Data Governance Lead

Salary: £70,000 - 75,000 per year

Requirements:

• Hands-on experience building or substantially extending a data governance framework in a large, complex organisation, whether you owned all of it or led a major part of it
• A track record of establishing data ownership and running cross-functional steward groups that actually changed behaviour
• Practical data quality experience, including processes, metrics and reporting, connected to commercial outcomes
• Strong working knowledge of UK GDPR and information security principles
• The credibility to influence and challenge at senior level, and the resilience to keep going when it is slow
• Regulated environment exposure, such as financial services, healthcare, clinical or similar
• DAMA CDMP, DCAM or CIPP/E
• Experience evidencing controls to auditors
• An interest in AI governance

Responsibilities:

• Design a proportionate data governance framework and determine which data matters
• Land policies and agree ownership across the four priority data domains: customer, product, colleague and clinical
• Build a working steward network across the business
• Produce the evidence the board needs to attest under Provision 29 of the UK Corporate Governance Code
• Make meaningful progress with limited tooling in year one, using a spreadsheet, a good argument and the right people in the room
• Work closely with the Director of Engineering and the data team while keeping a business-first perspective
• Influence senior stakeholders, explain why data governance matters in language they recognise, and maintain their support
• Challenge inaccurate data and hold your position when senior stakeholders push back
• Make governance feel useful to the people doing it, not just compliant
• Be pragmatic about what gets done first and defend what is not done
• Support the broader data and AI governance remit as the role evolves

Technologies:

• AI
• Support
• Network
• Security

More:

We are a UK listed group building enterprise data governance from scratch with strong executive backing and board-level attention. This is a North West-based hybrid role with no mandated office days, but regular in-person presence is needed in Handforth because the work depends on relationships. The salary is £75,000, and the position starts as a solo lead role with an analyst expected to follow, offering a genuine path toward a broader data and AI governance remit. The process is two stages and moves quickly.

last updated 35 week of 2026