Data Governance Specialist

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Summary:The Data Governance Specialist plays a critical role in supporting the development, implementation, and ongoing operations of the enterprise data governance program. This includes responsibilities across data policy development, data security, regulatory compliance, standards, quality management, and data stewardship. The Data Governance Specialist will help identify and implement technologies aligned with the organization's roadmap, particularly for data security, encryption, compliance, auditability, and data classification and control-including data identification, authorization, and audit logs.

They will work collaboratively with cross-functional stakeholders-including business users, data owners, stewards, analysts, engineers, and scientists-to understand data requirements, align them with organizational strategy, and ensure ongoing governance compliance. The role also supports the deployment and operation of data governance tools for cataloging, lineage tracking, quality measurement, and metadata management. The Specialist will provide training and support for data stewards, business owners, business domain owners, and platform users.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

* Assist in the implementation and operational support of data governance and analytics platforms.

* Develop, maintain, and enforce data governance standards, policies, and procedures across business and technical domains.

* Track and report key performance metrics related to data governance program effectiveness and policy compliance.

* Collaborate with legal, risk, and compliance teams to ensure regulatory alignment (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, SOX).

* Drive data transformation, integration, consolidation, and migration efforts while ensuring alignment with established governance methodologies and risk frameworks.

* Document and maintain data governance processes, standards, metadata, and decision logs for audit readiness and policy traceability.

* Support and monitor data quality initiatives by defining rules, identifying inconsistencies, and remediating data issues across platforms.

* Lead or support the implementation and configuration of data cataloging and lineage tools (e.g., Collibra, Alation, Microsoft Purview).

* Provide training and onboarding for data stewards, data owners, domain leads, and platform users to promote data literacy and stewardship.

* Collaborate with stakeholders to support enterprise data management strategy and ensure high-quality, secure, and governed data across systems.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret and analyze complex datasets.

* Excellent verbal and written communication skills; capable of clearly articulating technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

* Proficiency in data profiling, data quality assessment, and metadata management practices.

* Solid knowledge of SQL for querying, validation, and reporting tasks.

* Strong experience with Power BI, including report/dashboard creation, data modeling, and deployment through Power BI Services based on compliance, auditing, and risk considerations.

* Proficient in DAX and experience with tools such as Power Pivot or SSAS Tabular.

* Solid understanding of relational and dimensional database design methodologies.

* Demonstrated experience implementing enterprise-level BI and data governance solutions.

* Familiarity with data security controls including encryption, access control, classification, and audit logging.

* High level of organization and attention to detail; able to manage multiple tasks independently.

* Flexible to travel and support business needs outside standard hours as required.

Minimum Qualifications:

* Bachelor's degree in a related discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science) or equivalent work experience.

* Strong analytical and quantitative skills; data-driven and results-oriented

* 5+ years of combined experience in data governance, data quality, or data services.

* 5+ years of experience in enterprise data architecture, including modeling, integration, and data warehousing/marts.

* 5+ years of experience developing data visualizations and dashboards using industry-standard BI tools.

* 3+ years in a dedicated data governance or stewardship role.

* Proficiency in Microsoft 365 Office Suite, Teams, and Power BI.

* Familiarity with data governance platforms tools