Data Governance Lead

Role Overview

We are looking for a highly experienced Data Strategy, Governance & Solution Architect with 15+ years of experience across enterprise data strategy, data governance, data architecture, MDM and large-scale data transformation.

The successful candidate will be responsible for defining the Data Strategy and Data Governance framework, developing the Data Roadmap, and translating the strategy into a portfolio of executable projects. Each project should have a clear business case, delivery objectives, benefits, dependencies and measurable outcomes.

This is a senior, hands-on role requiring a combination of strategy consulting, architecture, governance and implementation experience. The individual should be a strong Solution Architect who can bridge business strategy and technical execution.

Key Responsibilities

Data Strategy & Roadmap

- Define and establish the enterprise Data Strategy, aligned to business objectives and technology strategy.
- Assess the current data landscape, capabilities, maturity, architecture, processes and pain points.
- Develop the target-state Data Strategy and operating model.
- Create a comprehensive Data Roadmap covering short-, medium- and long-term initiatives.
- Translate the overall Data Strategy into a structured portfolio of projects / initiatives.
- Prioritise projects based on business value, risk, regulatory requirements, dependencies, cost and complexity.
- Define clear outcomes, milestones, dependencies and success measures for each initiative.
- Ensure the roadmap is realistic, actionable and aligned with enterprise architecture.

Strategy-to-Project Transformation

- Break down the overall Data Strategy into executable projects and workstreams.
- Develop a clear scope, objectives, deliverables and implementation approach for each project.
- Develop a business case for each project, including:
- Business problem / opportunity
- Expected benefits and business value
- Costs and investment requirements
- Risks and dependencies
- Resource requirements
- Delivery timeline
- KPIs and success criteria
- ROI / value realisation

- Support senior leadership in prioritising and approving the project portfolio.
- Provide architectural and strategic direction throughout project execution.
- Ensure individual projects remain aligned to the overall Data Strategy and target architecture.

Data Governance

- Define and implement the Enterprise Data Governance framework.
- Establish data governance principles, policies, standards, processes and controls.
- Define Data Ownership, Data Stewardship, RACI and decision rights.
- Establish governance forums,



councils and escalation mechanisms.
- Define and implement governance processes covering:
- Data Quality
- Metadata Management
- Data Lineage
- Business Glossary
- Data Classification
- Data Ownership & Stewardship
- Data Controls
- Master & Reference Data

- Define governance KPIs and maturity measures.
- Drive adoption of governance practices across business and technology teams.

Data Retention & Archival

- Define and implement Data Retention and Data Archival strategies aligned with business, regulatory, legal and compliance requirements.
- Establish data retention policies, standards and ownership.
- Define archival principles and target-state archival architecture.
- Determine what data should be retained, archived, migrated or disposed of.
- Work with legal, compliance, security, business and technology stakeholders to establish appropriate retention periods.
- Ensure archival solutions consider accessibility, cost optimisation, security, auditability and data lifecycle management.
- Develop implementation roadmaps for retention and archival initiatives.

Data Architecture & Solution Architecture

- Act as a senior Data / Solution Architect across the data transformation portfolio.
- Define current-state and target-state Data Architecture.
- Develop conceptual, logical and physical data architecture where required.
- Translate business requirements into scalable and sustainable technical solutions.
- Define integration, data flow, storage, processing and consumption patterns.
- Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture principles and standards.
- Evaluate architectural options and provide recommendations and trade-offs.
- Review and govern solution designs delivered by project teams and technology partners.
- Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, resilient and fit for long-term business requirements.

Master Data Management (MDM)

- Demonstrate a strong understanding of Master Data Management (MDM) concepts, principles and implementation approaches.
- Identify key master data domains and define appropriate ownership and governance.
- Understand master/reference data relationships and dependencies across the enterprise.
- Define MDM target-state architecture and roadmap where required.




- Support selection and implementation of MDM solutions and processes.
- Ensure MDM initiatives are aligned with the wider Data Strategy and Data Governance framework.

Asset Historian / Operational Data

- Understand asset historian / historian data and its role within an asset-intensive environment.
- Understand how operational/industrial asset data is captured, stored, governed and consumed.
- Assess the relationship between asset information, historian data, master data and enterprise data.
- Define appropriate governance, architecture and integration approaches for historian and asset-related data.
- Identify opportunities to improve the accessibility, quality, lineage and value of asset data.

Required Experience & Skills

- 15+ years of overall experience in Data Strategy, Data Architecture, Data Governance, Data Management or large-scale Data Transformation.
- Strong experience in Data Strategy development and execution.
- Proven experience developing and implementing Data Governance frameworks and operating models.
- Solid Solution Architecture / Data Architecture background.
- Demonstrable experience translating strategy into projects, programmes and implementation roadmaps.
- Experience developing business cases for data and technology initiatives.
- Strong understanding of Data Retention, Data Archival and Data Lifecycle Management.
- Strong understanding of MDM and Master/Reference Data.
- Experience working with asset data / historian environments is highly desirable.
- E and influencing skills.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a senior data leader and strong Solution Architect who can operate across the full lifecycle:

Data Strategy Data Roadmap Business Cases Project Portfolio Architecture Data Governance Implementation Benefits Realisation

T

The key requirement is someone who can bridge strategy and execution a senior architect who can define the vision, create the roadmap, convert the roadmap into funded projects and provide the technical and governance leadership required to deliver them.

Key Attributes

- 15+ years of relevant experience
- Strong Solution Architect / Data Architect
- Strategic thinker with strong execution capability
- Strong Data Governance expertise
- Strong Data Strategy and Roadmap experience
- Data Retention & Archival knowledge
- MDM understanding
- Asset / Historian data understanding
- Strong business case development capability
- Consulting + implementation experience
- Excellent senior stakeholder management
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
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📌 Data Governance Lead with Databricks (Hyderabad)
🏢 Sonata Software
📍 Hyderabad