Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Data Governance - Program Manager

Location: Remote or Preferred California Bay Area

Employment Type: Contract

Experience: 12+ years

Work Authorization: US Citizen or Green Card

Contract: C2C or W2 or 1099

Job Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Data Governance Program Manager to lead and scale enterprise-wide data governance initiatives across the organization. This role will be responsible for defining governance frameworks, driving data quality, ensuring regulatory compliance, and coordinating cross-functional stakeholders to treat data as a trusted enterprise asset.

The ideal candidate has a strong blend of program management, data governance, regulatory knowledge, and stakeholder leadership , with hands-on experience implementing governance programs in complex U.S.-based organizations.

Key Responsibilities:

Data Governance Leadership

• Define, implement, and maintain enterprise Data Governance frameworks , policies, standards, and procedures.
• Establish governance domains including data quality, metadata management, master data, reference data, and data lifecycle management .
• Drive adoption of data governance practices across business and technical teams.

Program & Stakeholder Management

• Lead multiple data governance initiatives as a unified program with clear milestones, KPIs, and success metrics.
• Partner with Data Owners, Data Stewards, IT, Security, Legal, Compliance, and Business leaders .
• Facilitate governance councils, steering committees, and working groups.

Regulatory & Compliance

• Ensure alignment with U.S. and global regulations such as: CCPA / CPRA, HIPAA, SOX, GDPR (where applicable)
• Collaborate with Legal and Compliance teams to translate regulatory requirements into operational controls.

Data Quality & Risk Management

• Define and monitor data quality metrics, issue management, and remediation processes .
• Identify data risks and implement mitigation strategies related to privacy, security, and regulatory exposure.

Tools & Enablement

• Lead selection and implementation of data governance tools (e.g., GCP, Collibra, Alation, Informatica, Microsoft Purview).
• Drive metadata management, data catalog adoption, and lineage documentation.

Change Management & Communication

• Develop training, communication, and change management strategies to improve governance adoption.
• Create executive-ready dashboards, reports, and program updates.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Management, Business , or related field.
• 12+ years of experience in data governance, data management, or data program leadership.
• Proven experience managing enterprise-scale programs in U.S.-based organizations.
• Strong understanding of: Data governance frameworks (DAMA-DMBOK, DCAM), Data quality, metadata, lineage, and stewardship models
• Experience working with U.S. regulatory and compliance requirements .
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and executive presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or MBA.
• Certifications such as: PMP / PgMP, SAFe, Agile, or Scrum
• Experience in regulated industries (Finance, Healthcare, Insurance, SaaS).
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).

Key Skills

• Data Governance & Data Management
• Program & Portfolio Management
• Regulatory Compliance (US-focused)
• Data Quality & Risk Management
• Metadata & Data Catalogs
• Cross-functional Leadership
• Change Management
• Executive Communication

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