Data Governance Platforms & Workflow Product Associate Director

Position Summary:

The Governance Platforms & Workflow Product SME is an Associate Director role within the Global Data Stewardship Office, combining data governance expertise, technology product management and hands-on implementation. The role turns approved governance standards, decision rights and control requirements into practical platform configurations, integrations and stewardship workflows. It leads functional product direction for assigned governance capabilities, translating business and user needs into requirements, roadmaps, prioritised backlogs and measurable acceptance criteria in partnership with designated Technology Product Owners and platform teams. It delivers scoped configurations and integrations and coordinates design, testing, approved release, adoption and operational handover within approved architecture, security and delivery parameters. Working with business, data and technology stakeholders across a global, federated organisation, the role simplifies stewardship and measures business value, adoption and control effectiveness. Functional product leadership does not confer formal Technology Product Owner accountability or change the accountabilities of Data Owners, designated control owners or platform teams.

Essential Functions of the Job:

• Lead functional product vision, roadmap and prioritised backlog development for assigned governance platforms and workflows, in partnership with designated Technology Product Owners. Conduct discovery with business users, Service Lines, Service Line Quality, Data Owners, Data Stewards and control teams; translate needs into business, functional and non-functional requirements and coordinate dependencies with product and platform owners.
• Apply business governance expertise to modern data platforms and AI environments; evaluate governance platform capabilities and deliver proofs of concept and scoped implementations for catalogues, stewardship workflows and technology-enabled controls within authorised environments.
• Translate approved standards and decision rights into technical specifications, user stories, metadata schemas, machine-readable rules and measurable acceptance criteria; configure and validate roles, permissions, forms, rules, workflows and notifications within approved patterns.
• Design, configure and validate practical journeys for Data Owners and Data Stewards, including onboarding, issue management, attestations, certification, approvals and evidence capture, with accountable decisions, exceptions and escalation pathways.
• Prioritise requirements by business value, control outcomes, user experience, delivery effort and adoption needs. Facilitate decisions, negotiate priorities and resolve dependencies across business and technology teams; make trade-offs visible and escalate unresolved conflicts or decisions outside delegated authority.
• Partner with Technology Product Owners on solution design, release decisions and the sequencing of platform improvements; deliver assigned configurations and supported API, connector or scripting-based integrations, connecting trusted metadata with governance workflows, approvals and downstream controls.
• Develop prototypes to validate user journeys and implementation options; embed governance checkpoints and measurable acceptance criteria into design, build and release. Execute configuration and integration testing, coordinate business testing and user acceptance, resolve assigned defects and prepare release, rollback and support documentation for deployment by authorised teams and subsequent adoption.
• Agree and monitor measures of business value, usability, workflow completion, adoption, service performance and control effectiveness with relevant stakeholders and designated control owners. Use feedback and implementation evidence to improve the roadmap, workflows and user experience.
• Maintain traceability from approved source requirements through backlog, configuration or integration, testing, release and control evidence; document solutions and transition scoped capabilities to designated support owners.

Analytical/Decision Making Responsibilities:

• Exercises the judgement expected of an Associate Director when setting functional product direction and balancing governance outcomes, user needs, delivery effort and platform constraints.
• Turns complex or ambiguous requirements into clear product choices, prioritised backlog items and testable acceptance criteria.
• Evaluates options using evidence from users, process performance, control outcomes, dependencies, delivery capacity and adoption measures.
• Assesses implementation options, platform constraints, integration dependencies, maintainability and control effectiveness. Selects configuration and automation approaches within approved patterns and delegated authority; recommends process changes, future platform investment or interim controls and evidence arrangements for approval by the relevant accountable owners where capability gaps remain.
• Takes responsibility for the design, configuration, integration, testing and implementation evidence of assigned governance platform and workflow capabilities within delegated authority. Presents options, impacts and recommendations and escalates decisions requiring policy owner, Data Owner, designated control owner, risk, enterprise architecture, security, investment or technology approval.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements:

• Strong technology product management capability across business and user discovery, business, functional and non-functional requirements, roadmaps, prioritised backlogs, user stories and measurable acceptance criteria. Ability to apply these practices through practical implementation, agile delivery, release planning, adoption, operational handover and measurement of business value and control effectiveness.
• Practical expertise in ownership, stewardship, decision rights and metadata, with working knowledge of classification, quality, lineage, access, permitted use and lifecycle controls sufficient to implement approved requirements. Hands-on skills in governance platform configuration, metadata modelling, stewardship workflows, certification rules and workflow automation; ability to assess capability fit and connect trusted metadata with approvals, monitoring and control evidence.
• Ability to translate approved governance standards and decision rights into technical specifications, user stories, metadata schemas, machine-readable rules, configured roles, permissions, forms and workflows, and measurable acceptance criteria, maintaining traceability from source requirements to implementation and control evidence.
• Practical technical knowledge of metadata models, audit trails, dashboards, cloud data platforms, APIs, connectors, integrations and notifications; ability to use SQL and an appropriate scripting language, such as Python, to validate metadata, workflow rules and supported integrations.
• Strong product judgement and the ability to balance value, control outcomes, usability, effort and platform constraints.
• Ability to engage business, Service Line Quality, governance, risk, data and technology stakeholders; explain technical concepts in practical business language and translate business needs into implementable solutions. Builds agreement on delivery, adoption and outcomes and influences stakeholders outside the reporting line in a global, federated organisation.
• Structured problem solving, workshop facilitation, evidence-based decision making and practical change leadership, including negotiating priorities, resolving dependencies and explaining delivery trade-offs.
• Working knowledge of version control, environment separation, configuration and integration testing, defect management, approved deployment and rollback, least-privilege access and secure handling of credentials. Strong focus on adoption, service performance and continuous improvement; ability to document solutions and transition scoped capabilities to designated support owners.
• Applied knowledge of relevant data governance, stewardship and metadata practices, informed by recognised references such as DAMA-DMBOK and EDM Council DCAM, and familiarity with CDMC automated control concepts for sensitive data in cloud environments. These references guide practical implementation rather than imply formal compliance or certification. Familiarity with relevant principles from ISO/IEC 38505, ISO 8000, ISO/IEC 27001, NIST guidance and ISO 15489 is advantageous where applicable to assigned capabilities.

