Data Governance Manager

The role is responsible for leading the organization’s enterprise data governance program, ensuring data is well-managed, high-quality, compliant, and strategically leveraged across the business. This position chairs the Data Governance Council, driving prioritization of governance initiatives and ensuring cross-functional alignment on data policies and decision-making. It designs and implements the enterprise data governance framework, establishes data policies and stewardship models, and oversees metadata management and data lineage practices.

Data Governance Council Leadership

• Establish and chair the enterprise Data Governance Council
• Facilitate prioritization of governance initiatives, mediate cross-functional data access, and drive accountability for data-related decisions
• Translate council decisions into actionable policies and develop implementation strategy
• Develop data governance training and communication programs
• Champion governance adoption through influence

Governance Framework & Policy Development

• Design and implement the enterprise data governance framework
• Develop and maintain data policies covering data quality standards, access controls, retention, lineage requirements, and data classification
• Create governance playbooks and procedures aligned with DAMA DMBOK best practices
• Define ownership models and stewardship responsibilities for critical data domains
• Lead implementation of metadata management practices
• Ensure comprehensive data lineage documentation across the modern data stack

Compliance & Risk Alignment

• Ensure governance framework supports existing compliance requirements & standards
• Partner with Legal to embed regulatory data requirements into governance policies
• Conduct periodic governance maturity assessments and develop continuous improvement roadmaps

Required

• 6+ years in data management, with 3+ years focused on data governance program development
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional governance bodies and drive outcomes
• Hands-on experience with modern data platforms—specifically Databricks, Kafka, and cloud-native databases
• Working knowledge of metadata management and data lineage tooling
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks relevant to financial services (SOC 2, PCI-DSS, CCPA)
• Strong facilitation, communication, and change management skills
• Bachelor's degree in Information Management, Computer Science or related field

Preferred

• DAMA CDMP certification or equivalent
• Experience in payments, fintech, or regulated industries
• Familiarity with Open Metadata or comparable cataloging solutions
• Experience governing data pipelines in streaming architectures (Kafka, event-driven systems)
• Master's degree in relevant discipline