Water Data Steward & Standards Lead

HDR; Madison (WI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

HDR is seeking a data governance and stewardship leader embedded in the Water Business Group to shape how data is defined, shared, and used across projects and service lines. This role emphasizes enablement, collaboration, and leadership within HDR’s employee‑owned culture.

You will coordinate SME networks, develop data definitions, and promote responsible data use while partnering with the Technology Director to align workflows and data initiatives with Water BG strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in architecture, engineering, data science, business, computer science, or related discipline or equivalent related experience.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in the Water engineering industry.
• Experience leading diverse teams and working with leaders, operations managers and marketing managers.
• Committed to HDR values and participation in HDR’s employee‑owned culture.

Responsibilities

• Establish and coordinate a network of SME expertise across the Water Business Group to define technical standards and align with Water data practices.
• Develop and maintain business‑aligned data definitions supporting structured data models, reporting, automation, and AI use cases.
• Use your technical network to build alignment and consensus around data processes, priority, and expected use.
• Promote consistent, responsible use of technical data including access, quality, format, and reuse.
• Support governance of externally sourced datasets including access, approvals, inventory, storage, and lifecycle.
• Promote data fluency across the Water Business Group.
• Coordinate with the Technology Director to align data workflows and initiatives to Water BG Strategy.
• Lead change management efforts to drive adoption of data standards, practices, and tools across the Water BG.
• Regularly communicate with Data Stewards, Enterprise Data Science Teams, and Enterprise Data Operations staff.
• Ensure new tools identified for implementation within the Water BG align to data strategy.

Skills

Leadership

Data governance

Data stewardship

Change management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Job description

HDR is seeking a data governance and stewardship leader embedded in the Water Business Group to shape how data is defined, shared, and used across projects and service lines. This role emphasizes enablement, collaboration, and leadership within HDR’s employee‑owned culture.

You will coordinate SME networks, develop data definitions, and promote responsible data use while partnering with the Technology Director to align workflows and data initiatives with Water BG strategy.