Director of Data Management and Business Intelligence

Director of Data Management and Business Intelligence

Founded in 2000 by three former Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18 fighter pilots who identified an opportunity to improve military readiness training, Top Aces has since established itself as the world leader in contracted adversary air (ADAIR) services and joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) training.

We pride ourselves on our unblemished safety record, having flown an industry leading 130,000+ hours of operational training without accident in support of customers worldwide, including Canada, the U.S., Germany, and multiple other NATO allies and international partner nations.

Our vision is to be the most trusted provider of innovative defense training solutions, continuously elevating standards in an industry where "Experience Matters." This commitment to innovation and technology ensures we remain adaptable, training allied militaries to succeed against evolving threats.

Top Aces’ dynamic team contributes to delivering on our purpose of training the next generation of combat leaders by living our values of Service, Integrity, Excellence, and Together every day!

Position Summary

The Director of Data Management and Business Intelligence leads the enterprise data function for Top Aces. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, the Director defines how data is governed, integrated, protected, and used across aviation operations, maintenance and engineering, supply chain, finance, safety, quality, human resources, commercial programs, and executive management.

The role will establish trusted enterprise data products and decision-ready analytics while respecting aviation record integrity, contractual obligations, export controls, data residency, and need-to-know access. A central priority is to improve the quality and usability of data from Ramco and connected systems so that leaders and front-line teams can manage aircraft availability, maintenance execution, material readiness, program performance, and financial results with greater confidence.

Top Aces Business Context

Top Aces provides advanced operational training and aircraft sustainment services to Canada, the United States, NATO members, and allied nations. The company operates globally in a safety-critical and security-sensitive environment that combines flight operations, maintenance and repair, engineering, supply chain, training, and proprietary technology. The data environment therefore requires strong governance across business units, legal entities, jurisdictions, and security domains.

The Director will translate these operating realities into an enterprise data strategy that supports growth, operational readiness, regulatory compliance, and disciplined investment. The role must balance standardization with the access boundaries required for Canadian, U.S., and international programs.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Data Strategy and Operating Model

• Partner with the CIO to develop and execute a multi-year enterprise data and BI strategy aligned with Top Aces' business strategy, operating model, technology roadmap, and investment priorities.
• Create a practical data operating model that defines decision rights, ownership, stewardship, architecture standards, delivery methods, and support responsibilities across corporate and regional teams.
• Chair or support the enterprise data governance council and maintain a prioritized roadmap based on operational value, regulatory risk, data quality, and delivery capacity.
• Partner with the CIO and U.S. IT and security leadership to establish appropriate data segregation, access controls, and technology control plans for FOCI-related and export-controlled environments, where applicable.

Data Governance Quality and Protection

• Establish enterprise policies and standards for data ownership, classification, quality, lineage, retention, archival, residency, access, and acceptable use.
• Define authoritative sources and common business terms for critical domains, including aircraft, fleets, components, serialized parts, maintenance programs, work orders, defects, inventory, suppliers, customers, contracts, personnel, and financial dimensions.
• Implement data quality controls, issue-management workflows, and scorecards that identify root causes and assign corrective action to accountable data owners.
• Work with Cybersecurity, Legal, Export Compliance, Privacy, Quality, and program security personnel to protect personal, proprietary, controlled, and customer information throughout its lifecycle.
• Ensure analytics and data-sharing practices comply with applicable contractual clauses, the Canadian Controlled Goods Program, ITAR and EAR requirements, privacy laws, and customer security obligations.

Data Architecture Integration and Platforms

• Define the target enterprise data architecture, including ingestion, integration, master and reference data, lakehouse or warehouse services, semantic models, reporting, metadata, and monitoring.
• Establish integration patterns and data contracts for Ramco and other enterprise platforms using secure APIs, event-based interfaces, ETL or ELT pipelines, and controlled file exchange where required.
• Reduce duplicate datasets and spreadsheet-dependent reporting by creating reusable, governed data products and certified semantic models.
• Set engineering standards for observability, reconciliation, change control, testing, performance, resilience, backup, and recovery across the data platform.
• Manage the data-platform lifecycle, capacity, licensing, vendor performance, and total cost of ownership, with particular attention to Microsoft Fabric, Azure data services, Power BI, and connected technologies.

Aviation and MRO Data

• Lead data remediation and governance for Ramco MRO and ERP, focusing on master data, transactional integrity, usability, reporting structures, and interfaces with finance, supply chain, engineering, and flight operations.
• Partner with Maintenance, Engineering, Airworthiness, Quality, Supply Chain, and Operations to improve the completeness and consistency of aircraft configuration, component history, flight hours and cycles, maintenance plans, work packages, defects, technical records, and inventory data.
• Preserve the integrity and auditability of approved maintenance and airworthiness records while enabling controlled downstream analytics.
• Develop trusted measures for aircraft availability, dispatch reliability, mission-capable status, maintenance schedule compliance, turnaround time, component reliability, inventory availability, and aircraft-on-ground events.
• Support data readiness for operational and regulatory audits, customer reporting, contract performance reviews, and fleet-planning decisions.

