Lead Data Steward

ExxonMobil India Careers; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 2,500,000 - 4,200,000; Full time

Job summary

ExxonMobil India Careers is seeking a Lead Data Specialist to safeguard and optimize critical data assets, ensuring governance and regulatory compliance while guiding cross‑functional teams. The role emphasizes collaboration with Data Owners, Business Units, and governance bodies to define and uphold data standards.

The ideal candidate has 6+ years in data governance, strong leadership, and expertise in data quality, stewardship, and comprehensive data definitions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Analytics, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 6+ years of experience in Data Governance, Data Management, Data Quality, or related functions.
• Proven track record leading data stewardship teams or data governance leads.
• Experience collaborating with Data Owners, Data Product Managers, and enterprise governance bodies.

Responsibilities

• Act as delegate of the Data Owner to safeguard, manage, and optimize critical data assets, ensuring governance policies and regulatory requirements.
• Provide strategic direction to Data Product Managers and Data Stewards, guiding high‑quality, trusted data products.
• Review, validate, and approve data governance artifacts and hand over to Data Quality team for operationalization.
• Lead and mentor the Data Stewardship team and ensure adoption of governance practices across functions.
• Drive data quality improvements and master data integrity with cross‑functional teams to prioritize remediation.
• Report governance progress, risks, and recommendations to the Data Governance Council.

Skills

Data governance

Data quality

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field

Tools

Collibra

Job description

About Us

At ExxonMobil, our vision is to lead in energy innovations that advance modern living while reducing emissions. As one of the world’s largest publicly traded energy and chemical companies, we are powered by a unique and diverse workforce fueled by the pride in what we do and what we stand for.

The success of our Upstream, Product Solutions and Low Carbon Solutions businesses is the result of the talent, curiosity and drive of our people. They bring solutions every day to optimize our strategy in energy, chemicals, lubricants and lower-emissions technologies.

We invite you to bring your ideas to ExxonMobil to help create sustainable solutions that improve quality of life and meet society’s evolving needs. Learn more about our What and our Why and how we can work together.

Job Summary

Lead Data Specialist act as delegates of the Data Owner and are responsible for protecting, managing, and enhancing the data assets under their domain. They collaborate closely with cross-functional data stakeholders including business teams, data governance, data quality, and technology partners-to ensure data is trustworthy, well-defined, and effectively used. Lead Data Specialist proactively identify data issues, drive root‑cause resolution, and champion data standards and governance practices across the organization.

What You Will Do

• Act as the delegate of the Data Owner to safeguard, manage, and optimize critical data assets, ensuring adherence to data governance policies, business rules, and regulatory requirements.
• Provide strategic direction and expert guidance to Data Product Managers and Data Stewards, influencing the design, implementation, and maintenance of high‑quality, trusted data products.
• Review, validate, and approve data governance artifacts—including business rules, data definitions, data quality requirements, and metadata standards—and hand over endorsed rules to the Data Quality team for operationalization.
• Lead and mentor the Data Stewardship team, offering tactical guidance, monitoring execution, and ensuring consistent adoption of data governance practices across business functions.
• Drive data quality improvements and master data integrity, partnering with cross‑functional teams to identify data issues, assess current‑state maturity, and prioritize remediation and sustainment activities.
• Report data governance and stewardship progress to the Data Governance Council, including key metrics, risk implications, adoption challenges, and proposals for policy updates or enhancements.
• Evaluate cost, benefits, and business value for governance initiatives, supporting decision‑making, resource planning, and long‑term sustainability of data governance programs.

About You - Skills And Qualifications

Essential

• Strong experience in Business Capability frameworks and understanding how data supports end‑to‑end business processes.
• Hands‑on experience with Data Governance practices, including data quality, metadata, and stewardship activities.
• Working knowledge of Collibra or similar data governance platforms.

Preferred Qualifications/ Experience

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Analytics, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 6+ years of experience in Data Governance, Data Management, Data Quality, or related functions.
• Proven track record working as a Data Coordinator or Lead Data Steward, Data Governance Lead, or similar role.
• Experience collaborating with Data Owners, Data Product Managers, and enterprise governance bodies.
• Demonstrated success implementing or enhancing enterprise data governance programs.
• Prior experience leading data stewardship teams or cross‑functional workgroups.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder management skills ability to influence without authority.
• Excellent analytical and problem‑solving abilities, particularly in identifying data quality issues and root‑cause analysis.
• Skilled in creating, reviewing, and validating data governance artifacts (business rules, definitions, DQ metrics, lineage).
• Exceptional communication skills to articulate data governance principles to both business and technical audiences.
• Ability to drive alignment across diverse teams and lead change management for governance adoption.
• Self‑driven, with the ability to proactively identify priorities and move initiatives forward with minimal direction.
• Comfortable creating clarity in ambiguous situations by breaking down complex problems, defining structure, and driving actionable outcomes.

Certifications (Nice to Have)

• Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP – DAMA)
• Collibra Ranger / Steward / Data Governance Certification
• SAP Master Data Governance (MDG) certification
• Any relevant Data Governance, Data Quality, or Analytics certifications

Job Group Capability

Data Science, Digital & Analytics

Job Group

Data Management

Functional Skills

Data Architecture & Strategy

Data Compliance Governance & Security

Data Management

Alternate Location

Nothing herein is intended to override the corporate separateness of local entities. Working relationships discussed herein do not necessarily represent a reporting connection, but may reflect a functional guidance, stewardship, or service relationship.

Exxon Mobil Corporation has numerous affiliates, many with names that include ExxonMobil, Exxon, Esso and Mobil. For convenience and simplicity, those terms and terms like corporation, company, our, we and its are sometimes used as abbreviated references to specific affiliates or affiliate groups. Abbreviated references describing global or regional operational organizations and global or regional business lines are also sometimes used for convenience and simplicity. Similarly, ExxonMobil has business relationships with thousands of customers, suppliers, governments, and others. For convenience and simplicity, words like venture, joint venture, partnership, co-venturer, and partner are used to indicate business relationships involving common activities and interests, and those words may not indicate precise legal relationships.