Data Governance Lead

As a Data Governance Lead, responsible for establishing, implementing, and maturing the data governance framework for an insurance client. This role ensures that data is accurate, secure, compliant, and strategically leveraged across underwriting, claims, actuarial, finance, and customer operations. The ideal candidate combines deep insurance domain knowledge with strong data management expertise and leadership skills.

Role & Responsibilities Overview:

• Data Governance Strategy & Framework

• Develop and implement an enterprise-wide data governance strategy aligned with insurance regulatory and business needs.
• Define data governance policies, standards, and procedures covering data quality, metadata, lineage, access, and retention.
• Establish and lead Data Governance Councils, Data Stewardship forums, and cross-functional working groups.

• Data Quality & Controls

• Define data quality rules, KPIs, and monitoring processes for critical insurance datasets (policy, claims, customer, billing, actuarial).
• Partner with business and IT teams to identify data issues, root causes, and remediation plans.
• Implement data controls to support regulatory compliance (e.g., NAIC, state-level regulations, GDPR/CCPA where applicable).

• Metadata & Master Data Management

• Oversee metadata management practices, ensuring consistent definitions for key insurance data elements.
• Collaborate with MDM teams to maintain golden records for customer, agent, policy, and product data.
• Ensure alignment between business glossaries, data dictionaries, and technical metadata repositories.

• Regulatory & Compliance

• Ensure data governance practices support compliance with insurance regulations, privacy laws, and internal audit requirements.
• Work closely with Legal, Compliance, and Risk teams to maintain proper data handling and retention practices.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership

• Act as the primary liaison between business units, IT, data engineering, and analytics teams.
• Drive cultural adoption of data governance through training, communication, and change management.
• Provide leadership and guidance to data stewards and governance analysts.

• Technology & Tools

• Partner with IT to implement data governance tools (Purview).
• Support integration of governance capabilities into data platforms, data lakes, and cloud environments (AWS/Azure).

Candidate Profile:

• Bachelors degree in Information Management, Computer Science, Actuarial Science, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in data governance, data management, or data strategy roles.
• Strong understanding of insurance industry processes (underwriting, claims, actuarial, policy admin, regulatory reporting).
• Experience implementing data governance frameworks in complex enterprise environments.
• Hands-on experience with data governance tools and data quality platforms.
• Strong knowledge of data privacy and regulatory requirements in the insurance sector.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.
• Experience working with cloud-based data platforms.
• Familiarity with modern data architectures (data mesh, data fabric).
• Prior experience leading data governance initiatives in a P&C or Life insurance company, is a plus