Data Governance / Data Lineage Lead

Job Title: Data Governance / Data Lineage Lead
Location: Phoenix, AZ  ONSITE

Non lead will also work

Experience: 5–8 Years

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Data Governance Lead with strong expertise in Data Lineage, Metadata Management, and Data Catalog solutions to drive enterprise-wide data governance initiatives.

The candidate will be responsible for establishing and maintaining end-to-end data lineage, ensuring transparency and traceability of critical data assets across source systems, data platforms, analytical environments, and reporting layers.

The role requires close collaboration with technology teams, data engineers, business stakeholders, and governance teams to define metadata standards, improve data traceability, and drive enterprise adoption of data governance practices. The candidate will also support analytics, reporting, AI initiatives, and regulatory compliance requirements through effective data management and governance frameworks.

Key Responsibilities

1. Data Lineage & Traceability

• Develop, implement, and maintain end-to-end data lineage across source systems, data warehouses, data platforms, analytics environments, and reporting layers.
• Establish data lineage frameworks to ensure complete visibility and traceability of critical data elements.
• Collaborate with data engineering and technology teams to automate data lineage capture, mapping, and visualization.
• Identify critical data elements (CDEs) and define lineage requirements across key business domains.
• Ensure transparency of data flows, transformations, dependencies, and usage across the enterprise.
• Support audit, regulatory, risk management, and compliance requirements through effective data traceability.

2. Metadata Management

• Lead the implementation and adoption of enterprise-wide metadata management capabilities.
• Define and maintain business, technical, and operational metadata standards.
• Establish metadata governance processes covering ownership, stewardship, classification, and lifecycle management.
• Ensure metadata accuracy, consistency, completeness, and alignment with business processes.
• Collaborate with business and technology stakeholders to identify and document metadata requirements.
• Drive metadata quality and continuous improvement initiatives.

3. Data Catalog Management

• Drive the implementation, onboarding, and adoption of enterprise Data Catalog solutions.
• Ensure critical data assets are properly documented, classified, and maintained within the data catalog.
• Establish processes for data asset discovery, metadata enrichment, ownership, and stewardship.
• Improve data discoverability and accessibility for business users, analysts, and data teams.
• Promote enterprise-wide adoption of data catalog and metadata management practices.

4. Stakeholder Management & Governance

• Engage with business stakeholders, data owners, data stewards, architects, and engineering teams.
• Facilitate cross-functional discussions to define data governance requirements and priorities.
• Drive awareness and adoption of data lineage and metadata management practices across the organization.
• Define governance policies, standards, and operating procedures.
• Monitor governance implementation and identify opportunities for process improvements.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5–8 years of experience in Data Governance, Data Management, Metadata Management, or Data Lineage.
• Strong hands-on experience in Data Lineage, Metadata Management, and Data Catalog.
• Proven experience establishing and maintaining end-to-end data lineage across enterprise data environments.
• Good understanding of business, technical, and operational metadata.
• Experience implementing or managing enterprise Data Catalog solutions.
• Understanding of data governance frameworks, data stewardship, data ownership, and critical data elements (CDEs).
• Knowledge of data architecture, data flows, ETL/ELT processes, data warehouses, and analytical platforms.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, including business stakeholders, data architects, and engineering teams.
• Ability to translate business requirements into data governance and lineage solutions.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and documentation skills.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with data catalog and governance tools such as Collibra, Alation, Informatica Axon, Informatica EDC, Microsoft Purview, or similar platforms.
• Understanding of automated data lineage capture and visualization.
• Exposure to cloud data platforms and modern data architecture.
• Knowledge of data quality, data classification, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Familiarity with governance requirements for analytics, reporting, and AI/ML data assets.

Key Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication.
• Ability to drive cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong documentation and process management capabilities.
• Ability to lead enterprise-wide data governance initiatives and drive adoption.

Ideal Candidate: A Data Governance professional with 5–8 years of experience and strong expertise in Data Lineage, Metadata Management, and Data Catalog implementation, who can bridge the gap between business and technology teams and drive enterprise-wide data governance adoption.