Director, Data Trust

Cetera Financial Group•Dallas, TX

About The Position

The Director of Data Trust is responsible for establishing and operating the enterprise framework that determines who is accountable for data, and how decisions about data are made, what standards apply, and how governance is embedded into day-to-day business processes. The enterprise framework enables trusted, secure, and compliant use of data across Cetera. This leader operationalizes data trust by integrating governance, metadata, stewardship, data policy, privacy, and security practices into the organization’s data lifecycle and operating model. The role also leads data quality governance, master data governance, business data stewardship, and governance change management to strengthen business ownership, accountability, adoption, and business value. As a leader within the Data and Analytics organization, this role partners closely with peer leaders responsible for Data Architecture, Data Quality, Master Data Management, and Business Intelligence & Analytics to ensure enterprise data is trusted, protected, discoverable, and fit for business, regulatory, analytical, and AI use. Success is measured through improved confidence in enterprise data, stronger governance adoption, reduced data risk, and increased business value from trusted information assets. Primary Mission The Director of Data Trust ensures enterprise data is trusted by business users, governed with clear ownership and accountability, protected by enterprise security standards, and managed in line with privacy regulations. This role drives adoption of data governance and stewardship practices while fostering a culture of business ownership and data-driven decision-making.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Business, Cybersecurity, or a related discipline; Master’s degree preferred.
10+ years of progressive leadership experience in enterprise data management, governance, security, privacy, risk management, or related disciplines, including leadership within a regulated financial services environment.
Demonstrated expertise in enterprise data governance, metadata management, stewardship, data quality, master data management, data classification, information lifecycle management, and modern cloud-based data platforms.
Proven ability to lead enterprise transformation initiatives, establish operating models, influence executive stakeholders, and build collaborative partnerships across business and technology organizations.
Experience establishing or operating data stewardship models, including Business Data Owner and Business Data Steward roles, responsibilities, forums, decision rights, and accountability practices.
Experience governing data quality and master data management practices, including business rules, data quality expectations, authoritative sources, issue remediation, and cross-domain ownership decisions.
Experience leading governance change management, stakeholder engagement, communications, training, and adoption activities that improve participation and build a data-driven culture.
Demonstrated ability to align governance practices with business objectives, strategic initiatives, enterprise priorities, and measurable business value.
Experience assessing and improving enterprise data management capabilities using recognized industry frameworks such as DCAM® (Data Management Capability Assessment Model) and / or DAMA DMBOK.
Strong understanding of financial services regulations and industry frameworks, including FINRA, SEC, GLBA, SOX, applicable privacy regulations, and NIST frameworks.

Nice To Haves

Financial services or other highly regulated industries.
Familiarity with regulations such as GLBA, SEC, FINRA, SOX, GDPR, and CCPA.
Experience supporting AI governance and responsible AI initiatives.
Experience with NIST Cybersecurity Framework and NIST Privacy Framework.

Responsibilities

Establish and lead the enterprise Data Trust capability, including governance, metadata management, business glossary, data lineage, stewardship, and policy management to improve confidence in enterprise data.
Develop and mature an enterprise data governance frameworks including data governance policy, standards, decision rights, and stewardship practices that define roles and responsibilities and support consistent data governance across Data Architecture, Data Quality, Master Data Management, Analytics, and business organizations that produce and consume data.
Define the governance structure—Data Governance Council/Office, domain governance, data owners, data stewards, and working groups—and establish RACIs, escalation paths, approval authorities, issue-resolution processes, and governance forums.
Identify and onboard business data owners and stewards; define their responsibilities; establish stewardship processes; provide training and templates. Accountability for stewardship is a core data-management principle.
Lead development and adoption of enterprise data policies and standards.
Establish the governance side of DQ: who defines and approves business DQ expectations, how critical data is prioritized, how issues are escalated, how remediation accountability works, and how DQ performance is reported.
Establish the decision process through which business owners approve terms, definitions, policies, and standards.
Define how governance issues are raised, classified, assigned, escalated, resolved, and tracked.
Establish KPIs to measure the success of data governance programs.
Establish governance practices for Business Data Owners and Data Stewards, facilitate stewardship forums to prioritize requirements, resolve cross-domain ownership and accountability issues, and ensure governance, data quality, and master data management practices are aligned with enterprise priorities, strategic initiatives, and business value.
Partner with Information Security, Privacy, Risk, Legal, and Compliance to operationalize data protection, privacy, and regulatory requirements throughout the data lifecycle while enabling responsible access and use of enterprise data.
Partner with Business leaders, Data Owners, and Data Stewards to drive adoption of Data Trust practices, strengthen accountability for enterprise data assets, and embed data governance into business operations.
Lead stakeholder engagement, communications, training, and change management activities that improve stewardship adoption, foster a data-driven culture, and align governance efforts with business objectives and enterprise priorities.
Support regulatory compliance and enterprise risk management by implementing governance controls, data classification standards, records management practices, and audit-ready processes aligned with financial services requirements.
Lead enterprise capabilities including the implementation and adoption of an Enterprise Data governance platform, that improve discoverability, lineage, classification, and understanding of enterprise data assets to support business operations, analytics, AI, and regulatory reporting.
Build and lead a high-performing team of analysts and data governance professionals while fostering collaboration across Data Architecture, Data Quality and Master Data Management, BI and Analytics, Technology, Risk, Security, Compliance, and business organizations to advance Cetera’s enterprise data strategy.
Drive business adoption of trusted enterprise data, increase transparency into data ownership, lineage, and sensitive data, and embed trust, security, and privacy practices into delivery processes.
Reduce recurring data issues through proactive governance, support positive audit and regulatory outcomes, and strengthen collaboration across architecture, engineering, analytics, risk, security, and business teams.