Senior Data Governance Analyst

SSA Marine•Seattle, WA

14h•$110,000 - $125,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Data Governance Analyst is an individual contributor who leads governance activities across assigned enterprise data domains and helps operationalize a maturing data governance program. The role partners with data owners, data stewards, business teams, and Information Technology & Services (IT&S) to establish clear definitions, standards, business rules, data-quality requirements, metadata, lineage, and controls. It combines hands-on data analysis with governance leadership, owning complex data-quality and control issues, leading root-cause analysis, translating business requirements into actionable governance and system requirements, and validating implemented solutions. The analyst serves as a senior resource on complex, cross-functional data issues and partners with the Manager, Data Governance, to strengthen governance practices across the organization. The position leads governance across assigned domains; defines and maintains data definitions, standards, ownership, stewardship expectations, and decision rights; and develops an understanding of the business processes, systems, workflows, and integrations that create and use governed data. It leads governance working sessions, documents decisions and exceptions, resolves unclear or conflicting requirements, and applies established privacy, security, retention, access, and regulatory requirements while escalating exceptions or interpretations to the appropriate control owner. The analyst defines and monitors data-quality rules, thresholds, metrics, and validation criteria; performs data profiling and analysis; leads root-cause analysis and issue remediation; and recommends preventative controls. It governs master and reference data, translates approved business requirements into Master Data Management requirements, contributes as a governance subject-matter expert on MDM initiatives, and tests implemented capabilities against approved requirements. The role maintains business and technical metadata in governance and cataloging tools, documents lineage across systems and integrations, identifies discrepancies and risks, defines requirements for controls and validation rules, and maintains documentation and evidence for traceability, accountability, and auditability. It independently leads complex cross-functional governance work, communicates findings and recommendations to business and technical audiences, partners with relevant control and technology functions, and supports governed data foundations for analytics, automation, AI, and enterprise system implementations. Required job duties are normally performed in a climate-controlled office environment. The role involves exposure to computer screens, and the noise level is usually moderate. The salary range is $110,000–$125,000 per year; compensation may vary based on geographic market, related experience, skill set, and other relevant factors.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Data Management, Computer Science, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
At least 5 years of progressive data governance, data management, data quality, or closely related experience, including demonstrated success independently leading complex, cross-functional governance initiatives.
Demonstrated depth across data governance disciplines, including data quality, master and reference data, critical data elements, business rules, ownership, stewardship, and controls.
Hands-on proficiency in data profiling and analysis, including investigating data-quality issues and conducting root-cause analysis.
Background with data governance, catalog, metadata, data-quality, or MDM platforms, such as Informatica, Microsoft Purview, Collibra, Alation, or comparable technologies.
Ability to translate business requirements into actionable standards, governance requirements, controls, validation rules, and acceptance criteria.
Strong understanding of enterprise systems and data flows, including how business processes, system configuration, integrations, and controls affect data quality and lineage.
Strong facilitation and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to challenge assumptions, resolve ambiguity, and drive decisions across business and technical teams without direct authority.
Ability to independently lead complex governance work across multiple priorities, stakeholders, systems, and data domains.
Ability to complete company-sponsored ITIL Foundation certification within 90 days of hire.

Nice To Haves

Background supporting Master Data Management implementations or enterprise data transformation initiatives.
Working knowledge of SQL for data profiling, validation, troubleshooting, or data-quality analysis.
Familiarity with Power BI or comparable reporting and visualization tools.
Professional certification in data management or governance, such as DAMA Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP), EDM Council DCAM, or comparable credentials.

Responsibilities

Lead governance activities for assigned enterprise data domains with data owners, stewards, subject-matter experts, and IT&S teams.
Establish and maintain business definitions, data standards, critical data elements, business rules, ownership, stewardship expectations, and decision rights.
Develop understanding of the business processes, systems, workflows, and integrations that create, maintain, and consume governed data.
Translate business-approved requirements into data standards, controls, system requirements, and governance processes.
Lead governance working sessions, document decisions and exceptions, resolve conflicting or incomplete requirements, and escalate matters requiring decisions.
Apply established privacy, security, retention, access, and regulatory requirements to governed data and escalate interpretation or exception decisions to control owners.
Define domain-level data-quality rules, thresholds, metrics, and validation criteria consistent with enterprise standards.
Perform hands-on data profiling and analysis to identify anomalies, inconsistencies, data-quality issues, and control gaps.
Lead root-cause analysis across business processes, system configuration, workflows, integrations, and data.
Drive data-quality issue management and remediation with data owners, stewards, application teams, and technology partners.
Monitor data-quality measures and exceptions, identify recurring issues, and recommend preventative process, system, or data controls.
Govern master and reference data across enterprise systems and business processes within assigned domains.
Define and document master-data definitions, hierarchies, ownership, lifecycle rules, standards, and data-quality requirements.
Translate approved business requirements into MDM requirements, including validation rules, governance workflows, approval processes, and acceptance criteria.
Serve as the Data Governance subject-matter expert on MDM initiatives and partner with business and technical teams through design and implementation.
Test and validate implemented MDM capabilities against approved governance requirements and acceptance criteria.
Maintain business and technical metadata, including definitions, ownership, relationships, classifications, rules, and standards, within enterprise governance and cataloging tools.
Document and analyze data lineage across source systems, integrations, transformations, and consuming applications to identify dependencies, control gaps, and data-quality risks.
Identify discrepancies between approved business definitions or rules and actual data, process, or system behavior.
Define governance requirements for controls and validation rules and validate that implemented controls meet approved requirements.
Maintain governance documentation and evidence for traceability, accountability, and auditability.
Independently lead complex governance work involving multiple business functions, systems, or data domains.
Challenge ambiguous, incomplete, or conflicting requirements and drive stakeholders toward clear definitions, decisions, and ownership.
Serve as a senior governance resource to Data Governance Analysts and project teams on complex data-quality, metadata, lineage, master-data, and governance issues.
Communicate data-quality findings, governance risks, decisions, and recommendations clearly to business and technical audiences.
Partner with Legal, Privacy, Cybersecurity, Architecture, Analytics, and other control or technology functions as appropriate.
Support governed data foundations for analytics, automation, AI, enterprise system implementations, and other data-dependent initiatives.
Complete company-sponsored ITIL Foundation certification within 90 days of hire.