Overview
The Senior Data Governance Officer is responsible for developing, implementing, and enforcing organizational data governance frameworks, policies, and standards to ensure secure, ethical, and compliant data management. This role acts as the primary steward of the IFRC's data governance program, translating strategic objectives into practical policies and procedures.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and implement comprehensive organizational data governance framework, including policies, standards and compliance requirements.
- Develop governance roadmaps outlining phased implementation of policies, standards, and controls.
- Establish governance scope, identifying critical data assets, stakeholder roles, and organizational priorities.
- Create and maintain governance policies covering data classification, ownership, stewardship, quality, security, access, and lifecycle management.
- Develop classification standards and guidance for categorizing data based on sensitivity, criticality, and relevant requirements.
- Design and implement sensitivity labeling strategies using Microsoft Information Protection and related tools.
- Support the Data Protection Office with implementation of IFRC’s Policy on the Protection of Personal Data.
- Support Data Protection Officer (DPO) with governance policy input, and compliance documentation.
- Support Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) processes for new data initiatives.
- Draft incident response and data breach protocols in coordination with the DPO and CISO.
- Establish, assign and document organizational data governance structure with clear role definitions.
- Support in the development of organizational approach to distribute Data, Analytics and AI capabilities and roles.
- Provide steward training and onboarding covering governance policies, data quality management, compliance, and communication expectations.
- Establish governance committees and forums to facilitate coordination and decision-making.
- Monitor role performance and accountability, providing coaching and support.
- Define organizational data quality standards and dimensions.
- Establish and automate data quality metrics, rules and validation checks.
- Develop data quality assessment and monitoring protocols.
- Establish data quality governance processes including issue identification, escalation, resolution, and continuous improvement.
- Monitor data quality metrics, reporting on trends and issues.
- Oversee the development and maintenance of enterprise data asset inventory.
- Establish standards for data asset documentation including business definitions, data lineage, and usage guidance.
- Implement and maintain Microsoft Purview data catalog systems.
- Coordinate cataloging activities across the organization.
- Monitor catalog usage and provide training.
- Develop guidelines for secure information sharing with internal teams, partners, vendors, and external stakeholders.
- Build and maintain tools and automation to monitor and audit access patterns.
- Support implementation of technical security and privacy controls including access controls, encryption, pseudonymization, anonymization, and masking.
- Coordinate with cybersecurity teams on access controls in Microsoft Fabric and related platforms.
- Create and implement data governance policies addressing data collection, processing, storage, access, sharing, retention, and deletion.
- Develop policies specific to sensitive data categories with appropriate safeguards.
- Monitor policy compliance, investigating deviations and implementing corrective actions.
- Maintain policy library and version control.
- Develop stakeholder communication strategy for data governance initiatives.
- Deliver data governance training to staff, data stewards, and leadership.
- Provide guidance to business units and technical teams on governance policy interpretation and application.
- Configure governance settings in Microsoft Purview, including domains, roles, and permissions.
- Establish data catalog taxonomies and governance domain structures.
- Define and enforce data quality policies within Microsoft Fabric and other data systems.
- Develop automated collection of data lineage and utilize data lineage for impact analysis.
- Ensure sensitivity labels are applied consistently across Fabric workspaces, Power BI, and other data systems.
- Manage governance workflows including data product registration and access request approvals.
Required Experience
- 5+ years of professional experience developing and implementing data governance frameworks, policies, or standards in enterprise environments
- Experience establishing data governance in organizations with complex data environments or regulatory requirements
- Experience working in at least one regulated industry sector (healthcare, finance, international development), humanitarian organizations preferred
- Experience with diverse stakeholder management including executives, technical teams, and business units
- Familiarity with data classification, sensitivity labeling, and access control concepts
- Knowledge of data quality dimensions, metrics, and assessment approaches
- Familiarity with Microsoft Purview, data catalog, and governance tooling
Qualifications
- Required: Degree in computer science, software engineering, data science, statistics, mathematics, or related field
- Preferred: Certifications in data governance and data stewardship, Project Management Professional (PMP) or similar credentials, Microsoft certifications related to data governance, compliance and Purview
