Data Governance Lead

Soni's client is seeking a Data Governance Lead to establish and lead their enterprise data governance program. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, this role will be responsible for building and operating the standards, processes, and cross-functional partnerships necessary to ensure enterprise data is trusted, secure, consistent, and ready to support operational excellence, analytics, and AI initiatives.

This is a hands‑on role focused on transforming ambiguity into clarity and enabling the business to confidently answer, “Can we trust this data?”

• Design, implement, and manage enterprise data governance frameworks, policies, and standards to ensure data quality, consistency, privacy, security, and compliance
• Define and maintain data ownership, stewardship models, classification standards, retention policies, and lifecycle controls in partnership with business and IT stakeholders
• Develop and oversee governance workflows, including issue intake, triage, root cause analysis, remediation tracking, and continuous improvement

• Serve as a trusted governance partner to executive and functional leaders, aligning data priorities with business objectives
• Collaborate with business teams to identify where data quality issues or inconsistent definitions impact reporting, operations, or decision‑making
• Translate business needs into practical data standards, definitions, and repeatable operating processes

• Build strong relationships across business units and IT to embed governance practices into day‑to‑day workflows
• Promote a data‑driven culture through shared definitions, trusted sources, and clear accountability
• Influence stakeholders at all levels to adopt consistent and disciplined data practices

• Partner with IT and data teams to implement governance‑enabling tools such as metadata management, data cataloging, lineage tracking, and data quality monitoring solutions
• Define and maintain standards for master data, reference data, and critical business definitions to ensure reliability and consistency across the enterprise

• Define and monitor governance success metrics, including data quality improvements, reporting consistency, reduced rework, and faster decision‑making
• Prioritize governance initiatives that deliver measurable operational and financial impact

• Strengthen the data foundation required for analytics and AI by ensuring trusted data sources, clear definitions, lineage transparency, and appropriate access controls
• Support responsible AI adoption through governance practices addressing privacy, security, and proper usage

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, Business, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred)
• 3+ years of experience in data governance, data management, or data operations with demonstrated success establishing standards and driving adoption
• Strong understanding of data governance frameworks, metadata management, data quality practices, master data management, and lifecycle controls
• Excellent communication, relationship‑building, and influencing skills
• Ability to drive accountability and change in complex organizations
• Experience implementing enterprise data or analytics solutions

• Experience in multi‑entity or distributed operational environments
• Experience in private equity‑backed or high‑growth organizations
• Certifications or training in data governance frameworks or standards (e.g., DAMA‑DMBOK, ISO 8000, DCAM)

• Directly influence how the organization operates, makes decisions, and scales through trusted data
• Opportunity to build and shape the enterprise data governance foundation
• Enable advanced analytics and AI initiatives with a strong data backbone

Compensation: $140,000 to $180,000 annually

Compensation is based on a range of factors that include relevant experience, knowledge, skills, other job‑related qualifications