Data Governance Manager

CBRE; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 100,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

Dental insurance

Health insurance

Life insurance

Vision insurance

Job summary

CBRE is seeking a Data Governance Manager to steward one of the People domains, integrating data governance across Talent Acquisition or People Services. You will define business rules, maintain the domain glossary and semantic model, and partner with Data Owners and Technology teams to ensure compliant, traceable data assets for AI, analytics and automation.

You will drive data quality, lineage and governance readiness, coordinating activities across global teams and ensuring data definitions

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred with 2-5 years of relevant experience.
• Experience in data governance, data stewardship or data management, including documenting business rules, data definitions and governance processes.
• Strong understanding of Talent Acquisition or People Services processes and the data they generate, with the ability to express entities, relationships and rules in a semantic model/ontology.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with stakeholder management skills.
• Comfortable working independently in a global, matrixed role across time zones.
• Organized and delivery-focused with track record of keeping complex initiatives on track.
• Ability to translate data into clear KPIs and insights with a commercial focus.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the designated Domain Data Steward for your domain and coordinate stewardship across it.
• Partner with Data Owners and Technology teams to promote effective stewardship of People data assets.
• Support enterprise data governance standards, policies and controls.
• Run stewardship activities through governance forums and stakeholder engagement.
• Develop and maintain the domain's business glossary and metadata documentation.
• Own the domain's semantic model, expressing entities, relationships and rules in ontology and glossary.
• Act as custodian of semantic and access decisions and turn them into a durable domain model.
• Specify access and permission rules for the domain's data and align with architecture principles.
• Ensure data consumed by AI and analytics is governed, trusted and documented.
• Identify AI-critical data assets and define requirements for AI datasets and data products.
• Partner with AI delivery teams to ensure data used in AI is governed and traceable.
• Support data quality monitoring and issue remediation.
• Maintain visibility of data lineage across source systems and downstream layers.
• Represent People Data & Insights in strategic transformation initiatives.
• Build partnerships with HR leaders, Technology teams and governance functions.
• Educate stakeholders on governance principles and adoption of data-driven decisions.

Skills

Data governance

Data stewardship

Semantic model/ontology

Communication skills

Independent/work across time zones

Delivery-focused

KPIs and business insight

DAMA-DMBOK familiarity

AI/data analytics support

Metadata management/Glosssaries/Linea|

Data architecture (Snowflake)

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Avature

ServiceNow

Job description

About The Role

Trustworthy AI starts with trustworthy data. As CBRE builds AI agents across its People function, this role makes sure the data behind them, in one priority domain, is governed, well-defined and fit to rely on.

CBRE is running a significant People AI transformation to enable AI-powered experiences, automation and agentic workflows across the People function, starting with Talent Acquisition and People Services. This role represents People Data & Insights (PDI) within that program and keeps People data trusted, governed, documented and fit for purpose.

You serve as the designated Domain Data Steward for one of these priority domains. You coordinate and facilitate stewardship in partnership with the business Data Owners, who retain accountability for approving definitions and business rules, and you own the domain's semantic model: the entities, relationships and rules that describe its data. As the AI delivery teams and Digital and Technology (D&T) design the first agents, you embed in that design work and become the custodian of the semantic and access decisions they make, turning them into a durable, governed domain model that outlasts the design phase.

What You'll Do

Data stewardship and governance

• Serve as the designated Domain Data Steward for your domain, and facilitate stewardship across it while the business Data Owners keep sign-off on definitions and business rules.
• Partner with Data Owners, business stakeholders and Technology teams to promote effective stewardship of People data assets.
• Support enterprise data governance standards, policies and controls, and make sure data assets meet security and compliance requirements.
• Run stewardship activities through governance forums, working groups and stakeholder engagement.

Business definitions and semantic modeling

• Develop and maintain the domain's business glossary, Critical Data Element inventory and metadata documentation.
• Own the domain's semantic model, expressing its entities, relationships and business rules in the ontology and glossary, and keeping the logic used in reporting, analytics and AI traceable.
• Act as custodian of the semantic and access decisions made during the AI design work, capturing them and turning them into a durable, governed domain model.
• Specify the access and permission rules for the domain's data, and work to shared architecture principles so the domain model aligns with the other People domains rather than diverging.

AI and data readiness

• Make sure the data consumed by AI agents, automation and analytics products is governed, trusted and documented.
• Identify and manage AI-critical data assets, and help define the requirements for AI-approved datasets and certified business data products.
• Partner with AI delivery teams so the data used in AI solutions is appropriately governed and traceable, in support of responsible AI practice.

