering to ensure acquired datasets fit cleanly with JBREC's semantic layer and data architecture, factoring platform compatibility and integration cost into every vendor decision.
Partner with the Senior Manager, Data Quality & Governance to integrate data quality assessments and performance signals into portfolio decisions on third-party data.
Source proprietary data assets and establish partnerships with organizations that provide unique datasets to strengthen JBREC’s research and insights capabilities.
Conduct ongoing portfolio gap analysis to identify where coverage is insufficient, redundant, or misaligned with research and product priorities, and recommend acquisition, consolidation, or sunset actions accordingly.
Align external data acquisitions and partnerships with client deliverables, consulting engagements, research initiatives, and internal BI tools.
Review and approve NDAs, renewals, invoices, and vendor-related documentation in collaboration with legal and finance teams, ensuring all agreements are documented appropriately.
Monitor vendor performance and ensure third-party data offerings align with business priorities and governance standards.
Evaluate, negotiate, and manage contracts and relationships with third-party data providers.
Serve as the senior accountable owner for data acquisition on JBREC's Data Set Governance Forum, partnering with Data Engineering, Data Science, Legal/Compliance, and Research representatives to define and enforce data sharing classifications, acquisition processes, and data architecture standards.
Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Economics, Business Analytics, Real Estate, Finance, Statistics, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
7+ years of experience in data strategy, data partnerships, vendor management, research, analytics, or related roles, preferably with significant time in the housing, real estate, financial services, or consulting industries.
Deep understanding of the housing and real estate data ecosystem, including third-party data providers, market intelligence platforms, and proprietary datasets.
Proven experience evaluating data vendors, negotiating contracts, and managing strategic third-party partnerships.
Proven ability to lead through influence and matrix relationships across cross-functional teams, with the capability to build and develop a small team over time.
Demonstrated ability to build alignment, drive accountability, and create a culture of continuous improvement and strategic execution.
Strong analytical and business acumen with the ability to assess ROI and align data investments with organizational priorities.
Experience identifying data gaps and sourcing new datasets to support research, consulting, and business intelligence initiatives.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and build alignment across cross-functional teams.
Strong relationship management skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with internal leaders, external partners, legal, finance, and technology teams.
Highly organized and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and drive projects independently.
Familiarity with business intelligence, data analytics, and research workflows preferred.
Cover letters are required.
Compensation and title will be based on skills, experience, and abilities, which can vary by person.
We cannot hire anyone who currently or will in the future require any type of sponsorship to work in the United States.
Join our team at John Burns Research and Consulting, LLC, a leading provider of independent subscription research and customized consulting services for the US housing industry. Our founder, John Burns, started the company in 2001 with the aim of revolutionizing housing market analysis to help executives make better decisions. Today, we have a team of 100+ highly passionate research analysts and consultants nationwide who work together to provide the most trusted source of US housing analysis and consulting services.
Each full-time employee receives:
$12,500 towards our comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, and flexible spending accounts including gym memberships and vacation assistance.
a company contributes 5% of their salary and profit sharing to their 401(k), even if they do not contribute.
Personal benefits, such as tuition reimbursement, training opportunities, flexible schedules for many positions, 15 days of PTO, 5 days off for Company winter holiday, 9 holidays, and the ability to grow and expand your career, and 50% company reimbursement of all your charitable contributions.
At John Burns Research and Consulting, LLC, we are proud of our award-winning culture, which includes recognition as one of the top performing companies in both Great Places to Work and Gallup Employee Engagement, and we are Certified Evergreen by the Tugboat Institute. If you want to be part of a well-established, dynamic, and high-performing team that takes it to the next level, this is the perfect opportunity for you.
Disclaimer:
Nothing in this job description restricts the company’s right to assign responsibilities to this job at any time as critical features of this job are subject to change any time.