Sr Director, AI Data Governance & Strategy

Palo Alto Networks; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 241,000 - 344,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Performance bonuses

Restricted stock units

Flexible work model when needed

Job summary

A leading cybersecurity firm is seeking a Senior Director for Data Governance to drive strategy and implementation of governance practices. The ideal candidate will have over 12 years of experience in enterprise SaaS, focusing on data integrity and technical execution. Responsibilities include leading councils, defining technical roadmaps, and ensuring that data policies are implemented across domains. This role calls for deep technical fluency, strong leadership skills, and a track record of driving product adoption.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in enterprise SaaS leadership roles managing data initiatives.
• Proven record in establishing enterprise data governance programs.
• Deep understanding of data architecture and lineage.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy and execution of enterprise governance program.
• Chair Data Governance Councils and ensure policy implementation.
• Drive AI product adoption and governance across the organization.

Skills

Leadership in data governance

Collaboration across functions

Technical fluency in data management

Proven ability to drive product adoption

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical field

Advanced Degree (MBA or MS) preferred

Tools

Data Architecture

Metadata Management

Job description

Overview

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life. Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes.

We are looking for a Senior Director to serve as the enterprise authority on Data Governance at Palo Alto Networks. You will own the strategy and execution of a scaled program, serving as the primary arbiter of data integrity to ensure our ecosystem is authoritative, auditable, and prepared for the unique demands of AI. You will also lead programs to drive adoption of Enterprise AI products and services.

Your Career

This role is for a program owner with a technical spine who can bridge the gap between business policy and technical execution. You will lead a framework covering both Business Governance (policy, stewardship, traceability) and Technical Governance (quality, lineage, observability), balancing high-level business acumen with deep technical fluency.

Beyond traditional oversight, you will lead AI Governance while leveraging AI itself to automate and modernize the program. You will partner with engineering to define what to build, ensuring our governance platform and AI products are effectively adopted. We seek a leader with a proven track record in enterprise SaaS who has the authority to break ties, hold cross-functional teams accountable, and drive complex AI initiatives to successful outcomes.

Your Impact

Enterprise Governance Program Ownership: Lead the strategy and end-to-end execution of a scaled, dual-track program. You will own Business Governance (stewardship, policy, and metadata traceability) and Technical Governance (data quality, lineage, and observability), ensuring the enterprise data ecosystem is authoritative and auditable.

Governance Rituals & Councils: Establish and lead the operational rhythm of governance across the company. You will chair Data Governance Councils and Stewardship Committees, fostering a culture of shared accountability and ensuring that data policies are effectively implemented across all business domains.

Defining the Technical Roadmap: Partner deeply with IT Engineering and Product teams to define what is built for governance. Using your technical chops and understanding of business needs, you will drive the technical roadmap to ensure our governance platform provides the infrastructure required for both compliance and AI enablement.

Executive Transparency & Communication: Serve as a trusted advisor to Senior Leadership, providing clear, data-backed reporting on the health, progress, and risks of the enterprise data ecosystem. You will translate complex technical governance issues into business impact, ensuring executive alignment and securing the necessary support for strategic data initiatives.

AI Modernization & Scale: Leverage AI to modernize and scale the governance program itself. You will implement AI-driven automation for metadata tagging, data quality monitoring, and policy enforcement, moving the program from manual stewardship to a scalable, automated platform.

AI Product Adoption & Governance: Drive the transition of high-potential AI products from early pilots into full-scale deployment.

Qualifications

Your Experience

• Enterprise Governance Leadership: 12+ years of experience leading complex data and governance initiatives within a large-scale enterprise SaaS environment. You have a proven track record of navigating the unique data complexities of a multi-billion dollar software business.
• Scaled Governance Mastery: Demonstrated experience designing and running an Enterprise Data Governance program. You have successfully led governance rituals, including Data Councils and Stewardship Committees, and have a history of establishing "Systems of Truth" across conflicting business domains.
• Technical Data Spine: Deep fluency in Data Architecture, Lineage, and Metadata Management. You understand the "physics of data" well enough to define technical requirements for engineering teams and can hold your own in debates regarding SOR, SSOT architecture, data contracts, and observability.
• Cross-Functional Authority: Proven ability to break ties and hold teams accountable. You have successfully reconciled high-stakes logic conflicts between Finance, GTM, and Engineering and can communicate these outcomes effectively to the C-suite.
• Product Adoption: Experience driving the enterprise-wide adoption of AI or Data products. You know how to move beyond a "POC" to ensure a product is operationally sound and delivers measurable value to business users.
• AI Sophistication: Strong familiarity with the AI/ML lifecycle and the governance needs of Generative AI. Examples: governance of unstructured data provenance for RAG pipelines, monitor performance with evals and have a vision for managing agent registries and model transparency.
• Modernization Mindset: A track record of using AI and automation to modernize governance. You have moved programs away from manual, spreadsheet-based stewardship toward automated, self-healing platforms.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a technical field; Advanced Degree (MBA or MS) is highly preferred.
• Location: Must be local to SF bay area.

Additional Information

The Team

Our shared mission to safeguard our digital way of life unites and drives us. You will join a multinational team building data and data science solutions to unlock significant business potential and boost productivity by resolving complex data problems. This involves developing innovative algorithms, predictive models, conducting advanced statistical analysis, and engineering scalable data pipelines. Your work will ultimately lead to data products and actionable insights that empower decision-making across the organization. You will be at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge technologies and methodologies.

We believe in using AI to amplify, not replace, human intellect. We expect you to champion this mindset. You and your team will leverage the best tools available—from generative AI for code and analysis to agentic data science frameworks—to accelerate your impact.

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $241,000 - $344,500/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

Our Commitment

We’re problem solvers that take risks and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at [e-mail].

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.