Director of Enterprise Data Operations

NiSource • Columbus, OH

2d • $160,100 - $240,100

About The Position

The Director of Enterprise Data Operations leads NiSource's end to end data operating model—governing, enabling, and running the capabilities that make trusted, well managed data available for analytics and operations. This role owns the enterprise data governance framework and the cloud data strategy, operationalizes stewardship and master/reference data, curates the enterprise catalog/metadata, and partners with engineering and architecture to industrialize data ingestion and curation through the data lake. The Director builds a high performing, inclusive team; prioritizes the enterprise ingestion backlog; establishes measurable service levels for data quality, availability, and cost; and partners closely with Business Unit leaders and the IT Transformation team to accelerate value while maintaining strong security and compliance.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years total experience
• 3+ years of direct leadership experience building and managing high performing teams.
• Proven success owning enterprise data initiatives (data quality, integration/management, metadata/catalog, stewardship, MDM/RDM or related) and delivering outcomes at scale.
• Strong program/project leadership with a track record driving cross functional IT/Business transformation and analytics enablement in a matrixed organization.
• Working knowledge of data lake architectures and cloud data platforms; familiarity with blob/object storage, databases, ingestion/ETL/ELT patterns, and data modeling.
• Demonstrated ability to set priorities and manage multiple initiatives in a fast-paced environment; skilled at stakeholder management, negotiation, and influence.
• Excellent executive communication skills, including management reporting and the ability to translate between business, functional, and technical audiences.
• Authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship.
• Value inclusion within your day to day responsibilities by respecting others perspectives/convictions, engaging others opinions, creating a safe environment where people, ideas, and opinions are valued within your Team/Customers and external partners.
• Respect the unique lived experiences within your Team/Customers and external work partners by valuing different world views, challenges, and cultures that represents all walks of life and all backgrounds.
• Treat others with respect and consideration.
• Actively participate in creating and contributing to a positive work environment.
• Promote a safe work environment by actively participating in all aspects of our employee safety program.
• Report any unsafe conditions and take actions to prevent personal injuries.
• Support our interdependent safety culture by ensuring the safety of your co-workers.
• Stay focused on the task at hand and promote productivity through good work habits.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree in Data Science, Math, MBA, or other related field.
• Hands-on experience with governance/catalog/MDM technologies (e.g., Microsoft Purview, Collibra, Alation, Informatica) and enterprise data modeling.

Responsibilities

• Own the enterprise data strategy and data governance/enablement framework (people, process, policy, technology) across on prem, cloud, and edge environments.
• Lead a Center of Excellence that scales best practices for data engineering, architecture, quality, and stewardship.
• Define and operationalize data ownership and stewardship roles with clear decision rights and accountabilities.
• Establish and continuously improve enterprise data quality practices, including CDE identification, controls, monitoring, and defect remediation.
• Lead master data and reference data management to drive consistency across operational and analytical systems.
• Build and curate the enterprise data catalog/business glossary and lineage to enable one stop data discovery and shared definitions.
• Advance data literacy and adoption through standards, coaching, and enablement of business and technical communities.
• Partner with IT to design and operate the data lake and industrialized ingestion/curation pipelines; manage and prioritize the enterprise ingestion backlog.
• Set and meet SLOs/SLAs for throughput, availability, cost, and reliability; optimize performance and resource utilization.
• Ensure appropriate classification, access, privacy, and retention controls; align with cybersecurity, legal, and regulatory requirements.
• Proactively identify and manage operational risks; drive remediation plans and continuous improvement.
• Lead or oversee large, cross functional programs and third party engagements; ensure scope, schedule, budget, and value realization.
• Benchmark against utilities and broader industry to inform roadmap, standards, and tooling decisions.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop a high performing, diverse team; foster a culture of safety, accountability, learning, and change adoption.
• Build coalitions in a matrixed organization; serve as a trusted advisor to business and technology leaders to accelerate data driven decisions.

Benefits

• As a public utility, NiSource is required to provide continuous service to customers at all times. To ensure we fulfill that obligation, employees may be required to work outside their normal work hours and perform tasks outside of their normal responsibilities in support of emergency operations.

What This Job Offers

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