Data Governance Technology Portfolio & Programme Associate Director

EY•Atlanta, DC

1d•$150,000 - $337,500

About The Position

The Technology Enablement Portfolio and Program Manager is an Associate Director in EY’s Global Data Stewardship Office (DSO). The role turns DSO strategy into a prioritised, executable portfolio of technology initiatives and gives leaders an integrated view of business and user needs, investment, roadmaps, dependencies, delivery health, resources and benefits to inform prioritisation, sequencing and funding decisions. It combines portfolio and program leadership, product management practices and practical understanding of data governance technology across cloud, data platforms, analytics and AI environments. Working with business stakeholders and product and technology teams, the role connects discovery and requirements to delivery plans, adoption, measurable business value and control effectiveness. It owns the portfolio framework, planning and reporting, and coordinates delivery readiness. Initiative, product and technology leads retain delivery accountability, while business sponsors retain accountability for outcomes and benefits. The role operates with substantial independence within approved strategy, investment and governance parameters, and provides portfolio leadership across initiative, product and delivery teams. It works globally with DSO and a broad set of business, data, risk and technology partners, supporting the All In Data governance structure. It does not assume policy ownership, enterprise architecture authority, security approval, engineering, production change authority or production operations; these remain with authorised owners.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent tertiary qualification in business, information systems, technology, data management, finance, program management or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
10 or more years of relevant portfolio or program experience, including significant responsibility for data, governance, risk or technology transformation.
Demonstrated experience enabling data governance technology in partnership with data, governance, stewardship, risk, privacy, records or comparable business functions and technology teams.
Experience translating business needs into implementable governance requirements within funded initiatives across cloud, data platforms, analytics or AI environments.
Experience applying product management practices and Agile and traditional delivery approaches across a mixed portfolio, including business and user discovery, requirements development, roadmap and backlog prioritisation, user stories, measurable acceptance criteria, iterative planning, dependency management and approved release coordination.
Experience with investment prioritisation, integrated roadmaps, executive governance, cross-program dependencies, financial and capacity planning, and benefits realisation.
Experience sequencing governance capability and platform changes—such as cataloguing, classification, lineage, quality, access, lifecycle or data-product governance—against value, risk, integration dependencies and organisational readiness.
Experience developing business cases, assessing options, balancing portfolios and supporting decisions to start, pause, stop or reshape work.
Experience overseeing delivery health, budgets, resources, vendors, risks, issues and decisions across multiple initiatives, including governance-platform implementation or integration.
Evidence of coordinating requirements traceability, design and testing checkpoints, risk-based stage gates, control evidence, approved release readiness and operational handover with accountable delivery and control owners.
Strong practical experience using enterprise portfolio and program management tools to manage demand, investment, roadmaps, capacity, dependencies, delivery health, risks, decisions and benefits.
Experience replacing fragmented spreadsheets and manual reporting with governed workflows, reliable portfolio data, automated dashboards and consistent management information.
Experience engaging business, Service Line Quality, data and technology stakeholders across a global, federated organisation, influencing without direct authority and negotiating delivery and adoption commitments.
Evidence of using business value, user feedback, adoption measures and control-owner evidence to assess outcomes and improve priorities.
Strong portfolio and program management expertise, including demand, investment, roadmap, financial, resource, dependency and benefits management.
Ability to apply product management practices and adapt Agile and traditional delivery approaches to investment, risk, finance and governance requirements without assuming formal Product Owner accountability.
Practical understanding of data governance capabilities, including catalogues, metadata and lineage, data quality, stewardship workflows, classification, access and lifecycle controls, and responsible data and AI use.
Ability to translate governance priorities and business needs into implementable requirements, investment cases and technology roadmaps with governance specialists, product teams, architects and engineers; understand machine-readable controls and maintain traceability to delivery milestones, acceptance evidence and benefits.
Ability to establish proportionate portfolio quality checks, assess reporting reliability and use delivery evidence for corrective action and continuous improvement.
Essential practical proficiency with enterprise portfolio and program management platforms, intake and workflow tools, dashboards, data analysis, scenario planning and reporting automation.
Working understanding of cloud and governance-platform delivery dependencies, including APIs, metadata models, lineage and data-quality integrations.
Ability to define and maintain portfolio information models, workflows, reporting controls and dashboards, and coordinate configuration, automation and testing with tool administrators.
Strong commercial judgement, digital fluency, critical thinking, creative reasoning and problem solving.
Strong executive communication, facilitation and negotiation skills; ability to explain technical concepts in practical business language and present evidence-based options.
Ability to influence stakeholders outside the reporting line and build agreement on delivery, adoption and outcomes across a global, federated organisation.
Applied familiarity with data management frameworks such as DAMA-DMBOK and EDM Council DCAM, and use of CDMC where cloud data controls are relevant.
Working awareness of standards and practices such as ISO/IEC 38505, ISO 8000, ISO/IEC 27001, NIST guidance and ISO 15489, sufficient to recognise portfolio implications and engage accountable specialists.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Microsoft Purview or Fabric, Databricks Unity Catalog, Collibra, Informatica, Alation or comparable governance platforms; expertise in each platform or hands-on platform engineering is not required.
Relevant credentials such as MoP, MSP, PgMP, PMP, PRINCE2, SAFe, product or portfolio qualifications, or data management learning such as DAMA CDMP.
Complementary cloud, data-platform or governance-platform credentials and continuous professional learning demonstrating combined technology and data governance fluency.

