This paper investigates how dual-position brokerage facilitates the establishment of organizational jurisdiction for a nascent profession. Focusing on data practitioners—a growing field where professionals use data analytics to inform decision-making across business units—we address the overlooked role of multiple actors within networks beyond inter-occupational competition. While jurisdictional contests are often framed as conflicts between two groups, our study reveals how brokerage mediates persistent tensions within and across professions, particularly when status differences are not formally institutionalized. Limited research has examined how brokerage, influenced by dual social positions, supports jurisdictional control over desirable work. Drawing on 18 months of fieldwork across six organizations, we demonstrate empirically how members of this emerging profession, operating as organizational outsiders, foster collaboration amid conflicts to establish professional jurisdictional in the organization.
