Data Steward

mrisoftware; Johannesburg; Hybrid; ZAR 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

MRI Software's Data Division is seeking a Data Steward to build and govern the data program, ensuring integrity, quality, and compliance across MRI's data assets. You will educate teams and stakeholders on data capabilities and align expectations with organizational standards.

Collaborating with product, engineering, legal and data science, you will drive data governance in a start-up within MRI, shaping direction and enabling data-driven decisions.

Qualifications

• Experience in data stewardship, governance, or data operations.
• Ability to define data scope and steward data end-to-end.
• Knowledge of data privacy laws (GDPR/CCPA) and data contracts.
• Knowledge of metadata management, data cataloguing, and data quality practices.

Responsibilities

• Partner with stakeholders to source high-value data.
• Develop value-added use cases and actionable specs.
• Ensure safe, compliant data ingestion with regulatory standards.
• Maintain governance criteria: accuracy, lineage, and usage.
• Manage data catalogue and dictionary; promote discoverability.
• Educate stakeholders on data capabilities and limitations.

Skills

Data governance

Stakeholder mgmt

Data quality

Analytical skills

Autonomous work

Tools

Snowflake

Databricks

Azure

Job description

MRI Software's Data Division is instrumental in enabling data-driven decision making across our organization and clients through rigorous data governance practices, quality frameworks, and stewardship standards.

MRI Software is seeking a Data Steward to develop the data program with a focus on data management and governance. In this role, you will serve as the organization's foremost expert on MRI's data assets, responsible for educating internal teams and external stakeholders on data capabilities, aligning expectations, and ensuring our data meets organizational standards while maintaining the highest levels of integrity and professionalism.

This is a role with meaningful impact: you'll collaborate with business stakeholders across the organization, forge partnerships with product, engineering, legal, and data science teams, and help align MRI's data strategy with industry best practices and regulatory requirements. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced environment, demonstrates strong analytical skills, and possesses an unwavering commitment to data excellence and continuous improvement.

The role is in a start-up project within an established organization. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating in such a new environment and be willing to be resourceful, curious and play an active role in shaping the direction of the project.

We understand the need to provide a flexible working environment partnered with team collaboration and socialisation. Therefore, we operate a hybrid working model with 3 days of working from home per week.

This role is based in the Johannesburg or Cape Town office.

Key Responsibilities

Data Sourcing & Onboarding

• Partner with internal stakeholders and application product teams to identify, assess, and source high-value data
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop value-added use cases and build specifications to make them actionable
• Facilitate the safe and responsible ingestion of data, ensuring compliance with legal, regulatory, and ethical standards, including data sovereignty, contractual obligations, and customer terms

Governance, Compliance & Standards

• Ensure all sourced data meets governance criteria for accuracy, completeness, lineage, and permissible use
• Maintain evidence of compliance for audit and legal purposes; work with legal and data privacy teams to apply governance requirements
• Develop and maintain standardized policies, procedures, and governance frameworks to ensure consistency and repeatability in data management practices across the organization

Data Catalogue & Knowledge Management

• Curate and manage the organization's data catalogue and data dictionary, ensuring definitions and metadata are accessible and shareable with stakeholders
• Classify and tag data using standard taxonomies and business definitions; promote data discoverability and reuse across internal teams
• Serve as the primary subject matter expert on MRI's data assets, educating stakeholders and aligning expectations on data capabilities and limitations
• Respond to data requests and sample validation inquiries within 1 business day, ensuring correct sourcing, compliance, and data quality
• Locate, extract, and analyze data in line with consumer requests; troubleshoot data quality issues and coordinate resolution with producers and engineering teams.

Stakeholder Engagement & Enablement

• Champion responsible data use and cultivate strong relationships across technology, legal, product, and data science teams.
• Advise and consult with stakeholders on data-related decisions, providing guidance on what should and should not be implemented from a data integrity and governance perspective.
• Support internal teams with data quality insights, use case development, and data-related inquiries.
• Identify and implement AI-powered tools and automation opportunities to streamline data stewardship processes and enhance scalability.
• Contribute to best practices and playbooks for data onboarding and stewardship.

Key Capabilities & Experience

• Experience in data stewardship, data governance, or data operations roles, ideally in a technology organization.
• Proven ability to clearly define data scope and requirements, analyze, and steward data from complex application environments through ingestion in destination.
• Understanding of data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), data contracts, and data usage governance.
• Strong knowledge of metadata management, data cataloguing tools, and data quality practices.
• Working knowledge of data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, Azure, or equivalent).
• Excellent relationship and stakeholder management skills - especially with product managers, legal teams, and engineering.
• Ability to work autonomously, manage priorities, and deliver outcomes in a fast-paced environment.
• Familiarity with AI and automation tools that enhance data management efficiency and scalability.
• Experience advising product and engineering teams on data-related decisions and best p