Data Governance Chief Specialist

Description

The Data Governance Chief Specialist owns the design and enforcement of the government-wide data governance framework — policies, standards, KPIs, and operating model. You will work directly with senior government stakeholders, lead cross-entity governance bodies, and drive measurable improvements in data quality, sharing, and management maturity at a national level.

• Lead development and continuous enhancement of the government-wide data governance framework — including policies, standards, and operating model.
• Define, measure, and enforce compliance with government data policies through structured monitoring, audits, and performance tracking.
• Drive the development, rollout, and governance of government-wide data performance indices to assess and uplift data quality, sharing, and management capability across entities.
• Lead the end-to-end KPI measurement cycle: data collection, validation, scoring, and quality assurance.
• Maintain and govern the government-wide data information model — enterprise data architecture, key data domains, and relationships.
• Maintain and govern the central data catalogue, metadata, and reference data; resolve cross-entity inconsistencies and ownership conflicts.
• Promote and enable cross-entity data sharing through engagement, platform adoption, and a collaborative data culture.
• Operationalize governance bodies (Data Committees, Working Groups) for oversight, alignment, and escalation management.
• Provide strategic oversight on data-related risks and integrate with enterprise risk management.
• Engage senior stakeholders across government to align governance priorities with strategic and transformation initiatives.
• Lead continuous improvement of the internal governance team's practices and performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor's in Data Management, Business Administration, IT, or a related field; Master's preferred.
• 20+ years of progressive experience in data governance, data management, information architecture, or digital transformation — with deep expertise in policy design, data modelling, and enterprise data architecture.
• Demonstrated track record establishing or scaling enterprise-level or national-scale data governance functions, including compliance and performance measurement frameworks.
• Strong working knowledge of global frameworks — DAMA-DMBOK, DCAM, ISO 8000, or equivalent.
• Hands-on experience implementing and governing data policies, standards, and operating models in complex multi-entity or multinational environments.
• Comfortable engaging C-suite, ministerial, or board-level stakeholders.
• Excellent written and spoken English; Arabic is a plus.