AD, Data Governance Lead

U014 (FCRS = US014) Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; United States; On-site; USD 146,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Life and disability insurance

401(k) with company match

Generous time off

Job summary

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ, seeks an AD, Data Governance Lead to design, stand up, and run the enterprise governance program. You will establish governance operating models, scorecards, and cross-functional partnerships with IT, Compliance, Legal, and Privacy to embed auditable data controls.

You will co-chair the Executive Council, drive charter development, and ensure lifecycle controls across domains, delivering dashboards and maturity assessments for leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• 8+ years in data governance or regulated analytics.
• Experience leading cross-functional governance councils with real decision authority.
• Knowledge of DAMA-DMBOK and DCAM frameworks.
• Experience with governance tools such as OpenMetadata or Collibra.
• Strong analytical and KPI/metric design skills.

Responsibilities

• Stand up and co-chair the Executive Council and coordinate all sub-committees.
• Develop charters, terms of reference, meeting cadences, agendas, and decision-tracking.
• Drive alignment of governance priorities with enterprise strategy and risk appetite.
• Establish federated data ownership and stewardship across domains.
• Partner with IT, Compliance, Legal and Privacy to develop, validate, and operationalize controls.
• Develop, document, and maintain control frameworks at lifecycle stages.
• Collaborate with data owners to enforce governance standards across data lifecycles.
• Build Data Management Lifecycle Scorecards measuring quality, coverage, compliance, and maturity.
• Define Governance KPIs/KRIs including data quality scores and policy adoption.
• Deliver executive dashboards and DCAM maturity assessments.

Skills

Facilitation

Stakeholder management

Data governance

DCAM knowledge

OpenMetadata

Collibra

Analytics maturity

Regulatory experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in related field

Tools

OpenMetadata

Collibra

Job description

Job Description Summary #LI-Hybrid

This position will be located at East Hanover, NJ site and will not have the ability to be located remotely. This position will require 10% travel as defined by the business (domestic and/ or international). Job description summary The AD, Data Governance Lead is accountable for designing, standing up, and operating the enterprise data governance program. This individual establishes the governance operating model- including the Executive Council and core functional sub-committees- de-fines data lifecycle controls, builds performance scorecards, and partners cross-functionally with IT, Compliance, Legal, and Privacy to embed sustainable, auditable da-ta controls across the organization.

Job Description Key Responsibilities:

• Stand up and co-chair the Executive Council and coordinate all sub-committees.
• Develop charters, terms of reference, meeting cadences, agendas, and decision-tracking.
• Drive alignment of governance priorities with enterprise strategy and risk appetite.
• Establish federated data ownership and stewardship model across domains.
• Partner with IT, Compliance, Legal and Privacy to fully develop, validate, and operationalize required controls.
• Develop, document, and maintain control frameworks at each lifecycle stage.
• Collaborate with data owners and enforce governance standards across the end-to-end data lifecycle.
• Build Data Management Lifecycle Scorecards measuring quality, coverage, compliance, and maturity.
• Define Governance KPIs/KRIs (e.g., data quality scores, classification coverage %, access-review completion, issue MTTR, policy adoption).
• Deliver executive dashboards and periodic DCAM maturity assessments.

Essential Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Data Management, Engineering, Finance, or a related field.
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder-management skills — this role lives in meetings with functional VPs.
• Minimum 8+ years in Data governance, BI governance, or commercial analytics in a regulated industry.
• Preferably in pharma or life sciences industries.
• Extensive Experience running a cross-functional governance council or working group with real decision authority.
• Influence without authority across IT, Legal, Compliance, and Privacy.
• Deep knowledge of governance frameworks (DAMA-DMBOK, DCAM), privacy regulations, and control design.
• Experience with governance/catalog tooling (e.g., OpenMetadata, Collibra).
• Analytical rigor for scorecard/metric design and maturity assessment.

Novartis Compensation Summary:

The salary for this position is expected to range between $145,600.00 and $270,400.00 per year. The final salary offered is determined based on factors like, but not limited to, relevant skills and experience, and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. Novartis may change the published salary range based on company and market factors. Your compensation will include a performance-based cash incentive and, depending on the level of the role, eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards. US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves.

EEO Statement:

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Accessibility and reasonable accommodations

The Novartis Group of Companies are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [e-mail] or call [phone] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

Salary Range

Salary Range $145,600.00 - $270,400.00

Skills Desired

Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Engagement, Customer Insights, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Market Research, Media Campaigns, Product Marketing, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Team Leadership, Waterfall Model

Improving the lives of people living with disease takes more than innovative science. It takes a focus on the needs of people and a community committed to meeting them. It takes a team of people like you. Working together. Learning together. Thriving together. Discover how you can join us in changing people’s lives.

In the context of China Cross-Border Data Transfer (CBDT) policy, if you need to apply for a position in China, please go to the local Recruiting System TaleNov .