Head of Group Data Enablement

Guardian Life Insurance•New York, NY

About The Position

The Group Data Enablement Lead activates Guardian’s enterprise data management, governance, and data product practices across the Group business. The role ensures that data from source systems, platforms, analytics, and AI use cases is trusted, well-governed, and ready for use by design. It also leads and influences stakeholders by turning enterprise data strategy and standards into practical execution and building sustainable accountability within the business over time.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in data management, data governance, analytics, or related disciplines in large, complex enterprise environments.
Demonstrated experience translating business strategy and use cases into data product requirements and execution plans.
Strong understanding of data product practices including ownership, lifecycle, quality, semantics, and consumption readiness.
Ability to partner with business leaders to identify high‑value data and AI use cases aligned to business outcomes.
Proven experience embedding data practices into business delivery rather than operating as a centralized control function.
Experience in leading and influencing Data Product Owners and Data Stewards in a matrixed environment.
Experience resolving cross‑team data dependencies and tradeoffs across business, analytics, and technology teams.
Strong business and executive communication skills, including the ability to explain data‑related tradeoffs, risks, and value clearly.
Comfort engaging senior business, technology, and governance leaders as a trusted partner.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting Group Insurance, Benefits, or Financial Services data environments
Familiarity with finance, insurance, or regulated business models, including reporting, risk, or compliance considerations
Experience working with Group Benefits, claims, eligibility, membership, or financial data
Experience with data governance and data analytics platforms: AWS, Databricks, Snowflake, GCP, Collibra, Reltio, or similar.

Responsibilities

Operationalize enterprise data management, data governance, and AI‑readiness practices within Group value streams.
Partner with Group business leaders to identify, frame, and prioritize high‑value business and AI use cases, translating them into clear data product requirements.
Embed data product practices into Group execution, including clear ownership, lifecycle management, quality, semantics, lineage, and consumption readiness.
Translate enterprise data strategy, policies, standards, and operating model expectations into actionable Group data roadmaps, delivery plans, and priorities aligned to business outcomes and Tech roadmaps.
Resolve cross‑stream data dependencies and tradeoffs impacting trust, delivery timelines, and reuse.
Ensure upstream data supports analytics, BI, applications, and AI use cases by design, not through after‑the‑fact remediation.
Partner with Platforms to embed governance, quality, and protection capabilities into Group workflows and pipelines.
Communicate data strategy, priorities, risks, and tradeoffs to Group leadership in clear, outcome‑oriented terms to enable informed decision‑making.
Track and report progress and realized value of Group data initiatives, including impact to business use cases, analytics adoption, AI readiness, and audit outcomes.
Serve as the primary escalation point for Group data management and governance execution issues.