Gradian Thermal Solutions→
IT Infrastructure Manager at Gradian Thermal Solutions in Dayton, MN
ExperiencedOn-siteDayton, MN
Job Description
Gradian is an engineering-led, full-line thermal solutions partner serving data center and other mission-critical, commercial, and industrial markets. Headquartered in Maple Grove, MN, with additional facilities across North America, we design and manufacture liquid cooling systems, air handling equipment, heat rejection units, and modular, factory-assembled thermal management solutions.
Gradian was founded through the unification of four complementary, established brands: MAS HVAC, Daedex, DeepCoolAI, and EcoChillers. Together, we act as a single-source provider, deploying cooling technologies as scalable systems optimized for efficiency, spatial constraints, and overall performance. With a vertically integrated engineering and manufacturing model, we pair rapid design turnaround with precision fabrication, so customers can move faster on complex projects where reliability, timeline, and quality all matter.
Why work here
At Gradian, you'll work alongside others who get genuinely fired up by complex problems, see your work go from first sketch to job site in weeks, not years, and know that while we're developing the technologies critical for AI infrastructure to scale, our culture remains people-first by design.
It is core to our identity that we operate as one team — driving to win together, energizing others, and building lasting relationships that make the work fun and rewarding.
Position Summary:
The Data and Analytics Manager serves as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and Gradian's data function, ensuring the company has timely, accurate, and actionable data to support decision-making. This role is responsible for gathering and translating business requirements into data solutions, overseeing the quality and integrity of enterprise data, and delivering dashboards, reports, and analyses that empower teams across the organization — including Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations, and Executive Leadership. The ideal candidate combines strong technical skills with excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities, acting as a trusted advisor who bridges the gap between raw data and business impact.
Key Responsibilities:
- Partner with business stakeholders across departments to gather, clarify, and prioritize data and reporting needs.
- Translate business questions into clear technical requirements for data extraction, transformation, and visualization.
- Design, build, and maintain dashboards and reports using BI tools like Power BI, that provide self-service insights to end users.
- Own data quality end-to-end — establish validation checks, monitor for anomalies, and resolve data integrity issues in collaboration with IT/Engineering.
- Develop and maintain documentation for data definitions, metrics, KPIs, and reporting logic to ensure consistency across the organization (a single source of truth).
- Manage the intake and prioritization process for new data/reporting requests, balancing quick turnarounds with long-term scalability.
- Analyze trends and patterns in company data to proactively surface insights and recommendations to leadership.
- Collaborate with IT and external vendors on data infrastructure, integrations, and tooling to support growing analytics needs.
- Train and support business users on how to access, interpret, and use dashboards and self-service reporting tools.
- Ensure compliance with data governance, privacy, and security policies (e.g., access controls, PII handling).
- Mentor and manage junior analysts or data team members, as applicable.
- Stay current on analytics best practices, tools, and technologies, recommending improvements to existing processes.
Qualifications & Requirements:
Required:
- Bachelor's degree in Business Analytics, Information Systems, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
- 5+ years of experience in data analytics, business intelligence, or a related role, including experience gathering requirements directly from business stakeholders.
- Proven experience building dashboards and reports in a modern BI platform (Power BI, Tableau, or similar).
- Solid understanding of data modeling, ETL/ELT concepts, and data warehousing principles.
- Strong SQL skills, with the ability to write and optimize complex queries across relational databases.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple stakeholder requests simultaneously, balancing competing priorities.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
- Strong attention to detail and a track record of ensuring data accuracy and quality.
Preferred:
- Certifications in BI platforms (e.g., Power BI Data Analyst Associate, Tableau Certified Data Analyst) or cloud data platforms.
- Experience with cloud data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Azure Synapse, AWS Redshift, Supabase).
- Experience with data pipeline/ETL tools (e.g., dbt, Fivetran, Azure Data Factory).
- Prior experience in a people-management or team-lead capacity.
- Experience establishing or improving data governance frameworks in a mid-sized organization.
- Familiarity with scripting/programming languages such as Python or R for data analysis and automation, plus industry experience relevant to Gradian's core business (engineering, manufacturing, or industrial markets).
Key Competencies:
- Stakeholder Management — builds trust and credibility with business partners at all levels.
- Business Acumen — understands how data connects to business goals and outcomes.
- Technical Proficiency — comfortable working across data pipelines, databases, and visualization tools.
- Problem Solving — diagnoses data quality issues and root causes efficiently.
- Communication — translates complex data topics into clear, actionable insights.
- Prioritization — manages a high volume of requests without sacrificing quality or timelines.
Benefits:
- Medical, vision, and dental plans
- Short-term and long-term disability insurance
- Group term life insurance coverage
- HSA, FSA, and Dependent Care plans available
- 8 paid holidays, 4 floating holidays, and generous PTO policy
- 401k matching
- Company paid events
- Annual safety shoe allowance
- Education assistance progra
EEO Statement:
Gradian Thermal Solutions is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, political affiliation, or any other legally protected status.
Employment decisions at Gradian are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind and actively promote a culture of fairness, equity, and opportunity.
We also provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances, in accordance with applicable laws.