Data Governance Lead

Howden Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexible hours

Reasonable accommodations

Job summary

Howden Group is seeking a Data Governance Lead to drive development and continuous improvement of our data governance framework across the Group. You will partner with Data Champions and business/technical teams to embed data ownership, stewardship and risk controls in a large, global organisation.

Based in London with flexible hybrid working, you will shape policy and standards, assess maturity, and deliver actionable recommendations to strengthen data quality and governance across key domains.

Qualifications

• Essential Experience of working as Data Governance practitioner or similar role (at least 2 years).
• Experience of control and data maturity assessment.
• Experience of Data Governance approaches and practices in large organisation(s).
• Experience working with business, data and technical teams to clearly document Data Governance requirements.
• Experience of assisting in the implementation of Data Governance projects in a large organisation.
• Good communication skills with both business and technical stakeholders.
• A self-starter who can handle multiple priorities.
• Able to articulate sophisticated technical themes to business partners.
• High attention to detail whilst understanding the bigger picture.
• Strong problem‑solving skills.
• Desired Insurance broking or wider Financial Services industry knowledge.
• Understanding of Data Quality Management.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Data Champions embedded across the Group to complete reviews and ensure compliance with policies, standards to drive data quality improvement.
• Work with other colleagues in Group Data to implement good Data Governance practices.
• Provide recommendations on managing and maintaining key Data Governance framework assets.
• Support the integration of Data Governance risks and controls into the Enterprise Risk Management Framework.
• Review of Key Performance and Key Risk Indicators for Data Governance and provide recommendations on action plans to improve these indicators.
• Review business remediation plans for Data Governance controls for reasonableness and appropriateness, providing recommendations on improvements as necessary.
• Day to day administration of business services such as our Data Certification Scheme.
• Measure the effectiveness of controls and compliance to standards and policy providing reports and recommendations for improvement.
• Assess effectiveness of interaction with Data Champions and Data Help prepare meeting packs and reports and or template materials to facilitate data governance meetings.
• Support communications strategy and maintain and administrate the data governance SharePoint site.
• Help to ensure that Data Owners and Data Stewards are suitably trained to carry out their activities.

Skills

Data Governance

Maturity assessment

Requirements documentation

Stakeholder communication

Problem solving

Spanish language

Tools

Collibra

Informatica

Orchestra Networks

Job description

Data Governance Lead – A fantastic opportunity to develop and expand our business-critical data governance capability

Who are we? Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It's what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you'll find like‑minded people driving change at Howden.

The Position

We're looking for a Data Governance Lead to help drive forward some of our most ambitious and exciting data governance initiatives.

Summary of the role

Howden Group Services is looking for an experienced Data Governance practitioner to support the development, implementation and continuous improvement of our Data Governance framework across the whole of the Group. As a Data Governance Lead, you will help embed a culture of excellence that focuses on delivering foundations for sustainable growth under the guidance of the Head of Data Governance. This includes shaping and maintaining data governance policy and standards, supporting enablement and adoption across the business, strengthening risk and control measures, and helping define clear roles and responsibilities for data ownership and stewardship. You will also support the assessment of the maturity of the Data Governance framework, analysis of outcomes, and recommendations on areas to develop maturity going forwards.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Data Champions embedded across the Group to complete reviews and ensure compliance with policies, standards to drive data quality improvement.
• Work with other colleagues in Group Data to implement good Data Governance practices.
• Provide recommendations on managing and maintaining key Data Governance framework assets.
• Support the integration of Data Governance risks and controls into the Enterprise Risk Management Framework.
• Review of Key Performance and Key Risk Indicators for Data Governance and provide recommendations on action plans to improve these indicators.
• Review business remediation plans for Data Governance controls for reasonableness and appropriateness, providing recommendations on improvements as necessary.
• Day to day administration of business services such as our Data Certification Scheme.
• Measure the effectiveness of controls and compliance to standards and policy providing reports and recommendations for improvement.
• Assess effectiveness of interaction with Data Champions and Data Help prepare meeting packs and reports and or template materials to facilitate data governance meetings.
• Support communications strategy and maintain and administrate the data governance SharePoint site.
• Help to ensure that Data Owners and Data Stewards are suitably trained to carry out their activities.

Requirements

• Essential Experience of working as Data Governance practitioner or similar role (at least 2 years).
• Experience of control and data maturity assessment.
• Experience of Data Governance approaches and practices in large organisation(s).
• Experience working with business, data and technical teams to clearly document Data Governance requirements.
• Experience of assisting in the implementation of Data Governance projects in a large organisation.
• Good communication skills with both business and technical stakeholders.
• A self-starter who can handle multiple priorities.
• Able to articulate sophisticated technical themes to business partners.
• High attention to detail whilst understanding the bigger picture.
• Strong problem‑solving skills.
• Desired Insurance broking or wider Financial Services industry knowledge.
• Experience with Data Governance tools (e.g. Collibra, Informatica, Orchestra Networks etc.).
• Risk management practices.
• Understanding of Data Quality Management.
• Fluent written and spoken Spanish.

The Location

You will be based at our London City office with flexible remote working.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type.

Instead, we're looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new.

We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges.

We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond.

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs.

Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations.

Permanent

Howden began in 1994, as just three people and a dog. Now there are 23,000 of us, and we're a leading global insurance group, managing $37bn of premiums for our clients. Our largest shareholder group is us – the people who work in the business – supported by three long‑term, minority growth‑equity partners who share our vision to build a business to last, one that will never be sold. The owner's mindset is something that's embedded in our culture; our people readily take ownership of their decisions, their actions, and their outputs. They're invested in every sense. And we all know that by working together to drive the business forward, everyone will benefit from the extraordinary results we can achieve.