Data Governance Lead

BBC Studios; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

London weighting allowance

Bonus 15% on target

Job summary

BBC Studios in London is seeking a Data Governance Lead to shape and deliver our governance strategy within the Privacy, AI and Data Governance function. You will lead a team, establish ownership, and embed governance across data platforms and self-service analytics.

You will collaborate with data owners, stewards, engineers and senior stakeholders to drive practical, risk-based governance, ensuring data quality and regulatory compliance.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in a data governance role implementing data governance frameworks, policies and standards within a complex organisation.
• Experience in line management and developing a team.
• A strong command of data governance disciplines, including ownership and stewardship, metadata, lineage, data quality, data risk and policy development.
• Experience embedding governance into modern data platforms, data products or self service analytics, working closely with engineering, architecture and product teams.
• Experience Implementing or effective use of data catalogues, metadata platforms, lineage tools or data quality technology.
• A practical understanding of how privacy, security, legal and regulatory obligations affect the collection and use of data.
• Experience working effectively partner with senior stakeholders across business and technology functions.

Responsibilities

• Lead the continued development and implementation of the data governance framework, translating agreed data governance priorities into practical delivery plan for the data governance team.
• Drive the implementation of clear data ownership, stewardship, decision-making and accountability across the organisation.
• Work with data owners and stakeholders to identify critical data and establish appropriate quality standards.
• Track governance adoption, data quality and control effectiveness to drive continuous improvement.

Skills

Data governance

Line management

Data ownership

Metadata & lineage

Data quality

Policy development

Stakeholder management

Tools

Data catalogues

Metadata platforms

Lineage tools

Job description

WE ARE BBC STUDIOS

JOB BAND: E

LOCATION: London TVC

DEPARTMENT: Privacy, AI and Data Governance

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £70,000 - £80,000 dependent on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. Plus London Weighting Allowance of £5,441 and 15% bonus OTE. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

WE ARE BBC STUDIOS

A globally renowned media company borne of the BBC. We make and distribute the world’s most sought-after TV, audio and digital content.

Our ambition is to be the home of the most powerful, entertaining, and inspiring stories for people all around the world.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

Data plays a critical role in helping us understand our global audiences, enhance customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth. As we continue to evolve our data platform, expand self-service capabilities, and scale the use of data and AI, we are looking for a Data Governance Lead to shape and deliver our governance strategy.

The role sits within the Privacy, AI and Data Governance function, led by the Chief Privacy Officer. As Data Governance Lead, you will lead the delivery of data governance across BBC Studios, establishing clear ownership, embedding best practices, and ensuring governance is practical, risk-based, and effective. You will manage the data governance team and work closely with data owners, stewards, platform and product teams, and colleagues across analytics, privacy, security and AI. You will provide expert advice, monitor the effectiveness of the framework and elevate material risks and issues to the Chief Privacy Officer.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

This is an opportunity to take an established data governance framework into its next stage of maturity. You will have the scope to improve how governance works in practice, help embed it into a developing data platform and enable the business to use data and AI with greater confidence. The role combines team leadership, technical credibility and organisation-wide influence, while working within an established Privacy, AI and Data Governance function.

Your Key Responsibilities And Impact

Framework Development and Delivery

• Lead the continued development and implementation of the data governance framework, translating agreed data governance priorities into practical delivery plan for the data governance team.
• Drive the implementation of clear data ownership, stewardship, decision-making and accountability across the organisation.
• Work with data owners and stakeholders to identify critical data and establish appropriate quality standards.
• Track governance adoption, data quality and control effectiveness to drive continuous improvement.

Data Platform & Self-Service

• Work with platform, product, engineering and architecture teams to embed governance into data platforms, products and delivery processes.
• Develop practical standards for data access, classification, metadata, lineage, retention and usage.
• Support safe self-service through scalable controls and reusable governance practices.
• Lead the implementation and adoption of governance tools and capabilities, including data catalogues and data quality solutions.

Leadership & Influence

• Manage and develop the data governance team, fostering high performance and collaboration.
• Build and support a strong community of data owners and stewards through guidance and training.
• Provide clear, evidence-based advice to senior stakeholders and delivery teams.
• Represent data governance in key data and AI initiatives, ensuring risks are identified and managed early.
• Manage specialist suppliers where required and build sustainable internal capability.

Essential Criteria

Your Skills And Experience

• Strong experience in a data governance role implementing data governance frameworks, policies and standards within a complex organisation.
• Experience in line management and developing a team.
• A strong command of data governance disciplines, including ownership and stewardship, metadata, lineage, data quality, data risk and policy development.
• Experience embedding governance into modern data platforms, data products or self service analytics, working closely with engineering, architecture and product teams.
• Experience Implementing or effective use of data catalogues, metadata platforms, lineage tools or data quality technology.
• A practical understanding of how privacy, security, legal and regulatory obligations affect the collection and use of data.
• Experience working effectively partner with senior stakeholders across business and technology functions.

Desired But Not Required

• Governance of data used in AI, machine learning or automated decision making, or experience working alongside an AI governance function.
• Data product operating models, federated governance or data mesh principles.
• Experience working in media or another organisation with diverse data domains and stakeholder groups.
• Experience of operational risk management in large and complex organisations
• Working knowledge of cloud data platforms, SQL, Python or analytical tools sufficient to engage credibly with technical teams. Hands on engineering experience is not required.

If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths, we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply

NEXT STEPS

We appreciate your interest in this position and understand how important this opportunity is to you. Due to the high volume of interest we may need to close the application period earlier than anticipated. This step is necessary to ensure we can provide a high level of attention and service to all applicants. Thank you for your understanding.

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

Before your start date, you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges, in line with our Recruitment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.