Data Governance Chief Specialist

Role summary

Leads the design and enforcement of government-wide data governance frameworks, policies, and standards. Ensures compliance with government regulations, drives performance management KPIs, and enables cross-entity alignment and data sharing.

Key responsibilities

• Lead development and continuous enhancement of government-wide data governance frameworks, including policies and standards.
• Define, measure, and enforce compliance with government data policies and standards through structured monitoring, audits, and performance tracking mechanisms.
• Drive the development, rollout, and governance of government-wide data performance indices to assess and enhance data quality, data sharing, and data management capabilities across entities.
• Lead and manage the end-to-end KPI measurement cycle, including data collection, validation, scoring, and quality assurance.
• Maintain and govern the government-wide data information model, including enterprise data architecture, key data domains, and relationships.
• Maintain and govern the central data catalogue, metadata, and reference data, ensuring alignment on ownership and resolving cross-entity data inconsistencies and conflicts.
• Promote and enable cross-entity data sharing by engaging with government entities, driving adoption of data sharing platforms, and fostering a collaborative data culture.
• Lead operationalization of governance bodies (e.g., data committees, working groups) to ensure oversight, alignment, and escalation management.
• Provide strategic oversight on data-related risks and ensure integration with enterprise risk management practices.
• Engage senior stakeholders across government to align governance priorities with strategic and data transformation initiatives.
• Lead continuous improvement of internal governance team practices and performance.

Key qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in data management, business administration, information technology, or a related field; master's degree preferred.
• 20+ years of experience in data governance, data management, information architecture, or digital transformation, with expertise in policy design, data modelling, and enterprise data architecture.
• Proven experience implementing and governing data policies, standards, and operating models in complex, multi-entity or multinational environments.
• Demonstrated experience establishing and scaling enterprise or national-level data governance functions, including compliance and performance measurement frameworks.
• Strong knowledge of data management domains and global frameworks (e.g., DAMA).
• Experience engaging senior stakeholders and leading cross-entity initiatives.