Data Governance Manager

Job Title: Data Governance Manager

Contract type: Permanent

Location: London or Newcastle with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office in line with our hybrid working policy.

Salary: Newcastle: Salary- c£56,875; London Salary -c£65,000 more may be available for exceptional candidates

Role overview

The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UKs main public sector audit body. Independent of government, we have responsibility for auditing the accounts of various public sector bodies, examining the propriety of government spending, assessing risks to financial control and accountability, and reviewing the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of programmes, projects, and activities.

The NAO is seeking a highly hands-on, operational Data Governance Manager. This role requires a proactive, hands-on individual to take full responsibility for data documentation, metadata, and data quality tooling. You will serve as the primary engine for keeping our data house in order, acting as the orchestrator for data stewards and owners to ensure maximum data fidelity without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

Main purpose of the role

A critical component of this role is coordinating the smooth operational flow across a data operating model. By doing so, you will take hands-on responsibility for ensuring that the data is managed as a strategic asset while remaining secure, compliant, high quality and fit for purpose. You will be fully responsible for documenting it once defined and ensuring the day-to day processes run seamlessly. You will bridge the gap between business users and technical teams, engaging the data engineering team when specific technical expertise or pipeline actions are required.

In This Role, You Will

• Take full, hands-on responsibility for the daily administration of our metadata management and data quality tools
• Author and maintain comprehensive documentation of our data assets, metadata, and the broader data operating model.
• Engage, coordinate, and act as the central point of contact for data stewards and data owners to enforce data quality and resolve issues at their root cause

This role reports into the Head of Business Architecture in the change and transformation team.

Main responsibilities

Data Governance Framework

• Develop and maintain the NAOs Data Governance Framework
• Establish data policies, standards, principles and procedures
• Work with key stakeholders to ensure that governance requirements are embedded into business processes and technology solutions
• Lead the implementation of data ownership and stewardship models across the NAO

Data Quality Management

• Define and oversee NAO data quality standards and measures
• Accountable for monitoring data quality performance and working collaboratively with Data Stewards and the Data engineering team to orchestrate the remediation of complex data quality flaw
• Establish process for identifying, reporting and resolving data quality issues

Data Ownership & Stewardship

• Establish critical data assets and accountability for them
• Review and refine [where appropriate] the roles of Information Asset Owners, Data Owners and Data Stewards Work with IAOs, DOs and DSs to maintain asset inventories and catalogues
• Support areas in managing data throughout its lifecycle

Strategy, Architecture & Metadata

• Contribute to NAO Data Strategy development, lead data maturity assessments
• Work with the Enterprise & Data Architects to define and implement a blueprint from NAO Enterprise Data Architecture
• Oversee metadata management standards
• Maintain data definitions, classifications, and business glossaries
• Support master data management and reference data processes
• Champion the discoverability and re-use of NAO data assets

Stakeholders, Literacy & Culture

• Chair or support data governance boards and working groups
• Provide expert advice on data governance matters
• Promote understanding of data ownership and accountability, encouraging good data management practices across the NAO
• Deliver training & awareness activities, support the development of a strong data culture

Key Skills / Competencies Required

Please refer to the skill sets listed in the full job advert available once you click apply.

Essential criteria

• Proven, hands-on experience in data governance or data management roles, specifically focused on execution rather than high-level strategy.
• Significant experience administrating data governance tools (e.g., data catalogues, metadata management, and data quality platforms).
• Demonstrated experience creating and maintaining clear, comprehensive data documentation, business glossaries, and operating model process flows.
• Experience coordinating decentralized networks of data stewards, owners, or business subject matter experts to resolve data quality exceptions.
• Demonstrated experience translating governance policies into actionable, day-to-day tasks and workflows for business users.

To apply candidates should provide:

• An up-to-date CV
• A covering letter outlining briefly how you meet the essential criteria and why you are a good fit for the role.

The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 16th August

Selection process

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend 1st stage interview which will be held online on 7-8th September. Second-stage interviews will be held in person and will take place on 21-24th September.

Nationality Requirements:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas. Please contact us directly should you have any questions on your nationality eligibility.

Equal opportunities and diversity

Disability and Reasonable Adjustments: Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process

We are committed to fair and open recruitment. All applications will be assessed on merit against the requirements of the role. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010.