Data Governance Program Lead

STAFFWORXS; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Staffworxs is seeking a DG Program Lead to run the Data Governance Office operations, coordinating domain onboarding, policy workflows, and Alation governance configuration. You will bridge governance best practices with hands‑on process management across data domains and stakeholders.

The role combines program management, governance expertise, and internal consulting, driving a 24‑month roadmap while delivering repeatable onboarding playbooks and strong executive communications.

Qualifications

• CDMP and DAMA DMBOK2 proficiency required; enterprise governance experience.
• 7+ years in data management, governance, or enterprise programs.
• Hands-on with data catalogs (Alation preferred; Collibra/Informatica acceptable).
• Experience running governance programs across multiple domains.
• Strong written communication for policies, governance playbooks, and briefs.
• Workshop facilitation with business and technical stakeholders; DQ workshop experience.

Responsibilities

• Own the program plan: maintain Jira board, track milestones against a 24‑month roadmap.
• Prepare monthly Council scorecard, draft narrative, identify escalations, present.
• Coordinate monthly DG Council: agenda, pre-reads, domain escalations, actions.
• Own the program communications calendar: kickoff, domain workshops, onboarding.
• Lead Data domain pilot end-to-end: owner designation, onboarding, Alation orientation.
• Build onboarding playbooks from pilots for scalable future domains.
• Drive Data Owner designation across domains; manage forms in Jira; track 30‑day commitments.
• Onboard Data Stewards to Alation; run orientation; track 6‑week curation ramp.
• Manage data issue intake: own P1/P2/P3 queues; ensure SLA adherence; escalations.

Skills

CDMP

DMBOK2

Alation

Jira

Data Governance

Stakeholder Facilitation

Data Quality

Education

CDMP Certification

Tools

Alation

Jira

Databricks Unity Catalog

Job description

At Staffworxs, we don't just connect talent — we power transformation. Headquartered in Frisco, TX, with teams in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, we combine global reach with deep expertise. Our Digital & Data Analytics practice drives growth and innovation for some of the world's top Client brands, who continue to retain us as their trusted partner. If you're ready to make an impact, you're in the right place.

JOB DETAILS:

Job Title: Data Governance Program Lead

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Position Summary

The DG Program Lead is the operational engine of the Data Governance Office (DGO). DG Program Lead runs the day-to-day machinery: domain onboarding, policy workflow, Council pack preparation, Alation governance configuration, and the Data Owner engagement process across all data domains. This is a high-output individual contributor and team lead role, equal parts program manager, governance practitioner, and internal consultant.

Program Operations

• Own the program plan: maintain the Jira project board, track milestones against the 24-month roadmap, flag risks and blockers to the DGO Lead weekly.
• Prepare the monthly Council scorecard pack: pull the KPI metrics, draft the narrative, identify escalations, and present the supporting slide. DGO Lead presents, DG Program Lead owns the content.
• Coordinate the monthly DG Council: agenda, pre-reads, domain escalations, policy review items, and action tracking.
• Own the program communications calendar: all-hands kickoff, domain workshop scheduling, steward onboarding, literacy curriculum assignment.

Domain Onboarding & Governance Activation

• Lead the Data domain pilot end-to-end: Data Owner designation, Steward onboarding, Alation orientation, domain workshop delivery (co-facilitated with Literacy Academy), DQ dimension workshop with the DQ Engineer.
• Build the domain onboarding playbook from the pilot, the repeatable template used for all other remaining domains in phases.
• Drive Data Owner designation across all data domains: coordinate with each domain product owner, manage the designation form process in Jira, track completion against the 30-day Council commitment.
• Onboard Data Stewards to Alation: coordinate Alation Academy enrollment, run the Steward orientation session, track the 6-week curation ramp for each new Steward.
• Manage the data issue intake process: own the P1/P2/P3 Jira queue, ensure SLA adherence is tracked for program KPI, maintain and follow escalation process.

Policy & Standards

• Draft all program domains data policies for DGO Lead review and Council approval, starting with the key foundational policies.
• Maintain the policy register: version control, review schedule, annual renewal coordination.
• Own the data classification policy: work with InfoSec to ensure Alation sensitivity tags align to the Unity Catalog RBAC tiers.
• Author the domain governance playbooks: per-domain documentation of Data Owner, Steward, DPO, DQ thresholds, glossary scope, and AI data governance checklist process.

Alation Governance Layer

• Work with the Alation Catalog Engineer to configure the governance workflow in Alation: approval chains, steward assignment, policy publication, DQ Certificate issuance process.
• Own the business glossary governance: term proposal workflow, approval routing, publication standards.
• Monitor Alation catalog coverage monthly: track program KPI (catalog coverage %) across all domains, identify gaps, and assign remediation to the relevant Steward or DPO.
• Coordinate AI data governance in Alation: ensure model cards are registered, lineage is documented from source to model input, and the AI data governance checklist is completed for each active AI use case.

Qualifications

Required

• CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional) required at hire or firm commitment to certify within 12 months. DAMA DMBOK2 proficiency is the practitioner foundation for this role.
• 7+ years in data management, data governance, or enterprise program management.
• Hands-on experience with an enterprise data catalogue (Alation strongly preferred; Collibra, Informatica Axon, or Atlan acceptable).
• Demonstrated experience running a governance program across multiple business domains, not just one department.
• Strong written communication skills with the ability to write data policies, governance playbooks, and executive briefing materials that are clear, precise, and stakeholder appropriate.
• Experience facilitating workshops with business and technical stakeholders and running a DQ dimension workshop with a domain VP and a team of engineers in the same room.

Preferred

• Health plan or healthcare payer experience, including HEDIS, Stars, Medicare Advantage, and HIPAA.
• Experience with Jira for governance workflow management, not just engineering sprint tracking.
• Familiarity with Great Expectations or equivalent Data Quality framework.
• Experience with Databricks Unity Catalog or equivalent data access governance layer.
• Systematic Thinker : Able to see the full data domain program and still execute the day-to-day pilot detail simultaneously.
• Clear Writer : Governance only works if the policies and playbooks are understood. This person writes so non-data people get it.
• Follows Through : The single biggest failure mode in governance programs is well-designed commitments that nobody tracks. This role exists to prevent that.
• Comfortable with Ambiguity : This program is new. The DG Program Lead regularly encounters situations the playbook doesn't yet cover.
• Prior experience with Alation
• Strong expertise in Data Governance
• Experience working across multiple business domains and governance stakeholders
• Ability to work from the client office in Eagan, MN at least 3 days per week

Staffworxs is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all employees, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.