Manager – Master Data & Governance

Badger Meter - Where Every Drop Counts and So Do You
 

At Badger Meter, we're more than a leading global water technology company - we're innovators with a mission: to preserve and protect the world's most precious resource. For over 120 years, our trusted solutions have enabled our customers to optimize the delivery and use of water, maximize revenue and reduce waste.

Every employee at Badger Meter is an important part of our success. Here, your work doesn't just move a business forward - it shapes a more sustainable future. We are committed to building a workplace where we celebrate differences, empower voices, and encourage fresh ideas that drive innovation.

When you join us, you'll find:

• Purpose-driven work that makes a real difference in communities around the globe.

• Career growth and development opportunities designed to help you achieve your potential.

• A supportive, inclusive culture where collaboration and creativity thrive.

Be part of something bigger. At Badger Meter, your contributions will ripple far beyond the workplace - creating lasting change for people and the planet.

What You Will Contribute:
 

The Manager, Master Data & Governance is responsible for establishing and leading the enterprise Master Data Management (MDM) and Data Governance program for Badger Meter. This role provides leadership for the policies, standards, processes, governance structures, and stewardship activities required to maintain high-quality, trusted, and scalable master data across the organization.

A key responsibility of this position is serving as the business lead for master data and governance activities associated with Badger Meter's enterprise ERP transformation. The role will partner closely with business leaders, process owners, and implementation team members to define future-state master data standards, oversee data quality initiatives, and ensure successful migration and governance of enterprise data within the ERP.

This position operates at the intersection of business operations and technology and is responsible for driving enterprise-wide alignment across Finance, Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, Sales, Customer Service, and Information Technology. The Manager, Master Data & Governance will establish sustainable governance practices that improve data integrity, support business processes, enhance reporting and analytics capabilities, and maximize the long-term value of the ERP platform.

Job Duties

ERP Transformation Leadership

• Lead enterprise master data strategy and governance activities supporting the ERP migration.

• Partner with ERP program leadership, business stakeholders, and implementation partners to define future-state master data models and governance processes.

• Develop and execute master data readiness plans, including data assessment, cleansing, standardization, enrichment, migration, validation, and cutover activities.

• Drive alignment of master data structures and business definitions with ERP platform best practices and future-state business processes.

• Facilitate cross-functional decisions regarding data ownership, standards, naming conventions, hierarchies, and governance requirements.

• Ensure master data risks, dependencies, and quality issues are identified and addressed throughout the ERP implementation lifecycle.

• Support testing, user acceptance activities, go-live readiness, and post-implementation stabilization efforts.

• Establish governance capabilities that support ongoing ERP operations following implementation.

Data Migration Leadership & Coordination

• Serve as the enterprise leader responsible for planning, coordinating, and governing all master data migration activities supporting the ERP transformation.

• Partner with business process owners, functional leads, technical teams, and implementation partners to define migration scope, priorities, dependencies, and success criteria.

• Establish and oversee data migration governance processes, including issue management, decision-making forums, escalation paths, and risk mitigation plans.

• Lead cross-functional efforts to identify, cleanse, standardize, enrich, and validate legacy data prior to migration.

• Coordinate data ownership and business accountability for conversion activities across Customer, Supplier, Material, Manufacturing, Location, and Financial master data domains.

• Together with the ERP solution integrator:

  • Develop and maintain the enterprise data migration strategy, roadmap, timeline, and readiness plans across all master data domains.

  • Direct data mapping, transformation, reconciliation, and validation activities.

  • Manage multiple migration cycles, mock conversions, dress rehearsals, and cutover activities to support project milestones and go-live readiness.

  • Define and monitor migration quality metrics, reconciliation controls, and acceptance criteria to ensure data integrity throughout the conversion process.

  • Facilitate business validation and sign-off processes for migrated data, ensuring readiness for deployment and operational use.

  • Collaborate with project management, change management, testing, and training teams to align migration activities with overall program objectives.

  • Establish post-go-live data stabilization and remediation processes to address conversion issues and support business adoption.

Master Data Management & Governance

• Develop and maintain enterprise-wide data governance policies, standards, procedures, and controls.

• Establish and lead governance councils, stewardship teams, and data ownership structures.

• Define responsibilities and accountability models for key master data domains.

• Implement governance workflows supporting the creation, approval, maintenance, and retirement of master data.

• Ensure compliance with corporate policies, internal controls, audit requirements, and regulatory obligations related to enterprise data.

Data Quality & Stewardship

• Develop and manage enterprise data quality programs, metrics, scorecards, and reporting.