Supervision Responsibilities:

• Operates with a high degree of independence within approved governance, product and delivery parameters, with direction on major priorities and material accountability decisions.
• Has no direct reports and no indirect supervisory accountability.
• Provides functional product leadership and coordinates work across governance, business and technology teams; people management accountability remains with the relevant team leaders.

Other Requirements:

• Works globally across the Global Data Stewardship Office and partners with the Global Data Office, Client Technology, Enterprise Technology, Information Security, Global Data Protection, General Counsel’s Office, relevant Risk and Business Administration teams, Service Lines, Service Line Quality, Regions and EY member firms.
• Engages Service Lines, Service Line Quality and the wider data ecosystem, including the Global Data Office (GDO), Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Regional Data Stewards, alongside Technology Product Owners, architects, platform and engineering teams, Data Owners, Data Stewards, designated control owners and programme teams. Builds agreement on implementation scope, requirements, priorities, approved releases, adoption plans and operational handover. Aligns platform and workflow capabilities to DSO strategy, the Global Data Stewardship Policy and priorities approved through relevant EY governance forums.
• Leads functional requirements and delivers assigned configurations, integrations and validation within approved access, architecture, security and change controls. Data Owners, Data Stewards and policy and designated control owners retain their respective accountabilities; Technology Product Owners, product teams and platform owners retain their product and platform accountabilities. Policy ownership, enterprise architecture authority, security approval, infrastructure engineering, production change authority and production operations remain with designated accountable functions. The role coordinates specialist support and handover and does not replace Legal, Privacy, Information Security, Records Management or Internal Audit responsibilities.
• Location, employment terms, flexibility and travel requirements are subject to business and local policy requirements.

Job Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent tertiary qualification in information systems, computer science, software or data engineering, data science or a related technical discipline, or equivalent substantial professional experience in technology implementation. Relevant data governance, information management and product management knowledge is essential; candidates from business, product management or information management disciplines must demonstrate equivalent technical foundations and practical implementation capability.

Experience:

• 7 or more years of relevant experience, including substantial leadership in functional product management, platforms, workflows or business analysis within data governance or data management.
• Demonstrated experience applying technology product management practices to deliver governance platform and workflow capabilities from user discovery, roadmap and backlog definition through solution design, hands-on configuration or integration, testing, approved release, adoption and operational handover.
• Hands-on implementation experience with at least one enterprise data governance or workflow platform is essential, including configuring metadata models, ownership and stewardship workflows, roles, permissions, forms or approved governance rules, and implementing and validating supported integrations with cloud data platforms, APIs or automation tools. Candidates must demonstrate practical delivery and implementation evidence alongside requirements or advisory expertise.
• Experience translating business and user needs and approved governance requirements into business, functional and non-functional requirements, user stories, technical specifications and measurable acceptance criteria, with traceability to configuration, integration, testing and control evidence.
• Experience delivering prototypes, configuration and integration testing, defect resolution, user acceptance, release readiness and support handover within approved delivery controls. Evidence of measurable improvements from technology-enabled governance, such as faster stewardship onboarding or approvals, improved workflow completion, increased adoption or automated control evidence.
• Experience working across a global, federated organisation, engaging business, data and technology stakeholders and influencing stakeholders who do not report directly to the role. Demonstrated ability to explain technical options in business terms, facilitate decisions, negotiate priorities and build agreement on delivery, adoption and outcomes.
• Experience with Microsoft Purview, Collibra, Informatica, Alation, ServiceNow or Power Platform is advantageous. Comparable enterprise governance or workflow platform experience is equally relevant; experience with every named platform is not required.

Certification Requirements:

• Relevant credentials such as DAMA CDMP, product management, agile, business analysis, cloud, data platform or governance and workflow platform certifications are advantageous but not mandatory.

What we offer you
The compensation ranges below are provided in order to comply with United States pay transparency laws. Other geographies will follow their local salary guidelines, which may not be a direct conversion of published US salary ranges. At EY, we harness our collective strength to empower you to shape your future with confidence through professional growth, personal fulfillment and an inclusive culture. Learn more at ey.com/us/careers.

• We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to the business.  The base salary range for this job is: 
  • New York City, Boston, and Washington DC Metro Areas, Washington State, and Southern California offices – $180,000 to $324,000
  • Bay Area California offices – $187,500 to $337,500
  • All other offices locations in the US, including Sacramento – $150,000 to $297,000
• Individual salaries within these ranges are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge, skills and geography.  In addition, our Total Rewards package includes medical and dental coverage, pension and 401(k) plans, and a wide range of paid time off options.
• Under our flexible vacation policy, you’ll decide how much vacation time you need based on your own personal circumstances. You’ll also be granted time off for designated EY Paid Holidays, Winter/Summer breaks, Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well-being.

Are you ready to shape your future with confidence? Apply today.                                              

• To make the most of your application experience, please limit yourself to two applications within a six-month period.
• EY accepts applications for this position on an on-going basis.
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