Head of Data Governance

Role Overview

Head of Data Governance - senior lead responsible for the design, implementation and continuous improvement of Howden Group's data governance. Own the end to end governance operating model (policies, roles, processes, tooling and metrics), lead the Data Owners and Data Champions community across divisions and functions, and ensure governance extends to data used for AI / ML and advanced analytics.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the Group Data Governance strategy, framework and roadmap aligned with the Group Data & Analytics strategy and regulatory obligations.
• Define and run the governance operating model - data boards, data owners and data champions, escalation paths, KPIs and funding model.
• Develop and maintain group data policies (classification, access, retention, usage, ethics, PII handling) and ensure consistent adoption across Howden businesses.
• Establish audit and assurance processes to demonstrate compliance with internal policy, GDPR and other relevant regulations (ISO27001, UKGC, PCI where applicable).
• Work with the Head of AI Governance to implement Responsible AI and Model Governance frameworks covering model registries, training data governance, synthetic data policies, explainability, model monitoring (drift, bias) and escalation for material models.
• Define controls for use of LLMs and third party AI services (data leakage, prompt governance, vendor assessment, red team testing).
• Collaborate with InfoSec and Data Protection to design and monitor access controls (RBAC/ABAC), DLP, anonymisation/de identification practices and secure data environments for analytics and AI training.
• Build and run the Data Owners and Data Champions community - training, playbooks, runbooks and a community of practice to drive cultural change and adoption.
• Lead stakeholder engagement across the C suite, business lines and technology teams to embed governance into delivery and product lifecycles.
• Lead a small team of governance professionals and programme managers; manage budgets and external supplier relationships for governance.
• Report governance KPIs and risk to the CDO, Audit, Risk and relevant executive forums.

Qualifications & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in enterprise data governance, including several years in a senior, cross functional role building and running governance programmes at scale.
• Insurance or financial services experience, preferably - demonstrated understanding of regulatory requirements and sector data flows.
• Experience in AI / model governance (Responsible AI, model risk management or ML governance frameworks, model registries, explainability, drift detection and synthetic data controls).
• Hands on knowledge of metadata/catalog tooling and MDM; exposure to modern data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, lakehouse, data mesh concepts).
• Deep understanding of GDPR, data protection principles, DLP and IT security standards such as ISO27001; ability to work with DPOs and CISOs.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills with C level stakeholders; experience building and developing Data Owners/Stewards communities and leading small specialist teams.
• Experience preparing for and responding to audits / regulatory enquiries and evidence based assurance reporting.
• Education - degree in Computer Science, Information Management, Data Science, Business Information Systems or equivalent; advanced degree desirable.
• Additional qualifications - CISM, CISSP, CIPP, Responsible AI / ML governance certifications, advanced user/certification in Data Governance platforms (e.g., Collibra DQ, Informatica), cloud security and platform governance (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Optional - BCS Diploma in Business Analysis, CII Certification or similar insurance/data professional qualifications.

Benefits

Career development that you define. A culture that values diversity, innovation and collaboration. Reasonable adjustments and flexible arrangements where possible. The opportunity to drive impactful data governance across a global insurance group.