Data Governance Analyst

Holman Fenwick Willan LLP; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

Holman Fenwick Willan LLP is seeking a Data Governance Analyst to help shape the Firm's data governance framework. The role focuses on establishing data ownership, metadata, and data quality controls across the business.

You will collaborate with Data Stewards and stakeholders, develop documentation, and deliver Power BI dashboards to support data governance activities. A 2–4 year background in similar roles is preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree required.
• 2–4 years’ experience in a similar role (Business Analyst or Data Governance Analyst).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Good understanding of data management, data governance, data quality and metadata principles.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work across business and technology teams.

Responsibilities

• Working closely with Data Stewards and business stakeholders to understand their data needs and requirements, supporting adoption of the Data Governance Framework.
• Maintaining and adopting the Metadata Register, including the Business Data Glossary, Data Dictionary, and Data Quality Rules.
• Developing and maintaining data lineage information to map data creation, capture, transformation, sharing and use.
• Developing user stories, use cases and functional requirements, prioritising issues and actions through governance processes.
• Establishing and managing reference data and lists processes with clear ownership and approvals.
• Developing and delivering Data Steward training, communications and guidance.
• Promoting adoption and use of data artefacts and standards across the Firm.
• Supporting implementation of the Data Strategy through initiatives to improve data management and resolve data-related issues.

Skills

Data governance

Data quality

Metadata management

Analytical thinking

Communication

Documentation

Requirements analysis

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree

Tools

Power BI

Job description

Our IT department’s vision is to deliver and support innovative technology that enables client service excellence, globally. The IT department has approximately 60 staff globally, located in London, Paris, Piraeus, Dubai, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore, and Sydney.

The Data team, within IT, works to build confidence in the Firm’s data by improving transparency across systems and data, promoting cross functional collaboration, enhancing data literacy, standardising data taxonomies, and supporting the resolutions of data issues.

The role

Are you ready to help shape how data is governed and managed across the Firm? At HFW, you’ll have the opportunity to help build and embed our Data capability, working across the Firm to improve the quality, accessibility, understanding and use of our data.

The Data Governance Analyst is an operational role supporting the implementation, adoption and ongoing development of the Firm’s newly established, cross-functional Data Governance Framework. The role will help establish the foundations of data governance, including data ownership, stewardship, metadata management, data quality and reference data. The Frameworkprovides the context for improving data-related behaviours and establishes the governance, management and ownership of the Firm’s data. The Data team works in partnership with the C-Suite Data Council and Data Stewardship Council, as well as a wider network of stakeholders including Cyber Security.

Key responsibilities

• Working closely with Data Stewards and business stakeholders to understand their data needs and requirements. Supporting adoption of the Firm’s Data Governance Framework and participate in Data Stewards Council meetings.
• Supporting the development, maintenance and adoption of the Firm’sMetadata Register, including the Business Data Glossary, Data Dictionary, Critical Data Element (CDE) Register, Data Ownership Matrix, Systems of Record, Systems of Use and Data Quality Rules.
• Develop and maintain business process and data lineage information to improve understanding of how data is created, captured, transformed, shared and used across the Firm.
• Develop user stories, use cases and functional requirements, while prioritising and tracking issues and actions through the relevant governance processes.
• Establish and manage reference data and reference list processes, including consistent approaches to ownership, maintenance, approval and use.
• Develop and deliver Data Steward training, communications and guidance, ensuring training materials remain accurate and up to date.
• Promote adoption and effective use of the Firm’s data artefacts, processes and standards by Data Stewards and the wider Firm.
• Supporting implementation of the Firm’s Data Strategy through initiatives that improve data management, resolving data-related issues and enable better use of data.

Key skills and experience required

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree
• 2–4 years’ experience of a similar role, i.e. Business Analyst or Data Governance Analyst
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Good understanding of data management, data governance, data quality and metadata principles
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work across business and technology teams
• Proactive and self-motivated, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines
• Strong business analysis and documentation skills, including experience producing use cases, user stories, functional requirements and reports
• Demonstrable experience using Power BI to develop data visualisations and reports to support data governance activities
• Experience managing data-related issues, ensuring they are appropriately tracked, resolved and documented
• Ability to work with stakeholders to understand data requirements and identify opportunities for improvement

Additional information

This role profile is designed to be indicative of the sort of work you will do and the experience we seek. It does not form a contractual description of the role and we reserve the right to make changes to meet the needs of the firm.

HFW aims to ensure equality of opportunity and we are actively working towards improving the diversity of our staff. All applications will be considered only on merit and the applicant’s suitability to meet the requirements of the role.

HFW collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants to manage its recruitment process. The firm is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.For information on how the firm will process your data, please see our Privacy Notice , in the section “What we collect and how we use it”.

Published

27 October 2026

Job Type: Business Services

Location: London

Department: Information Technology

Role: Permanent

About HFW

HFW is a global law firm with deep, sector-focused expertise. We have over 700 lawyers working across 22 offices spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. We take a progressive approach to our role in commercial business – thinking creatively and pragmatically to support our clients.

Whether we are solving complex issues within the construction, aviation or shipping industries, or providing advice across insurance, commodities and energy we are specialist lawyers here to add value to our clients. We think about the commercial solution first, and then underpin our advice with a solid foundation of legal expertise.