Vice President, Insights & Analytics

Herschend is the world’s largest family-owned themed attractions company, with 12,000+ passionate hosts collectively entertaining 15 million families each year.

The heart of Herschend’s success has long been the world-renowned hospitality that’s rooted in our DNA. We call it Heartspitality®. It’s a unique culture that blends our ethos of Leading with Love and our purpose of Bringing Families Closer Together by Creating Memories Worth Repeating® to create real impact and joy that spreads through our hosts to our guests and out into our communities.

Herschend’s portfolio of more than two dozen beloved family entertainment brands across North America includes iconic award-winning destinations such as Dollywood® Parks & Resorts, Silver Dollar City® Company, Adventure Aquarium®, Callaway Resort & Gardens®, Kentucky Kingdom Theme & Water Park®, Newport Aquarium®, The Vancouver Aquarium® and Wild Adventures®. In addition to its premier themed attractions, Herschend is proud to steward the World-Famous Harlem Globetrotters® legacy and provide immersive content and experiences through our Herschend Entertainment Studios® and Pink Adventure Tours® brands.

As an equal-opportunity employer, we strive to provide environments where every host, guest, and partner feel welcome, valued, and loved. We firmly believe that words and actions matter, which is why all individuals are to be treated equally and with respect.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Vice President, Insights & Analytics will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of business intelligence, data architecture, software platforms, consumer research, and analytics strategy across the company. This individual will lead the charge in providing actionable insights that inform business decisions, marketing ROI, customer profitability, response to market trends and competitor performance, and drive the performance management framework. The VP will partner closely with senior leaders across all departments to ensure that data intelligence is leveraged effectively for strategic planning and operational decision-making.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSBILITIES

Performance Management: Drive the company’s performance management framework, providing actionable metrics and KPIs to assess operational and financial success across all locations. Provide leadership on tools, systems, and processes for evaluating business performance. Performance is measured across balanced metrics including brand health, guest experience, channel revenue, marketing ROI, capital returns, and company profitability.

Consumer Insights and Research: Lead the development and management of consumer insights initiatives that provide deep understanding of customer behavior, preferences, satisfaction, and value proposition. Oversee both quantitative and qualitative research methods to guide marketing, operations, and product offerings. Lead the tracking of Net Promoter Score methodology across the enterprise. Work with outside research providers for both operational and strategic consumer analysis.

Customer Profitability: Lead efforts to develop strategies for customer segmentation and profitability analysis. Drive initiatives that enhance customer lifetime value and improve customer acquisition, retention, and profitability metrics. Analysis and insights into Herschend’s portfolio of Season Pass and attendance pricing programs will be essential.

Data Architecture and Software Platforms: Oversee the company’s data infrastructure requirements, ensuring the right tools and platforms are implemented with IT team to collect, process, and analyze business-critical data across multiple locations. Manage relationships with external technology providers to ensure a seamless integration of data systems.

Market and Competitor Monitoring: Oversee market intelligence efforts, including competitive analysis, to identify industry trends, emerging competitors, and potential areas of growth. Deliver timely market insights to senior leadership to inform business strategies.

Strategic Roadmap: Develop and implement a comprehensive strategic roadmap for analytics and insights that aligns with the company’s long-term business goals. Work closely with other senior leaders to ensure analytics support growth, profitability, and customer experience. Seek out areas of innovation, including new technologies, artificial intelligence, dynamic reporting, and third-party providers.

Leadership and Team Development: Build and lead a high-performing analytics and insights team. Provide mentorship and coaching to staff, ensuring continuous development of skills and capabilities across the team.

Collaboration with Stakeholders: Partner with cross-functional teams, including marketing, operations, finance, and IT, to ensure analytics support all aspects of business operations. Act as a key advisor to senior leadership on matters related to analytics-driven decision-making.

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION

12-15 years of experience in analytics, insights, or related fields with a demonstrated ability to lead large-scale data-driven initiatives.

Proven track record of success in senior leadership roles, ideally in hospitality, leisure, or theme parks.

Extensive experience in overseeing data architecture, consumer insights, performance management, and market analysis in a multi-location or enterprise-level environment.

A Bachelor's degree in Business, Data Science, Statistics, Economics, or a related field is required.

An MBA or other advanced business or technical degree is strongly preferred.

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

Strong understanding of the leisure and hospitality industry, especially theme parks, resorts, or related businesses.

Deep expertise in analytics tools, consumer research, and performance management systems within a fast-paced, customer-centric environment.

Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data insights into actionable business decisions.

Strong leadership skills with experience in managing large teams and building high-performance cultures.

Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex data findings to senior executives and non-technical stakeholders.

Expertise in data management, analytics platforms, and tools such as Tableau, Power BI, SQL, and advanced Excel.

Knowledge of customer profitability analysis, segmentation, and lifecycle management.

Strong business acumen and ability to partner with other senior leaders to drive firm-wide strategies.

Must be able to work in a highly collaborative, relationship-based culture.

Willingness to travel as required to hotel and theme park operations.

Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and work under tight deadlines.