Business Intelligence and Performance Management

• Lead the design and delivery of executive, operational, and functional dashboards using consistent definitions, clear ownership, and traceable data sources.
• Build an enterprise performance framework that connects mission delivery, safety, fleet readiness, maintenance, supply chain, program, customer, workforce, and financial measures.
• Develop governed self-service analytics so business users can answer routine questions without creating uncontrolled copies of sensitive data.
• Improve forecasting and scenario analysis for fleet utilization, maintenance demand, materials, labour capacity, contract delivery, revenue, cash flow, and program profitability.
• Maintain a transparent intake and prioritization process for BI requests, balancing regulatory deadlines, operational urgency, enterprise reuse, and expected value.

Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence

• Identify and govern analytics and AI use cases such as predictive maintenance, component reliability, inventory optimization, demand forecasting, anomaly detection, and program risk monitoring.
• Require documented business ownership, suitable data quality, human oversight, security review, and measurable benefits before analytics or AI solutions move into production.
• Coordinate with engineering, operations, and technology teams when operational, training, mission-system, or live and synthetic data may be used, ensuring the work remains within approved classification and authorization boundaries.
• Monitor model performance, data drift, access, and business outcomes, and retire solutions that no longer meet operational, security, or financial requirements.

Leadership and Stakeholder Partnership

• Build and lead a capable team spanning data governance, architecture, engineering, BI, and analytics; define roles, develop talent, and manage succession for critical skills.
• Partner with executives and functional leaders to convert business questions into governed data products, clear measures, and practical decisions.
• Create an active network of business data owners and stewards and hold regular reviews of quality, adoption, access, and value realization.
• Manage external partners and vendors through clear outcomes, architecture standards, service levels, security requirements, and commercial accountability.
• Communicate data risks, progress, tradeoffs, and investment needs to senior leadership in concise business terms.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, data engineering, analytics, business, engineering, or a related discipline. A graduate degree or relevant professional certification is an asset.
• At least 10 years of progressive experience in data management, analytics, BI, enterprise applications, or data architecture, including at least five years leading teams or major cross-functional programs.
• Experience in aerospace, defense, aviation, MRO, or another highly regulated and asset-intensive industry is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience improving data quality and reporting in a complex ERP or MRO environment. Direct experience with Ramco is a significant asset; experience with comparable aviation or enterprise platforms is also relevant.
• Experience operating across multiple countries, legal entities, or security domains, including Canada and the United States, is preferred.

Technical and Regulatory Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of enterprise data architecture, dimensional and semantic modelling, master data management, metadata, data quality, lineage, SQL, APIs, and ETL or ELT integration.
• Hands-on understanding of modern cloud data platforms and BI technologies. Experience with Microsoft Fabric, Azure, Power BI, and Microsoft data services is preferred.
• Working knowledge of aviation maintenance and supply-chain data, including serialized components, configuration, maintenance planning, technical records, reliability, and inventory transactions.
• Familiarity with aviation regulatory and quality environments such as Transport Canada, FAA, EASA, safety management systems, and AS9100 is an asset.
• Working knowledge of information classification, access control, auditability, privacy, data residency, the Canadian Controlled Goods Program, ITAR and EAR, CUI safeguards, CMMC, and NIST SP 800-171, as applicable to the role and programs supported.
• Ability to obtain and maintain the security clearances, controlled-goods eligibility, and customer or program authorizations required for the position.
• Business judgment that connects data investment to safety, mission readiness, contract delivery, customer commitments, and financial performance.
• Ability to influence executives, operational leaders, technical specialists, and front-line users without relying solely on formal authority.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain data limitations, security constraints, and architectural decisions to non-technical audiences.
• Disciplined program leadership, with practical experience managing priorities, budgets, vendors, risks, and organizational change.
• Commitment to Top Aces' values of Service, Integrity, Excellence, and Together.
• Professional fluency in English is required. French and additional languages used across Top Aces' operations are assets.

Measures of Success

Annual objectives will be established with the CIO and business leaders. Measures should demonstrate stronger control of critical data and visible improvements in how the company operates and makes decisions.

Security Clearance Requirements/ CGP / ITAR:

Position requires Level II clearance with the Canadian Government and the ability to gain access to the Canadian Controlled Goods Program.

By joining Top Aces, you will find:

• A work environment in which service, integrity, excellence and teamwork are highly valued;
• Opportunities for development and growth;
• Multidisciplinary and multicultural collaboration at a local and global level;

At Top Aces, all employees are welcome regardless of race, nationality, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability or age. The masculine form may be used in this job description solely for ease of reading but refers to men, women and gender diversity.