Enterprise Data & AI Governance Architect

Kapitus, Inc.; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 118,000 - 189,000; Full time

Job summary

Kapitus, based in Arlington, VA, seeks a Principal Data & AI Governance Architect to lead enterprise Data Governance and the initial Model & AI Governance capability. You will translate governance policy into practical controls across data, analytics, ML, GenAI, and third-party AI services.

This hands-on, player-architect role partners with Risk, Compliance, Legal, IT, and Product to deliver scalable governance and auditable controls in a fast-growing fintech environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in Data Governance, Data Management, or related data disciplines.
• Experience building federated stewardship programs, policies, and governance forums.
• Strong knowledge of glossary design, metadata, data cataloging, lineage, and data quality.
• Working knowledge of model and AI lifecycle governance and risk practices.
• Direct experience in financial-services environments is preferred.
• Fluency with modern data platforms and AI patterns (Snowflake, dbt, ML, GenAI).
• Excellent communication to turn governance into practical controls.
• Bachelor’s degree; Master’s preferred; certifications valued but not required.

Responsibilities

• Architect and operationalize Kapitus’s enterprise Data Governance framework.
• Design and activate a federated governance model for data owners and stewards.
• Codify standards, workflows, and evidence to reduce external consulting needs.
• Establish governance for critical data assets including metadata and lineage.
• Define Data Quality framework, rules, monitoring, and remediation practices.
• Partner with Data Eng, Analytics Eng, BI, Product to embed governance in data products.
• Serve as product owner for Atlan and related governance capabilities.
• Establish risk-based Model & AI Governance for ML, GenAI, and third-party services.
• Define lifecycle, evidence, monitoring, and audit trails for model/AI usage.
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Security to align governance with enterprise risk.

Skills

Data governance

Federated governance

AI governance

Model governance

Risk management

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Enterprise architecture

Regulatory knowledge

Data quality

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field

Master’s degree preferred

CDMP or IAPP AIGP certification

NIST AI RMF or ISO/IEC 42001 training

Tools

Snowflake

dbt

Tableau

Power BI

Sigma

Metadata/catalog platforms

Data lineage

Atlan

Job description

Kapitus, based in Arlington, VA, seeks a Principal Data & AI Governance Architect to lead enterprise Data Governance and the initial Model & AI Governance capability. You will translate governance policy into practical controls across data, analytics, ML, GenAI, and third-party AI services.

This hands-on, player-architect role partners with Risk, Compliance, Legal, IT, and Product to deliver scalable governance and auditable controls in a fast-growing fintech environment.