Data quality and lineage

• Support data quality monitoring and issue management, and coordinate the assessment and remediation of quality concerns that affect operations or AI.
• Maintain visibility of data lineage across source systems and downstream consumption layers, and work with Technology teams to keep lineage and metadata current.

Stakeholder partnership

• Represent People Data & Insights within strategic transformation initiatives.
• Build strong partnerships with HR leaders, Technology teams, governance functions and business stakeholders.
• Educate stakeholders on governance principles and stewardship responsibilities, and support adoption of data-driven decision-making and governance best practice.

Your domain

• You will steward one of the priority People domains and know its processes, data and platform in depth:
• Talent Acquisition: recruiting operations, requisitions, candidate lifecycle, sourcing and hiring, on Avature.
• People Services: HR service delivery, employee lifecycle transactions, case management and knowledge management, on ServiceNow.
• In either case: the definitions, rules and metrics that describe your domain, and the data it feeds to analytics, automation and AI.

What You'll Need

Essential

• A bachelor's degree preferred with 2-5 years of relevant experience. A combination of experience and education will be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Experience in data governance, data stewardship or data management, including documenting business rules, data definitions and governance processes.
• A strong understanding of either Talent Acquisition or People Services processes and the data they generate, with hands‑on experience of the relevant platform (Avature or ServiceNow), and the data modeling skill to express its entities, relationships and business rules in a semantic model or ontology, sufficient to challenge, validate and shape data definitions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the stakeholder management to build productive relationships across business, functional and technical audiences and balance competing priorities with clarity and confidence.
• Comfortable working independently in a global, matrixed role across time zones, with the interpersonal skills, cultural awareness and energy to build relationships and momentum, and sensitivity to regional compliance, employment law and market‑specific adoption.
• Organized and delivery‑focused, with a track record of keeping complex, multi‑workstream initiatives on track and escalating risks early and clearly.
• The ability to translate data into clear key performance indicators (KPIs) and insight, with a commercial focus on the decisions and value the data supports.

Desirable

• Familiarity with the DAMA-DMBOK data management framework and data governance best practice.
• Experience supporting AI, analytics or digital transformation initiatives, and familiarity with AI agent concepts, automation design or agentic workflow architecture, with a strong appetite to deepen this in a live delivery environment.
• Experience with metadata management, business glossaries and data lineage, and with cataloging and governance tools such as Collibra or Microsoft Purview.
• Data architecture experience, including Snowflake and medallion architecture, and exposure to ontology, semantic layer or knowledge‑graph design.

Why CBRE

When you join CBRE, you become part of the global leader in commercial real estate services and investment that helps businesses and people thrive. We are dynamic problem solvers and forward‑thinking professionals who create significant impact. Our collaborative culture is built on our shared values — respect, integrity, service and excellence — and we value the diverse perspectives, backgrounds and skillsets of our people. At CBRE, you have the opportunity to chart your own course and realize your potential. We welcome all applicants.

Our Values in Hiring

At CBRE, we are committed to fostering a culture where everyone feels they belong. We value diverse perspectives and experiences, and we welcome all applications.

Disclaimers

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Applicant AI Use Disclosure

We value human interaction to understand each candidate's unique experience, skills and aspirations. We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make hiring decisions, and we ask that candidates disclose any use of AI in the application and interview process.

About CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2024 revenue). The company has more than 140,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves clients through four business segments: Advisory (leasing, sales, debt origination, mortgage serving, valuations); Building Operations & Experience (facilities management, property management, flex space & experience); Project Management (program management, project management, cost consulting); Real Estate Investments (investment management, development). Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.

CBRE carefully considers multiple factors to determine compensation, including a candidate’s education, training, and experience. The minimum salary for the Data Governance Manager position is $100,000 annually and the maximum salary for the Data Governance Manager position is $115,000 annually. The compensation offered to a successful candidate will depend on their skills, qualifications, and experience. This role will provide the following benefits: 401(K), Dental insurance, Health insurance, Life insurance, and Vision insurance.

Equal Employment Opportunity: CBRE is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity. We have a long-standing commitment to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, veteran status, political belief, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

Candidate Accommodations: CBRE values the differences of all current and prospective employees and recognizes how every employee contributes to our company’s success. CBRE provides reasonable accommodations in job application procedures for individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request via email at [e-mail] or via telephone at [phone] (U.S.) and [phone] (Canada).