Data Governance Architect

We are seeking a seasoned Data Governance Architect to design, implement, and lead enterprise-wide data governance strategy across modern cloud data platforms. This role will define governance frameworks, data quality standards, metadata management practices, master data management, and access control policies that ensure data is trusted, secure, compliant, and usable across the organization. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in MDM, DG, DQ tools (Informatica, Reltio, Collibra, Semarchy, Profisee etc.) with strong stakeholder management and the ability to translate governance principles into practical, scalable engineering solutions.

Key Responsibilities

* Design and own the enterprise data governance architecture, including policies for data quality, metadata management, data lineage, master data management (MDM), and data cataloging.

* Define and implement role-based access control (RBAC), data classification, and data privacy frameworks in alignment with regulatory requirements (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, SOX, etc.).

* Architect and oversee governance tooling implementation (e.g., Informatica, Collibra, Alation, Purview, Unity Catalog, Snowflake Horizon, Informatica, DataHub).

* Establish data stewardship models, defining roles and responsibilities for data owners, stewards, and custodians across business and technical teams.

* Partner with data engineering, architecture, and platform teams to embed governance controls directly into data pipelines and platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, cloud-native ETL/ELT).

* Define and monitor data quality frameworks, including profiling, validation rules, and remediation workflows.

* Lead data lineage and impact analysis initiatives to improve traceability across complex data ecosystems.

* Drive policies around data retention, archival, and lifecycle management.

* Provide architectural oversight and hands-on guidance for governance implementation across multiple projects/programs.

* Mentor junior architects, data stewards, and governance analysts; build organizational governance maturity through training and enablement.

* Present governance strategy, roadmaps, and maturity assessments to senior leadership and executive stakeholders.

* Stay current with evolving data governance trends, tools, and regulatory landscapes, and evangelize best practices across the organization.

Required Qualifications

* 15+ years of overall experience in data management, with at least 6–8 years focused specifically on data governance, data architecture, or master data management.

* Proven experience architecting and implementing enterprise data governance frameworks (DAMA-DMBOK or similar) at scale.

* Strong hands-on experience with modern cloud data platforms — Snowflake and/or Databricks preferred.

* Deep expertise in data governance and catalog tools such as Collibra, Alation, Microsoft Purview, Unity Catalog, Informatica EDC/Axon, or DataHub.

* Solid understanding of data modeling, metadata management, data lineage, and MDM concepts.

* Experience defining and enforcing data security, privacy, and access control policies (RBAC/ABAC, data masking, tokenization).

* Working knowledge of relevant regulatory frameworks (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, SOX, BCBS 239, etc.) as applicable to the industry.

* Strong SQL skills and familiarity with cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, or GCP).

* Experience working in large, matrixed organizations with cross-functional stakeholder management (business, legal, compliance, IT).

* Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical governance concepts for executive and non-technical audiences.

* Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

* Certifications such as CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional), Snowflake SnowPro Advanced, or Databricks certifications.

* Experience building governance frameworks in a consulting/professional services environment across multiple clients.

* Familiarity with AI/ML governance and responsible AI data practices.

* Prior experience leading governance workstreams within a Data Engineering or Data Platform practice.

* Exposure to data mesh or federated governance operating models.