| Title | Data Governance Lead |
|---|---|
| Department | Data Governance / Data Management / Enterprise Data |
| Reports to | [Chief Data Officer / Director of Data Management / Head of Data Governance] |
| Location | [Remote / Hybrid / On-site] |
| Employment type | Full-time |
| Salary | [Salary range. Postings with a range perform significantly better, and several states require one.] |
Position overview
The Data Governance Lead owns [Company]'s data governance program, defining how data is owned, classified, protected, and kept trustworthy across the organization. The role sets policy and standards and drives the stewardship and quality work that makes data reliable for decisions.
The Data Governance Lead partners with data management, privacy, security, compliance, and business teams to establish data ownership, improve data quality, manage metadata, and enforce data policies. As data feeds AI and analytics, this role ensures the data used to train and run models is governed, documented, and fit for purpose.
This is a leadership role for a seasoned data professional who can connect governance discipline to practical business and analytics outcomes.
Key responsibilities
Data governance strategy
- Own the data governance framework, roadmap, and operating model.
- Define data domains, ownership, and stewardship roles.
- Set data governance priorities aligned to business goals.
- Report program maturity and outcomes to leadership.
Policy and standards
Establish the rules that make data trustworthy and compliant:
- Define data policies, standards, and classification schemes.
- Set standards for data quality, lineage, and metadata.
- Align data policy with privacy and regulatory requirements.
- Govern data used to train and run AI and analytics.
Data quality and stewardship
- Establish data quality metrics, rules, and monitoring.
- Coordinate a network of data stewards and owners.
- Drive remediation of data quality issues.
- Improve trust in critical data domains over time.
Metadata and lineage
Oversee metadata management, business glossaries, and data lineage so that data is documented, discoverable, and traceable from source to use, including into AI and analytics pipelines.
Governance operations
Run data governance councils and forums, manage intake and decisions, and maintain the tools, catalogs, and workflows that support the program.
Compliance and risk alignment
Align data governance with privacy, security, and regulatory obligations such as GDPR and applicable data laws, and support audits and data-related risk assessments.
Required qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Data Management, Computer Science, Business, or a related field. Advanced degree a plus.
- 6 to 9+ years of experience in data governance, data management, or a related discipline.
- Strong knowledge of data governance frameworks such as DAMA-DMBOK.
- Experience with data quality, metadata management, and data policy.
- Experience leading stewardship networks and governance forums.
- Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills.
Preferred certifications
One or more of: CDMP, DGSP, CIPP, CDPSE, depending on program focus.
Technical knowledge
Data governance, data quality management, metadata and lineage, master and reference data, data classification, data cataloging, data policy and standards, privacy and regulatory alignment, and governance of data used to train and run AI.
Essential competencies
Program leadership, stakeholder influence, data-domain judgment, executive communication, change management, and the ability to connect governance to business outcomes.
Success measures: first 12 months
- Establish or refresh the data governance framework and operating model.
- Define data domains, ownership, and stewardship roles.
- Stand up data policies, standards, and classification.
- Implement data quality metrics and monitoring for critical data.
- Improve metadata, lineage, and cataloging coverage.
- Align data governance with privacy and regulatory requirements.
- Govern data used to train and run AI and analytics.
- Improve overall data governance maturity.
About [Company]
[Two or three sentences about your organization, the maturity of your program, and what the first year looks like. Candidates in this field respond to honesty about whether they are joining a build or an established function.]
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Frequently asked questions
What does a Data Governance Lead do?
A Data Governance Lead owns how an organization governs its data. They set data policy, ownership, and classification, drive data quality and stewardship, manage metadata and lineage, and increasingly govern the data used to train and run AI.
What qualifications and certifications does a Data Governance Lead need?
Most Data Governance Leads have a bachelor's degree and 6 to 9 or more years in data governance or data management. Common certifications include the CDMP, DGSP, and privacy credentials such as CIPP or CDPSE.
Who does a Data Governance Lead report to?
A Data Governance Lead typically reports to a Chief Data Officer, a Director of Data Management, or a Head of Data Governance, and often chairs data governance councils.
What frameworks does a Data Governance Lead use?
Common references include DAMA-DMBOK for data management, ISO 8000 for data quality, and privacy and regulatory requirements such as GDPR, with growing attention to how governed data feeds AI systems.