Sr Director, AI Data Governance & Strategy

Palo Alto Networks•Santa Clara, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

We are looking for a Senior Director to serve as the enterprise authority on Data Governance at Palo Alto Networks. You will own the strategy and execution of a scaled program, serving as the primary arbiter of data integrity to ensure our ecosystem is authoritative, auditable, and prepared for the unique demands of AI. In addition, you will also lead programs to drive adoption of Enterprise AI products and services. This role is for a program owner with a technical spine who can bridge the gap between business policy and technical execution. You will lead a framework covering both Business Governance (policy, stewardship, traceability) and Technical Governance (quality, lineage, observability), balancing high-level business acumen with deep technical fluency. Beyond traditional oversight, you will lead AI Governance while leveraging AI itself to automate and modernize the program. You will partner with engineering to define what to build, ensuring our governance platform and AI products are effectively adopted. We seek a leader with a proven track record in enterprise SaaS who has the authority to break ties, hold cross-functional teams accountable, and drive complex AI initiatives to successful outcomes.

Requirements

Enterprise Governance Leadership: 12+ years of experience leading complex data and governance initiatives within a large-scale enterprise SaaS environment. You have a proven track record of navigating the unique data complexities of a multi-billion dollar software business.
Scaled Governance Mastery: Demonstrated experience designing and running an Enterprise Data Governance program. You have successfully led governance rituals, including Data Councils and Stewardship Committees, and have a history of establishing "Systems of Truth" across conflicting business domains.
Technical Data Spine: Deep fluency in Data Architecture, Lineage, and Metadata Management. You understand the "physics of data" well enough to define technical requirements for engineering teams and can hold your own in debates regarding SOR, SSOT architecture, data contracts, and observability.
Cross-Functional Authority: Proven ability to break ties and hold teams accountable. You have successfully reconciled high-stakes logic conflicts between Finance, GTM, and Engineering (e.g., Booking-to-ARR or Customer Master definitions) and can communicate these outcomes effectively to the C-suite.
Product Adoption: Experience driving the enterprise-wide adoption of AI or Data products. You know how to move beyond a "POC" to ensure a product is operationally sound and delivers measurable value to business users.
AI Sophistication: Strong familiarity with the AI/ML lifecycle and the specific governance needs of Generative AI. Examples: You understand how to govern unstructured data provenance for RAG pipelines, monitor performance with evals and have a vision for managing agent registries and model transparency.
Modernization Mindset: A track record of using AI and automation to modernize governance. You have successfully moved programs away from manual, spreadsheet-based stewardship toward automated, self-healing platforms.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (CS, Math, Engineering) is required; an Advanced Degree (MBA or MS) is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Enterprise Governance Program Ownership: Lead the strategy and end-to-end execution of a scaled, dual-track program. You will own Business Governance (stewardship, policy, and metadata traceability) and Technical Governance (data quality, lineage, and observability), ensuring the enterprise data ecosystem is authoritative and auditable.
Governance Rituals & Councils: Establish and lead the operational rhythm of governance across the company. You will chair Data Governance Councils and Stewardship Committees, fostering a culture of shared accountability and ensuring that data policies are effectively implemented across all business domains.
Defining the Technical Roadmap: Partner deeply with IT Engineering and Product teams to define what is built for governance. Using your technical chops and understanding of business needs, you will drive the technical roadmap to ensure our governance platform provides the infrastructure required for both compliance and AI enablement.
Executive Transparency & Communication: Serve as a trusted advisor to Senior Leadership, providing clear, data-backed reporting on the health, progress, and risks of the enterprise data ecosystem. You will translate complex technical governance issues into business impact, ensuring executive alignment and securing the necessary support for strategic data initiatives.
AI Modernization & Scale: Leverage AI to modernize and scale the governance program itself. You will implement AI-driven automation for metadata tagging, data quality monitoring, and policy enforcement, moving the program from manual stewardship to a scalable, automated platform.
AI Product Adoption & Governance: Drive the transition of high-potential AI products from early pilots into full-scale deployment.

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