Director of Data Design & Governance

Job Title

Director of Data Design & Governance

Reports To:

Chief Data Officer

Role Purpose:

The Director of Data Design & Governance (DDG) plays a pivotal role in shaping and executing ZEMA's data governance strategy, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and scalability of data used by energy companies, traders, and financial institutions. Reporting to the Chief Data Officer, the Director of DDG will lead the global Data Design & Governance teams in driving the creation of standardized data specifications and enforcing governance frameworks across ZEMA's extensive data sets. This position is essential for aligning data governance initiatives with ZEMA's growth strategy, enhancing data quality, and ensuring uniform implementation across data sources. By fostering collaboration across cross-functional teams, the Director will streamline data processes and optimize the efficiency of data collection and transformation, while maintaining strict adherence to quality standards.

Key Accountabilities:

1. Develop and Implement Data Governance Strategy: Establish and lead a comprehensive, company-wide data governance strategy to ensure uniformity and consistency in data collection and processing. Enable internal teams to scale efficiently and deliver consistent results across all data sets.
2. Champion Data Governance Standards: Drive adherence to data governance standards by working closely with cross-functional stakeholders. Create and enforce controls and auditing mechanisms to ensure compliance across the organization.
3. Lead and Mentor Global Teams: Manage and mentor Data Design & Governance teams across Vancouver, the UK, and Mumbai. Ensure alignment with the governance strategy and provide direction in creating data collection specifications that meet organizational and customer needs.
4. Enhance Team Processes and Workflows: Design and implement standardized workflows and processes to maximize efficiency and quality in data collection efforts, continuously improving team performance and output.
5. Monitor Performance and Drive Results: Develop and track performance metrics to evaluate team and individual output. Ensure teams meet targets while maintaining high standards of quality and consistency.
6. Ensure Data Quality Assurance: Standardize QA processes to maintain strict quality control from initial specification through final data collection, ensuring alignment with governance standards and customer expectations.
7. Evaluate and Integrate New Data Sources: Assess new data sources that align with ZEMA's strategic data vision, ensuring they meet governance and quality standards.
8. Collaborate with Technology, Product, and Operations Teams: Work closely with the technology, product, and operations teams to identify automation opportunities and drive process improvements that enhance data accuracy, efficiency, and scalability.
9. Understand Customer Needs: Engage directly with customers and collaborate with client-facing teams to gather insights and ensure the data governance strategy aligns with customer requirements. Use customer feedback to refine data processes and improve service delivery.

Stakeholder Management and Leadership:

The Director of Data Design & Governance must demonstrate strong leadership and stakeholder management skills by fostering close collaboration across all levels of the organization. This includes working with cross-functional teams such as technology, product, operations, and client-facing teams to align data governance initiatives with business objectives and customer needs. The role requires effective communication to ensure stakeholders understand and adhere to governance standards, while also driving engagement and support for continuous improvements. By mentoring and guiding global teams, the Director will cultivate a high-performance culture, ensuring the successful execution of strategic data initiatives, maintaining high-quality standards, and meeting customer expectations. Additionally, this position requires engaging directly with customers to understand their challenges and incorporating their feedback into the data governance strategy.

Decision-making and Problem Solving:

The Director of Data Design & Governance is entrusted with making informed decisions that drive consistency, scalability, and quality in data processes, while ensuring alignment with the company's broader strategic goals. This role requires the ability to solve complex problems, using data-driven insights and cross-functional collaboration. However, the Director must also be mindful of their boundaries, seeking input from key stakeholders-such as the Chief Data Officer and relevant teams-when decisions may impact other areas of the business. A careful balance of autonomy and consultation ensures that the Director's solutions are aligned with governance standards, organizational priorities, and the overall strategic vision, fostering accountability and minimizing risks.

Risk and Control Objective:

The Director of Data Design & Governance is responsible for identifying and mitigating risks related to data quality, governance, and scalability. This involves implementing robust controls and auditing mechanisms to ensure data consistency across all systems and processes. While the Director has the autonomy to make key decisions within the data governance framework, they must operate within established control limits and escalate significant risks to senior leadership when necessary. The role requires a proactive approach to anticipating potential risks, ensuring compliance with internal policies, and safeguarding against any deviations that could compromise data integrity or business operations. Maintaining a balance between risk management and operational efficiency is critical to ensuring sustainable growth and governance, while also providing timeliness in data solutions that our clients rely upon.

Qualifications:

1. Bachelor's degree in computer science, data management, information systems, business administration, or a related field.
2. Strong experience in data governance, data management, or a related field within complex organizations, ideally with energy or commodities data.
3. Deep understanding of data governance frameworks, symbology, taxonomy, data lineage, and metadata design.
4. Solid understanding of data catalogs and documentation libraries.
5. Hands-on experience with SQL and relational databases, along with a firm understanding of data architecture and modeling.
6. Knowledge of time series databases and best practices for structuring data in time series format.
7. Familiarity with data governance software applications.
8. Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional teams and managing stakeholders across multiple global locations.
9. Experience working directly with customers and client-facing teams to gather feedback and translate it into actionable governance initiatives.
10. Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and align cross-functional stakeholders and drive collaboration across departments.
11. Proven ability to implement and manage controls and auditing mechanisms to ensure data quality and governance.
12. Familiarity with automation and process improvement tools to increase efficiency and scalability in data operations.
13. Ability to balance decision-making autonomy with adherence to governance boundaries, understanding when to escalate issues to senior leadership.
14. Experience in a leadership role within a PE-backed company or in environments with legacy systems transitioning to modern technologies is preferred.