Data Steward Director

American Express•Phoenix, AZ

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

At American Express, our culture is built on a 175-year history of innovation, shared values and leadership behaviors, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities, and colleagues. As part of Team Amex, you’ll experience this powerful backing with comprehensive support for your holistic well-being and many opportunities to learn new skills, develop as a leader, and grow your career. Here, your voice and ideas matter, your work makes an impact, and together, you will help us define the future of American Express. As a Data Steward Director, you will lead the team responsible for the day-to-day compliance with the Enterprise Data Risk Management Policy within their domains/business units. You and your team are responsible for identifying critical data, maintaining data definitions, classifying data, supporting data sourcing / usage requests, evaluating Data Risk Controls, and confirming Data Incidents are remediated. You will partner across various business units, technology teams, and product/platform teams to define and implement the data governance strategy, monitor and manage data risks, resolve data/platform issues, and drive consistency, usability, and governance of specific product data across the organization. How will you make an impact in this role? Advance the established data governance principles, policies, and programs for stewardship, advocacy and custodianship of data Manage all Data Risks for the business unit, in coordination with relevant supporting roles, as described in the Enterprise Data Risk Management Policy Understand, Execute and comply with role and responsibilities as defined under the Enterprise Data Risk Management Policy Establishing, maintaining, and testing the effectiveness of controls to manage data risk within the established Data Risk Appetite limits for the Business Unit Facilitate Data Incident capture and coordination by planning Data Incident remediation activities, monitoring Data Incident status for reporting, and support testing and validation Represent business unit applications/systems in discussions relating to effective governance, risk mitigation, incident resolution, and other data management activities Coordinate with Business Units and other Business Unit Data Offices to ensure and attest the system level Lineage is documented completely and accurately. Partner with Third-Party Risk Management to monitor and validate that Third Parties adhere to Enterprise Data Risk Management requirements Harmonize key policies and guidelines (e.g. Data Quality, Data Definition, Data Creation, Data Sharing, Data Usage policies) with the processes necessary to carry out those policies, in collaboration with multi-functional partners Develop and produce key metrics scorecards and program status communications for the full suite of teams within Data Office

Requirements

8+ years of direct work experience in large scale/enterprise data projects, with at least 4 years of direct experience relating to creation and execution of formal data governance and/or data management programs
Consistent record of understanding business challenges and strategies and connecting those to data and capabilities
Strong working knowledge of current and upcoming data governance, data management and data product techniques and trends, with a point of view on the evolving concepts and standard methodologies
Demonstrable experience of driving meaningful improvements in business value through data management and strategy
Ability to work with white space to design and complete solutions to solve sophisticated challenges.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills – able to distill complex data risk topics into actionable insights for executive audiences.
Eagerness to test, learn, fail and improve is crucial
Must have a positive, collaborative leadership style with colleague and customer-first attitude
Proficient in using data analytics tools (e,g., SQL & Python or other programming language) and knowledge of database systems.

Nice To Haves

Incident management and reporting, risk/data risk management, data architecture, data breach management, data classification and handling, data quality monitoring and improvement, and data governance/compliance management experience.

Responsibilities

Advance the established data governance principles, policies, and programs for stewardship, advocacy and custodianship of data
Manage all Data Risks for the business unit, in coordination with relevant supporting roles, as described in the Enterprise Data Risk Management Policy
Understand, Execute and comply with role and responsibilities as defined under the Enterprise Data Risk Management Policy
Establishing, maintaining, and testing the effectiveness of controls to manage data risk within the established Data Risk Appetite limits for the Business Unit
Facilitate Data Incident capture and coordination by planning Data Incident remediation activities, monitoring Data Incident status for reporting, and support testing and validation
Represent business unit applications/systems in discussions relating to effective governance, risk mitigation, incident resolution, and other data management activities
Coordinate with Business Units and other Business Unit Data Offices to ensure and attest the system level Lineage is documented completely and accurately.
Partner with Third-Party Risk Management to monitor and validate that Third Parties adhere to Enterprise Data Risk Management requirements
Harmonize key policies and guidelines (e.g. Data Quality, Data Definition, Data Creation, Data Sharing, Data Usage policies) with the processes necessary to carry out those policies, in collaboration with multi-functional partners
Develop and produce key metrics scorecards and program status communications for the full suite of teams within Data Office

Benefits

Competitive base salaries
Bonus incentives
6%25 Company Match on retirement savings plan
Free financial coaching and financial well-being support
Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits
Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender, offered for pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy
Free access to global on-site wellness centers staffed with nurses and doctors (depending on location)
Free and confidential counseling support through our Healthy Minds program
Career development and training opportunities