Joseph Harrington
VP of Data & AI
Saratoga Springs,UT
Summary
Data & AI Executive with 18+ years in the credit union industry, known for building scalable analytics functions from the ground up. Proven track record leading cross-functional teams, modernizing data platforms, and operationalizing AI to drive enterprise growth. Trusted executive advisor with deep expertise in data governance, innovation strategy, and digital transformation.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Vice President of Data and AI
Frontier Credit Union
01.2022 - Current
- Led the development of a cloud-first data architecture using Snowflake, Matillion, and Tableau to unify and scale data operations.
- Spearheaded AI adoption strategy across business units, including pilot use cases with executive sponsorship.
- Developed a universal ID system in the enterprise data warehouse to resolve account-centric limitations of the core system, enabling accurate member identity resolution and seamless Salesforce integration.
- Directed cross-functional teams including analysts, software engineers, and system administrators with a focus on mentoring and career development.
- Partnered with Executives to align analytics efforts with key strategic initiatives and growth plans.
- Developed enterprise reporting standards and self-service analytics frameworks that improved organizational agility and decision-making.
- Acted as internal consultant for high-impact initiatives, supporting lending, operations, marketing, and member experience teams.
- Championed data quality and security through best-practice processes, including governance standards and scalable role-based access control.
- Integrated version control processes into all stages of the data lifecycle to support auditability, traceability, and collaborative development.
- Founded and lead cross-functional QA 'Red Team' committees to rigorously vet data assets prior to enterprise deployment.
- Established structured sandbox environments for controlled testing of new data models and system enhancements.
- Serve on the internal Mentorship Committee, helping design and implement a credit union-wide mentorship program to support employee development and align with Frontier’s mission to build better lives.
Director of Business Intelligence
UCCU
01.2016 - 01.2022
- Built Business Intelligence and Data Governance departments from the ground up.
- Led enterprise Data Warehouse initiative to centralize and streamline reporting.
- Championed a culture of data-driven decision making and self-service analytics.
- Partnered with executive leadership to align analytics strategy with business goals.
Various Positions
UCCU
01.2007 - 01.2016
- 9 years of progressive experience in the Financial Industry including front and back office roles.
Education
Master of Business Administration -
University of Phoenix
01.2014 - 1 2015
Certified Credit Union Executive (CCUE) -
Western CUNA Management School
Skills
- Data & AI Strategy Development
- Enterprise Data Architecture & Governance
- Executive Collaboration & Strategic Planning
- Scalable Analytics & BI Infrastructure
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership & Mentorship
- Change Management & Culture Transformation
- KPI/OKR Execution Alignment
- Business Storytelling & Data Literacy Enablement
- AI/ML Pilots
- Data Governance & Security (RBAC, Metadata Management)
- Version Control Practices
- QA Leadership
Accomplishments
- Leading the end-to-end automation of the New Account Audit process using Snowflake's Document AI, projected to save a full-time equivalent (FTE) in manual effort.
- Engineered a complete Salesforce integration pipeline with nightly updates via Snowflake and Matillion, eliminating manual data work and enhancing CRM insights.
- Implemented a secure GPT environment bringing 10X efficiencies to teams across the organization.
- Reduced lending audit report workload by 10+ hours/month with full automation, delivering daily insights instead of monthly summaries.
- Enabled real-time performance tracking with a Tableau-powered Branch Operations incentive platform.
- Saved thousands of dollars by sunsetting legacy vendor contracts through Snowflake centralization.
- Developed a member profitability model in Snowflake with daily trend updates for executive insights.
Certification
Certified Credit Union Executive (CCUE) | Western CUNA Management School | Sigma Class of 2021
Technology
- Tools and Platforms: Snowflake, Tableau, Matillion, Coalesce, Qualtrics, Salesforce, DNA
- Languages: SQL, Python, R
- Expertise: Cloud Data Warehousing, Data Lake Architecture, AI/ML Pilots, API Integration, Self-Service BI, Data Governance & Security (RBAC, Metadata Management), Version Control Practices, Sandbox Testing, QA Leadership
Timeline
Vice President of Data and AI
Frontier Credit Union
01.2022 - Current
Director of Business Intelligence
UCCU
01.2016 - 01.2022
Master of Business Administration -
University of Phoenix
01.2014 - 1 2015
Various Positions
UCCU
01.2007 - 01.2016
Certified Credit Union Executive (CCUE) -
Western CUNA Management School
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