• Establish monitoring processes to identify data quality issues and proactively drive corrective actions.

• Lead a network of business data stewards responsible for day-to-day data maintenance and governance activities.

• Facilitate root cause analysis and process improvements to prevent recurring data integrity issues.

• Promote data ownership and accountability throughout the organization.

Business Process & Organizational Alignment

• Collaborate with business leaders to ensure data governance practices support operational excellence and decision-making.

• Drive standardization of master data definitions, business rules, and data management processes across business units and locations.

• Support organizational change management efforts related to the ERP implementation and data governance adoption.

• Serve as a trusted advisor on master data strategy, governance practices, and data-related business decisions.

Reporting & Analytics Enablement

• Partner with Business Intelligence, Analytics, and ERP teams to improve the reliability and consistency of reporting data.

• Ensure master data supports enterprise reporting, performance management, regulatory reporting, and advanced analytics initiatives.

• Identify opportunities to leverage automation, workflow technologies, and governance tools to improve operational efficiency.

Education and Experienc

• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Finance, Data Management, or a related discipline required.

• 5+ years of experience in Master Data Management, Data Governance, ERP systems, Business Process Management, or related disciplines.

• Experience leading cross-functional business initiatives involving multiple departments and stakeholders.

• Experience supporting enterprise systems and business process transformation initiatives.

• Experience developing governance frameworks, policies, standards, and operating procedures.

Qualifications:

• Strong understanding of enterprise master data domains and governance principles.
• Knowledge of ERP business processes including Finance, Procurement, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Inventory, Sales, and Customer Operations.
• Understanding of data quality management, stewardship programs, workflow controls, and lifecycle management processes.
• Familiarity with SAP S/4HANA master data architecture and governance capabilities.
• Experience with data migration, data cleansing, and data validation methodologies.
• Working knowledge of reporting and analytics platforms such as Power BI.
• Experience participating in or leading ERP implementation, migration, or transformation programs, with SAP S/4HANA implementation experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with SAP Master Data Governance (MDG) or similar MDM platforms.
• Manufacturing industry experience.
• Experience managing data migration and conversion activities from legacy ERP systems.

Competencies:

• Execution: Ensuring others contribute to organization strategies by focusing them on the most critical priorities; measuring progress and ensuring accountability against those metrics.

• Aligning Performance for Success: Focusing and managing individual performance by helping others set performance goals, and then tracking results and evaluating performance effectiveness.

• Decision Making: Identify and understand problems and opportunities by gathering, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative information; choose the best course of action by establishing clear decision criteria, generating, and evaluating alternatives, and making timely decisions; take action that is consistent with available facts and constraints and optimizes probable consequences.

• Coaching: Engaging an individual in developing and committing to an action plan that targets specific behaviors, skills or knowledge needed to ensure performance improvement or prepare for success in new responsibilities.

• Delegation and Empowerment: Identifying and leveraging opportunities to accelerate results and build capability by assigning tasks and decision-making responsibilities to individuals or teams with clear boundaries, expectations, support, and follow-up.

Working Conditions:

• Work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment

• Requires prolonged periods of talking/listening

• Must be able to sit for prolonged periods of time

Competitive Total Rewards at Badger Meter:

• Competitive Pay

• Annual Bonus

• Eligible for Annual Pay Increases

• Comprehensive Health, Vision, and Dental Coverage 

• 15 days Paid Time Off + 11 Paid Holidays  

• Two Ways to Save for Retirement: Badger Meter contributes 25 cents for every dollar you contribute to the plan, up to 7% of your eligible compensation.  In addition to the match, the company will also contribute 5% of your eligible compensation to your Defined Contribution account on an annual basis. Additional access to a certified financial planner to help ensure your money is working for you, at no cost!

• Employer Paid benefits including: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Basic Group Life Insurance, Short Term Disability, and more

• Educational Assistance – Tuition Reimbursement up to $5,250 

• Voluntary benefits including: Additional Life Insurance, Long Term Disability, Accident and Critical Illness coverage

• Health Savings Account (HSA) & Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. This company considers candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. Applicants can learn more about their rights regarding equal opportunity in employment by viewing the federal "EEO is the Law" poster and the “EEO is the Law” poster supplement at http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/ofccpost.htm

Badger Meter complies with all aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, and all applicable state or local disability laws. This means that we will reasonably accommodate qualified employees with a disability if accommodation would allow them to perform the essential functions of their job, unless doing so would create an undue hardship.  

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