Data Protection & Data Risk Management Lead

Apollo Solutions; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Apollo Solutions is seeking a strategic leader for Data Protection and Risk Management initiatives in New York. The role involves designing and executing strategies to mitigate data risk and advance data governance.

You will lead a team focused on deploying capabilities like PII/PHI discovery and data masking, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Ideal candidates have 15+ years of IT experience and a solid understanding of data protection frameworks.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of overall IT/data experience, with at least 10 years in data protection or risk management.
• Deep understanding of data protection frameworks and risk measurement.
• Proven track record of translating business requirements into governance policies.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the data protection and risk mitigation roadmap.
• Oversee data protection workflows and security platforms.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to align on security goals.

Skills

Data protection deployment

Data masking

Tokenization tools

SQL

Data modeling

Data analysis

Agile product ownership

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Atlan

Databricks

Anomalo

Job description

We are seeking a strategic and technical leader to spearhead our enterprise Data Protection and Data Risk Management initiatives. In this pivotal role, you will design, develop, and execute a comprehensive strategy to mitigate data risk and advance our data governance maturity.

Leading a dedicated team of data governance analysts and engineers, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional partners - including product management, technology, business data owners, security, risk, and legal teams. Your mission will be to deploy robust capabilities such as PII/PHI discovery, tokenization, data masking, and continuous risk monitoring utilizing modern data stack and DSPM platforms.

The primary objective of this role is to ensure unwavering compliance with regulatory standards while actively minimizing the organization's data risk footprint.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy & Leadership: Define and execute the overarching data protection and risk mitigation roadmap across the organization.
• Platform & Process Design: Oversee the implementation and optimization of data protection workflows, scanning tools, and security platforms.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with data stewards, business units, risk, compliance, and engineering teams to align on data security goals and drive tool adoption.
• Risk Framework Development: Establish an enterprise-wide framework to measure, monitor, and report on data risk, ensuring vulnerabilities are systematically mitigated.
• Enablement & Culture: Champion data security awareness by hosting training sessions, workshops, user onboarding, and internal promotional events.
• Agile Product Ownership: Act as the Product Owner for the data protection team, managing the product backlog, prioritizing deliverables, and integrating stakeholder feedback within an Agile framework.

Qualifications & Experience

• Professional Experience: 15+ years of overall IT/data experience, with at least 10 years dedicated to data protection, privacy, or risk management functions.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline.
• Domain Expertise: Deep understanding of data protection frameworks, metadata management, automated tagging, and risk measurement.
• Business Acumen: Proven track record of translating complex business and regulatory requirements into actionable governance policies and standards.
• Product Management: Strong product ownership skills with a focus on user engagement and driving internal adoption of technical tools.
• Technical Fundamentals: Solid understanding of SQL, data modeling, and data analysis.
• Communication: Exceptional collaborative and communication skills, with the ability to bridge the gap between technical teams and business executives.

Required Skills

• Hands-on experience deploying data protection, data masking, and tokenization tools.
• Familiarity with enterprise data catalogs, data quality management, and data observability platforms (e.g., Atlan, Databricks, Anomalo, or equivalent).
• Experience implementing PII/PHI scanning, data discovery, and remediation workflows.
• Experience operating as a Product Owner in an Agile environment using tools like Jira and Confluence.

Preferred Skills

• Prior experience leading Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) initiatives.
• Hands-on exposure to cloud architecture, specifically the AWS stack.
• Experience leveraging AI-driven accelerators for automated metadata management and data protection.
• Background supporting large-scale cloud migrations, data modernization, or enterprise data warehousing projects.