Assistant Director of Engineering, Data Governance and Data Quality

Principal Financial Group • Des Moines, IA

4h • $141,000 - $185,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

We’re looking for an Assistant Director of Engineering to join our Enterprise Data & Analytics team! In this role, you'll lead a multidisciplinary team of data engineers, data governance analysts, and data quality professionals driving one of Principal’s strategic initiatives to advance the use of data and AI across our global enterprise.
You’ll have a part in maturing our AI and data foundations, strengthening our governance frameworks, and elevating the visibility, accessibility, and quality of the data that powers decision‑making across the organization. Your team will lead essential capabilities such as metadata management, data cataloging, data lineage, and data quality monitoring to ensure trusted, well-governed data is available at scale.
This role is ideal for a leader with a strong data engineering background, exceptional soft skills, and the ability to influence teams.
Operating at the intersection of financial services and technology, Principal builds financial tools that help our customers live better lives. We take pride in being a purpose-led firm, motivated by our mission to make financial security accessible to all. Our mission, integrity, and customer focus have made us a trusted leader for more than 140 years.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (preference in a computer science, technology, engineering or math-related field) or equivalent experience
• 8+ years of relevant technical experience
• 4+ years of leadership experience preferred
• Excellent leadership, problem solving, analytical, and decision making skills
• Deep knowledge of data engineering, metadata management/data cataloging, data quality, AI, and master data management concepts
• Skilled in collaborating with a variety of partners, including outside consultants and vendors, with ability to influence others without formal authority
• Strong skills in communicating with all levels of the organization and easily translating complex topics for others to understand

Nice To Haves

• Experience with direct people leadership; passionate about developing others as well as continuing to learn and build your own skills
• Experience with data quality and data catalog tooling
• Ability to learn new systems and integration patterns, including cloud platforms

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor high-performing data engineering, data governance analyst and data quality team members, encouraging a collaborative and innovative environment to deliver high-quality, scalable processes and solutions in alignment with the enterprise framework
• Advance enterprise capabilities in metadata management, data cataloging, data lineage, and data quality, ensuring trusted, well-governed data for AI and analytics
• Serve as a technical lead for data quality and governance products that are supported with a global team
• Strengthen the organization’s data foundation by driving consistent data definitions, taxonomy, quality, and standards that enable scalable data sharing and AI maturity

Benefits

• Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.
• Pension Eligible

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees