Director, R&D Data Governance- PHARMA

Smith Hanley Associates; Massachusetts; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Our client, a mid-size Pharma manufacturer, seeks a Director of R&D Data Governance to build and lead a new enterprise data governance function. You will define how R&D data is governed, connected, and accessed to accelerate scientific innovation.

You will own the strategy across Discovery to Clinical data, establish standards, and drive adoption among scientists, IT, and data engineers. This leadership role offers visibility and impact in a growing data organization.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in R&D Data Governance or related leadership in Pharma/Life Sciences.
• Strong understanding of governance, quality, metadata, stewardship, lineage, standards, and access management.
• Experience with complex R&D data environments across Discovery, Translational, Preclinical, Clinical, Omics.

Responsibilities

• Build the R&D Data Governance strategy and multi-year roadmap.
• Establish the governance operating model including stewardship and standards.
• Drive data quality across metadata, ontologies, lineage, and validation.
• Champion FAIR and AI-ready data principles for analytics and AI/ML.
• Enable data self-service with practical policies and access models.
• Partner with R&D, IT, Data & AI, and Engineering to implement capabilities.
• Influence stakeholders and drive adoption through training and communication.

Skills

R&D Data Governance

Data Strategy

Stakeholder management

Executive presence

AI/ML readiness

Data quality

Tools

Data catalogs

Data lakes

Access-control solutions

Job description

Title- Director, R&D Data Governance- PHARMA

Location- Greater Boston ( hybrid 3x week in office)

Salary- $210k + bonus + LTI ( some wiggle room for a SUPERSTAR!)

Our client, a Mid-Size Pharma Manufacturer, is seeking a "Director, R&D Data Governance" Professional! This is a unique opportunity to build something from the ground up. As the1st R&D-focused leader within a newly established Enterprise Data Management organization, you will help define how R&D data is governed, connected, accessed, and ultimately used to accelerate scientific innovation.

What You’ll Own

• Build the R&D Data Governance strategy and multi-year roadmap across Discovery, Preclinical, Translational, Biomarker, and Clinical data.
• Establish the governance operating model, including stewardship, decision rights, standards, processes, metrics, and accountability.
• Drive data quality and standards across metadata, ontologies, controlled vocabularies, lineage, validation, and data management.
• Champion FAIR and AI-ready data principles, ensuring R&D data can support advanced analytics, AI/ML, and emerging technologies.
• Enable data self-service by developing practical policies, workflows, and access models that allow scientists and analysts to find and confidently use trusted data.
• Partner with R&D, IT, Data & AI, and Engineering to identify critical data needs and implement scalable governance and data-management capabilities.
• Influence without authority, serving as the key connector between scientific stakeholders and enterprise data/technology teams.
• Drive adoption and change through data literacy, training, communication, and embedding governance into everyday R&D workflows.

What You Bring

• Proven experience in R&D Data Governance, Data Management, Data Strategy, or a related data leadership role within Pharma, Biotech, or Life Sciences.
• Strong understanding of data governance, quality, metadata, stewardship, lineage, standards, and access management.
• Experience working with complex R&D data environments across areas such as Discovery, Translational, Preclinical, Clinical, Omics, Biomarkers, or Imaging.
• Ability to partner effectively with scientists, IT, data engineers, analytics teams, and senior business leaders.
• Experience with enterprise data-management technologies such as data catalogs, data lakes, data platforms, and access-control solutions.
• Understanding of FAIR data principles and the requirements for AI/ML-ready data.
• Strong executive presence, communication, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills.
• A builder's mindset—someone who enjoys creating structure, solving complex problems, and turning strategy into action.

Why This Opportunity?

You won’t be inheriting an established governance program—you’ll have the opportunity to help build it.

This is a highly visible Director-level role where your work will directly influence how R&D discovers, manages, shares, and leverages data to drive better scientific decisions.

If you’re passionate about data, energized by innovation, and excited by the opportunity to build an R&D data governance function from the ground up, this could be the role you’ve been waiting for.