Data Governance Associate Director

Vertex Pharmaceuticals • Boston, MA

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Commercial Data Governance will lead the management and continuous improvement of data governance capabilities across Vertex’s commercial organization. The role establishes standards, policies, processes, and accountability frameworks to improve the quality, consistency, accessibility, security, and responsible use of commercial data. It partners with commercial and enterprise stakeholders to ensure governed data meets business needs and regulatory and company requirements, while promoting a culture of data accountability and informed data use.

The role requires a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and typically 8 or more years of relevant experience. The position is hybrid-eligible or on-site eligible: employees may work remotely up to two days per week in the hybrid designation, or work on-site five days per week with ad hoc flexibility. The salary range is $157,800–$236,600, and the role is eligible for an annual bonus and annual equity awards. Vertex’s benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage; paid time off, including week-long summer and winter shutdowns; educational assistance programs, including student loan repayment; a commuting subsidy; matching charitable donations; and a 401(k).

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, information systems, data management, computer science, life sciences, or a related field.
• Typically 8 or more years of relevant experience in data governance, data management, commercial operations, analytics, information management, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience building, implementing, or enhancing data governance frameworks, standards, and operating models.
• Experience supporting commercial data in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, or a similarly regulated industry.
• Strong understanding of data-quality management, metadata management, master data management, data lineage, and data stewardship principles.
• Ability to influence and align cross-functional stakeholders, including senior leaders, without direct reporting authority.
• Experience translating complex data concepts into clear, actionable guidance for business and technical audiences.
• Strong project management, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic, matrixed environment.
• Commitment to data integrity, privacy, compliance, and responsible data use.
• Knowledge of data governance frameworks and operating models; data-quality management, profiling, validation, monitoring, and remediation; data catalogs, business glossaries, metadata, and lineage; master and reference data; and commercial data domains.
• Knowledge of data governance and catalog platforms such as Collibra, Alation, Informatica, or Microsoft Purview, or similar tools.
• Knowledge of data analysis and reporting tools such as SQL, Microsoft Excel, Tableau, or Power BI, or similar platforms.
• Knowledge of customer relationship management and commercial-data platforms such as Veeva CRM, Salesforce, or IQVIA, or comparable systems.
• Knowledge of data privacy, access controls, information security, and compliance principles.
• Knowledge of Agile, project management, and process-improvement methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead the commercial data governance strategy, roadmap, and operating model in alignment with enterprise priorities and commercial business objectives.
• Define and maintain data governance policies, standards, procedures, and controls for commercial data domains.
• Establish data ownership, stewardship, and accountability across commercial data assets.
• Partner with data owners and business stakeholders to define critical data elements, business definitions, metadata, data lineage, and data-quality expectations.
• Develop and monitor data-quality rules, scorecards, issue-management processes, and remediation plans for priority commercial data.
• Facilitate data governance councils and working groups to drive alignment, decisions, and issue resolution.
• Collaborate with Commercial Operations, DTE, Insights & Analytics, Legal, and Compliance to ensure governed data supports business needs and meets regulatory and company requirements.
• Oversee documentation and maintenance of commercial data catalogs, glossaries, data standards, and governance artifacts.
• Identify data risks, gaps, and process-improvement opportunities, and recommend practical solutions to strengthen data integrity and usability.
• Support adoption of data governance tools, processes, and training programs across the commercial organization.
• Define and track key performance indicators for data quality, governance maturity, policy adherence, and stakeholder adoption.
• Guide change-management activities that promote data accountability and informed, responsible data use.
• Stay current on data governance practices, life sciences commercial-data trends, privacy requirements, and relevant technology capabilities.

Benefits

• Annual bonus eligibility
• Annual equity awards
• Medical benefits
• Dental benefits
• Vision benefits
• Generous paid time off, including a week-long summer company shutdown and a week-long winter company shutdown
• Educational assistance programs, including student loan repayment
• Commuting subsidy
• Matching charitable donations
• 401(k)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director