Data Governance Manager

The Scion Group•Chicago, IL

50d•Onsite

About The Position

The Scion Group is the largest privately held owner and operator of student housing communities in North America. With a growing data ecosystem that spans across different business units, Scion is building a modern data platform to power smarter, faster decisions. The Data Governance Manager will design and lead the frameworks, processes, and culture that ensure our data is accurate, consistent, compliant, and strategically aligned with Scion's business priorities. You will serve as the center of excellence for data governance, overseeing how Scion defines, manages, and uses data enterprise-wide. You'll establish governance structures, build data literacy across teams, and drive data quality improvements across key systems.

Requirements

8-12 years in Data Governance, Data Quality, or Data Management roles, ideally within real estate, financial services, or multi-system operational organizations.
Proven experience implementing enterprise data governance frameworks, MDM programs, and data catalog / glossary tools.
Prior experience defining and managing critical data elements, lineage, and quality controls across multiple systems.
Experience with Snowflake, Power BI, SQL, and data pipeline integration tools (Informatica, dbt, etc.).
Proficiency in one or more Data Governance / MDM platforms: Informatica IDMC, Ataccama, Collibra, TIBCO EBX, or Alation.
Strong understanding of metadata management, data lineage, and data modeling.
Familiarity with cloud-based architectures, APIs, and data warehousing environments (preferably on AWS or Azure).
Exceptional ability to translate technical concepts into business language.
Demonstrated success in driving cross-functional alignment and change management.
Excellent analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Engineering, Finance, or related field (master's preferred).

Nice To Haves

Professional certifications (CDMP, DGSP, DCAM) a plus.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement Scion's enterprise data governance framework, including policies, standards, and stewardship models.
Partner with business and IT stakeholders to align governance goals with Scion's data strategy roadmap and operational initiatives.
Establish and chair the Data Governance Council, driving accountability across data domains (property, resident, financial, and operational).
Design and operationalize a data quality framework that measures and improves accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness.
Define and monitor critical data elements (CDEs) across domains and ensure that validation rules, reconciliation, and controls are in place at every data hop.
Oversee master and reference data management for key business entities.
Implement and manage data catalog and business glossary capabilities (e.g., Informatica IDMC, Ataccama, Collibra, or Alation).
Define and maintain Scion's enterprise metamodel linking business terms, data assets, and technical metadata.
Ensure data lineage is complete, accurate, and visible to business and compliance teams.
Train and coordinate a network of data stewards across departments.
Develop and deliver data governance education and training programs, building enterprise-wide data literacy.
Partner with analytics, technology, and business teams to integrate governance controls into daily workflows and data pipelines.
Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, and Security to enforce data privacy, retention, and access controls (e.g., FERPA, GDPR, CCPA).
Establish and maintain a data controls framework, documenting validation, approvals, and lineage checkpoints for high-risk data flows.
Provide governance oversight for regulatory reporting, audit, and financial reconciliation processes.
Conduct system and process audits to evaluate current-state data flows, integrations, and dependencies across business systems.
Develop and maintain data flow diagrams and process flow documentation that capture how data moves through Scion's ecosystem (from source to Snowflake to downstream applications).
Identify and standardize key processes and integration points to ensure consistency, transparency, and compliance across platforms.
Recommend and enforce data process standards and automation opportunities to improve efficiency, reliability, and auditability.
Partner with engineering and operations to ensure documented process flows are reflected in both system design and business practice.