Principal Consultant Data & AI Strategy

At NCS Australia, we believe in doing technology services better. Our commitment to quality, focus on people, and willingness to challenge traditional thinking set us apart. Our team brings this belief to life by partnering with our clients and communities to make tomorrow together.

We are committed to creating an environment that prioritises innovation, collaboration, and purposeful work. Our diverse team is empowered to make a meaningful impact with curiosity, creativity and resilience to shape better outcomes. Join us and accept the challenge of creating a better tomorrow.

As a Principal Consultant – Data & AI Strategy, you will shape and guide the strategic direction of our clients’ data and AI journeys. Your focus will be on unlocking value through a structured lens:

• Reward – Clearly linking AI-enabled opportunities to corporate objectives and strategic imperatives.
• Real – Defining what is truly required (beyond just technology) to realise that value, including people, processes, culture, and investment.
• Reliable – Establishing how to execute responsibly, with safeguards for ethical, secure, and scalable deployment.

You will lead high-impact Data & AI Strategy engagements across strategic use case identification, future state design, capability uplift planning, and operating model development. You will work closely with senior executives to co-create a unified strategic vision and influence cross-functional alignment on value delivery pathways.

As a Principal, you will bring deep expertise in strategy execution frameworks and play a pivotal role in coaching others and evolving our internal methodologies and accelerators. You will actively contribute to the continuous improvement of our offerings and knowledge base across the practice.

You will assess and uplift clients’ Data & AI capabilities, champion leading practices in data governance and AI ethics, and bring a forward-looking lens to help clients navigate emerging trends—such as Generative AI, Data Products, and Responsible AI—while solving complex, real-world challenges.

In return for your expertise, you'll find meaningful work at the heart of our clients’ most important Data & AI transformations. You’ll be immersed in an innovative environment, working alongside a team of bright minds and leveraging cutting-edge technology. We are deeply invested in your professional growth, offering clear career development pathways along with the benefits and stability of being part of a leading global technology firm.

Strategic & Commercial Acumen

• Business Value Focus: Track record of defining how Data & AI initiatives create measurable business value—such as revenue growth, operational efficiency, and risk mitigation—aligned to enterprise objectives.
• Strategic Roadmapping: Extensive experience in leading the development of phased Data & AI strategy roadmaps that drive transformation across medium and large-scale enterprises.
• Use Case Definition: Mastery in identifying, assessing, and prioritising high-value, feasible, and scalable data use cases that unlock competitive advantage.

Consulting & Stakeholder Influence

• Executive Facilitation: Highly skilled in designing and leading strategic workshops with senior stakeholders to shape vision, prioritise outcomes, and ensure alignment across business and technology domains.
• Influencing & Communication: Executive-level communication capabilities, with the ability to distil complex concepts into compelling narratives that influence decisions at C-suite.
• Thought Leadership & Practice Building: Contributes to the refinement of delivery frameworks, mentors consultants, and elevates the broader consulting community through coaching and knowledge sharing.

Data & Analytics Expertise

• Capability Assessment: Deep knowledge of the end-to-end data and AI capability landscape—across strategy, governance, architecture, culture, and literacy—with experience in maturity assessments and capability uplift planning.
• Data Governance Leadership: Proven ability to design and embed practical governance frameworks that balance control with agility, including roles, policies, and ethical oversight.
• Technology & Trend Awareness: Strong conceptual grasp of emerging data and AI trends (e.g. Generative AI, AI Governance, Data Products), with the ability to credibly engage across business, architecture, and engineering teams.

Personal Attributes

• Outcome-Oriented: Maintains a clear focus on delivering impact, with a bias toward actionable recommendations and sustainable transformation.
• Collaborative & Adaptive: Operates effectively in dynamic, cross-functional environments and adapts style to different stakeholder contexts.
• Analytical & Creative: Able to deconstruct ambiguous challenges and develop structured, innovative solutions that balance strategic ambition with practical execution

Why join us: 

NCS Australia is where you can feel at home, nurturing your talents and skills as we make tomorrow together, one day at a time. Our benefits include paid parental leave, initiatives focused on your well-being and discounted health insurance. You will also enjoy discounts on various products and services and be regularly recognised and rewarded for high performance. We are committed to your career development through our Capability Fingerprint, industry and partner training programs, special interest groups, and an AI-driven learning platform. No matter where you are in your career, we offer meaningful work and opportunities for growth.

NCS Australia is an equal-opportunity employer, and we take pride in our commitment to valuing and supporting our people and the communities we serve.We are dedicated to attracting, retaining and developing our people regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and age. Applications are encouraged from all sectors of the community and we strongly encourage applications from the Veterans, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community.

At NCS Australia, we are committed to supporting adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, as well as during employment. We actively support and encourage people with disability to apply. 

Agencies:

We’ve got this. We request that you do not contact NCS employees outside of the Talent Acquisition team. NCS exclusively accepts resumes from agencies on our preferred supplier panel through the NCS Agency Portal. Agencies that submit resumes must have a valid fee agreement and be assigned to the particular requisition by the Talent Acquisition team. Any resumes that are submitted outside of this process will become the sole property of NCS. If a candidate is hired outside of this process, no fee or payment will be given.

Work rights and background checks: 

To be eligible for a position with us, applicants will need to have valid work rights for Australia and be willing to undergo a comprehensive background checking process, including probity and police checks