Lead, Data Governance

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Lead, Data Governance based in Canada. This is an individual contributor role focused on building and operating a modern data governance and security program across a growing global data environment. You’ll establish practical standards for data classification, ownership, access, quality, and protection across lakehouse, analytics, and internal data products. Working closely with Data Engineering, Data Science, Security, Privacy, and Legal teams, you’ll turn governance requirements into effective technical and operational controls. The role has significant exposure to cross-border data, sensitive information, regulatory requirements, and emerging analytics and AI technologies. You’ll help strengthen access governance, data lineage, audit readiness, risk management, and responsible use of corporate data. As a fully remote contributor reporting to the CISO, you’ll have autonomy to shape governance practices while partnering closely with technical teams. This opportunity is well suited to an experienced data governance or security professional who can balance strong controls with the needs of a fast-moving organization.

Build and maintain data governance policies, classification standards, ownership models, and exception processes aligned with Security and Privacy requirements. Own data access governance across the lakehouse and analytics environment, including entitlement standards, periodic access reviews, and least-privilege controls. Partner with Data Engineering to implement technical safeguards such as access policies, schema restrictions, and service-account management. Establish data quality standards and work with Data teams to measure, monitor, and improve data quality. Maintain accurate data inventories, metadata, ownership information, and lineage documentation to support governance, compliance, and audit requirements. Review data-related vendors and new use cases, including analytics platforms, reverse ETL solutions, AI query tools, notebooks, and similar technologies. Partner with Security, Privacy, and Legal on sensitive-data and cross-border data requests, including PII handling and regional data flows. Prepare and maintain evidence for SOC 2, ISO 27001, CSA STAR, partner security assessments, and regulatory examinations. Track data-related risks, control gaps, and remediation activities as part of the Enterprise Risk Management program. Serve as a trusted governance partner for Data and Security teams on questions involving access, classification, controls, and tooling. Define practical governance guardrails for the growing use of AI and agentic technologies with corporate data. Help evolve governance practices as the organization's data environment, technology stack, and regulatory footprint expand. Requirements 5+ years of experience in data governance, data security, GRC, privacy engineering, or a closely related discipline. At least 2 years of hands-on experience working with modern data platforms, including lakehouses or warehouses, SQL engines, BI platforms, or semantic layers. Strong understanding of data governance frameworks such as DAMA-DMBOK, NIST, or comparable standards, with the ability to apply them pragmatically in a fast-moving organization. Proven experience building or operating data classification, access-control, or entitlement-review programs rather than focusing solely on policy development. Familiarity with cloud data platforms and modern analytics environments; GCP experience is a plus. Working knowledge of privacy and regulatory requirements relevant to financial services, including GDPR, CCPA, cross-border data transfers, and related requirements. Experience supporting SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar compliance and audit programs. Ability to work effectively with engineering teams and implement appropriate controls without unnecessarily slowing development. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain governance requirements to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Highly organized and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage multiple governance initiatives in a fast-paced remote environment. Comfortable operating independently as an individual contributor without direct reports. Experience in fintech, brokerage, or regulated financial services is advantageous. Hands-on experience with technologies such as Trino, Apache Ranger, dbt, Cube, Metabase, Airflow, or Iceberg is a plus. Experience evaluating AI, machine learning, analytics, or data-management tools is beneficial. Privacy program, vendor assessment, or Data Processing Agreement review experience is advantageous. Certifications such as CIPT, CIPM, CISM, CISSP, CDMP, CRISC, or similar are a plus. Experience establishing a governance function as an early or first governance hire is beneficial. Familiarity with Japan or EU data residency and cross-border data considerations is advantageous. Exposure to enterprise risk management or operational risk is a plus. Experience working with distributed or remote-first teams is beneficial. Benefits Competitive salary. Stock options. Health benefits. One-time USD $500 home-office setup allowance for new hires. USD $150 monthly stipend provided through a company expense card. Fully remote work opportunity within the Americas. Individual contributor role with significant ownership and autonomy. Opportunity to shape data governance and security practices across a growing global data environment. Exposure to modern data platforms, analytics technologies, and emerging AI use cases. Collaboration with Data Engineering, Data Science, Security, Privacy, Legal, and other cross-functional teams. Opportunity to work on complex data governance challenges involving international markets and regulated financial services.

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