Responsibilities

Own the integrated portfolio and program management framework for DSO technology enablement.
Establish standards for demand intake, triage, business cases and mobilisation; facilitate discovery to identify business and user needs, intended data use, Data Owners, governance requirements, technology dependencies and accountable decision makers.
Maintain the portfolio pipeline, integrated roadmap, investment view, resource plan and dependencies.
Partner with product and delivery teams to translate needs into business, functional and non-functional requirements, prioritised backlogs, user stories and measurable acceptance criteria, linked to releases, integration milestones and adoption plans.
Assess strategic alignment, value, urgency, risk, readiness, affordability, capacity and delivery constraints; facilitate prioritisation and sequencing, negotiate trade-offs, and recommend starting, pausing, stopping, consolidating or reshaping initiatives.
Establish proportionate portfolio governance, stage gates, reporting standards and delivery controls within approved decision rights; coordinate design and delivery checkpoints, testing and acceptance evidence, control evidence, operational readiness and required approvals before authorised release.
Oversee plans, milestones, budgets, resources, vendors, risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, changes and decisions across initiatives.
Resolve delivery dependencies with DSO workstream owners, business sponsors, Service Lines, Service Line Quality and data ecosystem partners; engage Enterprise Architecture, Finance and Procurement as needed, and provide portfolio insight and escalations to sponsors and governance forums.
Agree benefits, baselines, measures, accountable owners and realisation plans with business sponsors and designated control owners; monitor business value, user adoption and control effectiveness using their evidence.
Coordinate adoption and operational handover with business, product and platform owners, confirming support arrangements and outstanding actions; use user feedback, delivery lessons and outcome measures to improve portfolio practices and tool use.
Build a reliable fact base, test strategic fit and expected value, assess readiness and risk, model options and make recommendations; balance investment, resource, financial, technical and risk constraints across the portfolio.
Challenge weak business cases, optimistic assumptions, unclear benefits ownership and unreliable reporting; recommend reallocation, revised baselines, recovery actions, pause or closure where continued investment is not justified, and escalate decisions outside approved parameters.
Define and maintain portfolio data definitions, information models, intake workflows, reporting controls and dashboards; coordinate configuration, automation and testing with tool administrators, producing reliable portfolio information and reduced manual reporting.
Influence stakeholders across a global, federated organisation and build agreement on delivery, adoption and outcomes without direct reporting authority.
Support the All In Data governance structure and align the technology portfolio to DSO strategy, the Global Data Stewardship Policy and priorities approved through relevant EY governance forums.