Business Intelligence Manager

Like a Coach manages a team, a Producer a movie and a Chef a kitchen, a Business Intelligence Manager manages information. And in large companies, especially, there’s lots of information to manage.

Consider, for instance, a widget company. When a widget’s made, there’s information about how much it cost to manufacture it, how much it cost to pay the workers who produced it and how much it cost to transport it to market, as well as how many widgets were made, how quickly and by how many hands. Similarly, when the widget’s sold, there’s information about how much it cost to advertise the widget, as well as how many people purchased it, what kind of people purchased it and where they purchased it. The data is infinite.

When you’re a Business Intelligence Manager, it’s your job to coordinate the process of collecting, analyzing and reporting information about your company’s operations. Because that information likely resides in many different departments, where it’s relevant to many different people, you serve as the central clearinghouse for all things “data,” overseeing a staff of Business Intelligence Analysts who dissect the ground-level data your company uses to set goals and decide on strategies.

Business Intelligence Managers manage people as well as projects. And because business intelligence (BI) requires sophisticated software — which your staff uses to collect, store, organize and interpret company data — you’ll also manage technology. Ultimately, however, your job is managing results: Your job is to make sure your company uses — not loses — its data.