Senior Vice President, Data Management

Eleven Recruiting; Santa Monica (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Eleven Recruiting is assisting a global investment firm client in Los Angeles, CA to hire a Senior Vice President of Data Management. The role will define and stand up the Data Management function, governance, quality, and stewardship frameworks while leading the Data Modernization initiative.

The SVP will partner with technology, risk, and investment teams to deliver scalable data capabilities across instruments, reference data, and investor data, ensuring data accuracy and robust governance

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, CS, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years in data management or governance with senior leadership experience.
• Experience building data functions from ground up in financial services.

Responsibilities

• Define mandate, operating model, and org design for a centralized Data Management team.
• Recruit, hire, and develop data stewards, analysts, and senior contributors.
• Establish governance, quality, and stewardship frameworks; own data across the firm.

Skills

Data governance

Data management

Stakeholder communication

SQL

Python

Data modeling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance/CS/Engineering/Math

MBA/MS preferred

Tools

Snowflake

Databricks

Tableau/Power BI

Aladdin/Charles River

Job description

We are a specialized technology staffing agency supporting professional and financial services companies. Why do we stand out in technology staffing? We listen and act as advisors for our candidates on how they can best add value, find interesting projects, and pave a path for career advancement. We advocate for the best pay, diversity in tech, and the best job fit for every candidate we place.

Our client, a global investment firm, is seeking a Senior Vice President of Data Management to join their team in Los Angeles, CA!

This is a foundational, build-from-scratch mandate: a centralized Data Management team does not currently exist, and the successful candidate will be responsible for defining the function, building the team, and standing up the governance, quality, and stewardship frameworks that underpin the firm's investment operations.

In parallel, this leader will serve as one of the internal owners of the firm’s Data Modernization initiative — a strategic, multi-year program currently being scoped with an external consulting partner. The SVP will partner directly with the selected consultancy to translate strategy into execution and build the in-house capability to sustain it long after the engagement concludes.

Responsibilities

Build & Lead the Data Management Function

• Define the mandate, operating model, and organizational design for a centralized Data Management team encompassing data stewardship, data governance and data quality.
• Recruit, hire, and develop the team, including stewards, analysts and senior individual contributors, across all relevant data domains.
• Establish a robust performance framework, build career pathways and cultivate a team dynamic that attracts and retains top data talent.
• Serve as the senior point of accountability for data across the firm, partnering closely with Technology, Operations, Compliance, Finance and Investment teams.

Data Stewardship & Governance

• Stand up an enterprise data governance framework covering data ownership, lineage, quality standards, issue management and audit controls.
• Implement practical, scalable data controls across the firm and contribute to ongoing improvements in governance, oversight, and data architecture.
• Define and assign data domain ownership across financial instruments, reference / security master data, transactional data, and investor / fund-level data.
• Define and enforce data quality SLAs, validation standards, and exception management processes spanning front to back office systems.
• Own the integrity of the firm’s security master across high yield bonds, leveraged loans, CLOs, structured credit, private credit, and alternative instruments.
• Partner with Compliance and Risk on regulatory data accuracy and reporting integrity.
• Serve as one of the internal owners of the firm’s Data Modernization initiative; partner with the selected external consultancy to set scope, milestones, and success metrics.
• Contribute the internal expertise and firm context needed to shape the strategic vision and inform the data modernization roadmap.
• Build the in-house data management team and capabilities required to sustain the modernized data operating model beyond the consulting engagement.
• Partner with Technology to define data requirements for, and inform the evaluation and selection of, modern data platforms, warehousing solutions, ETL/ELT tooling, and BI capabilities.
• Champion automation and AI-enabled data management to reduce manual effort, improve throughput, and elevate analytical capability.
• Manage relationships with key data vendors and providers (e.g., Bloomberg, Risk Metrics, ICE Data Services) to ensure cost-effective, high-quality supply.

Stakeholder Partnership & Executive Communication

• Represent Data Management in firm-wide strategic planning, technology investment decisions, and senior leadership forums.
• Partner with senior leadership to prioritize data initiatives that deliver measurable impact on portfolio management, risk decision-making, and investor reporting.
• Translate complex data concepts clearly for investment professionals, senior leadership, and board-level audiences.
• Build trust and alignment across a matrixed, fast-paced investment organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field; advanced degree (MBA, MS) preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in data management, data governance, or data operations, with meaningful time in a senior leadership role.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling data functions from the ground up including organizational design, hiring and culture-building.
• Experience at a hedge fund, asset manager, or financial services firm with credit / fixed income exposure strongly preferred.
• Deep understanding of credit instrument — high yield bonds, leveraged loans, CLOs, structured credit, and private credit — and their associated data complexities.
• Direct experience partnering with external consultancies on large-scale data transformation programs.
• Strong proficiency in SQL; working familiarity with Python or similar scripting languages for data analysis and quality validation.
• Working knowledge of modern data warehouse and lakehouse platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks) and ETL/ELT tooling, sufficient to partner effectively with Technology.
• Familiarity with portfolio management systems (e.g., Charles River, Aladdin) and their data integration requirements.
• Experience with BI and visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) and building enterprise-grade reporting frameworks.
• Knowledge of data governance platforms and metadata management tools (e.g., Collibra, Informatica).
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, for senior-level reporting and executive presentations.
• Exceptional executive communication and influencing skills able to translate data complexity into clear business impact for investment, finance, and board-level audiences.
• Proven leadership presence with the ability to build credibility quickly across a matrixed organization and drive alignment without direct authority.
• Strong manager and mentor who invests in the development of direct reports, fosters a high-performance culture and builds bench strength within the team.
• Strategic thinker who can zoom out to define a multi-year data vision while maintaining the operational discipline to execute against near-term milestones.
• Exceptional attention to detail and understands that data precision has direct downstream consequences on investment decisions and risk outcomes.
• Collaborative partner who builds strong cross-functional relationships across Investments, Technology, Operations, Compliance, and Finance.
• Calm and decisive under pressure; able to manage competing priorities and maintain quality standards in a demanding, fast-paced environment.
• High degree of professionalism and discretion when handling sensitive financial data, proprietary firm information, and regulatory matters.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with the drive and resilience to build from scratch, navigate ambiguity, and establish a new function within an established organization.