Senior Data Governance Analyst

Job Title: Senior Data Governance Analyst

Job Location: Richmond, VA

Job Type: Contract

Pay Range: $50.00hr - $55.00hr

Job Overview:

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Data Governance Analyst to support the implementation and continuous improvement of enterprise data governance through the effective integration of people, processes, and technology. The position will collaborate with data owners, data stewards, and enterprise partners to translate governance policies, standards, and decisions into repeatable, sustainable, and measurable business processes that embed data governance into operations and technology delivery. The candidate is a skilled business analyst and facilitator with a strong understanding of data governance principles who can analyze complex business and data management challenges, interpret policies, elicit requirements, facilitate cross-functional decisions, and translate governance needs into practical solutions. The role emphasizes governance by design, business process improvement, stakeholder collaboration, operational accountability, and organizational adoption rather than hands-on technical development.

Key Responsibilities Data Governance Business Analysis and Process Improvement:

• Analyze business processes and data management practices to identify governance gaps, risks, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities.
• Facilitate requirements elicitation, root cause analysis, and current-state and future-state process design for governance-related initiatives.
• Translate governance policies, standards, business needs, and decisions into actionable business requirements, workflows, procedures, and operational controls.
• Develop process maps, business requirements, SOPs, RACI matrices, and performance measures to support governance implementation and accountability.
• Support process implementation, automation, adoption, and continuous improvement to establish sustainable governance practices.

Governance Facilitation and Enterprise Collaboration:

• Facilitate cross-functional working sessions involving data owners, stewards, business units, enterprise architecture, engineering, security, analytics, and external partners.
• Facilitate complex discussions, reconcile competing priorities, evaluate alternatives, and support informed governance decisions by authorized stakeholders.
• Clarify governance decision rights, responsibilities, dependencies, and required actions for implementation.
• Document governance decisions, communicate requirements and outcomes to responsible teams, and coordinate follow-through to implementation.
• Foster collaboration and accountability for consistent application of governance practices across business and technical stakeholders.

Data Governance Operations and Continuous Improvement:

• Support data owners and stewards in implementing governance policies, standards, roles, and responsibilities within operational processes.
• Collaborate with data owners, stewards, and enterprise partners to define, document, and monitor meaningful measures of governance effectiveness, stakeholder engagement, compliance, and data quality.
• Facilitate data quality issue identification, root cause analysis, remediation planning, and continuous improvement.
• Support data access governance and data sharing processes by ensuring authorized decisions, requirements, and conditions are clearly documented, communicated to execution teams, and tracked through implementation.
• Collaborate with enterprise partners to embed governance requirements into data onboarding, integration, management, and consumption.
• Elicit and document business and analytical requirements to help ensure governed enterprise data products meet consumer needs.

Areas of Contribution:

The analyst may lead or support prioritized initiatives involving governance decision processes (Awareness, Risks, Issues, and Decisions ARID), access governance, data sharing, automated data onboarding, Enterprise Master Person Index (EMPI) and reference data management, data quality improvement, compliance reviews, and data product requirements.

Required Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience in senior-level business analysis, requirements elicitation, business process improvement, and complex problem-solving.
• Advanced facilitation skills, including leading cross-functional working sessions, navigating competing priorities, building consensus, and driving decisions to resolution.
• Proven ability to analyze, design, document, and support implementation of sustainable business processes.
• Ability to interpret policies, standards, and business requirements and translate them into practical operational processes, business rules, and controls.
• Working knowledge of enterprise data governance concepts, including data ownership, stewardship, access governance, data quality, compliance, and data lifecycle management.
• Strong analytical, communication, stakeholder management, and organizational skills, with the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• 5+ years of experience in business analysis, requirements elicitation, process improvement, or related enterprise business functions.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting enterprise data governance initiatives, including governance process implementation, data stewardship, data quality, metadata, or access governance.
• Experience in government, healthcare, or another regulated environment.
• Familiarity with enterprise data integration, interoperability, master and reference data management, and governed data products.
• Knowledge of data governance frameworks (e.g. DAMA-DMBOK, DMMI) and process improvement methodologies (BPMN, Lean, Six Sigma).
• Familiarity with AWS, Snowflake, state standards, or relevant professional certifications such as CDMP.

Education:

• A bachelor s degree in information systems, business administration, information management, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent professional experience and relevant certifications may be considered.

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• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Disability Insurance (Short-Term and Long-Term)
• Life and AD&D Insurance
• Paid Sick Leave (where required by applicable state or local law)
• Supplemental Insurance Plans
• Identity Theft Protection
• Pet Insurance
• Employee Wellness Programs
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Career Growth and Professional Development Opportunities