Data Quality and Metadata Lead

Job Summary

We are seeking a hands-on Senior Manager, Data Quality and Metadata Lead to join our IT Data and AI Platform organization and operationalize a core pillar of Otsuka's Information Governance Program. In this role, you will define and deliver the frameworks, standards, tools, and enablement services that make enterprise data trusted, well-described, and discoverable—for both structured and unstructured content.

This role is anchored by three strategic pillars: (1) advancing data quality maturity by defining guidance, frameworks, and training that empower data domain teams to measure, monitor, and improve the quality of their data; (2) establishing metadata and lineage standards that make data assets self-describing, traceable, and connected across the enterprise; and (3) operationalizing platforms such as the enterprise data catalogue and data quality tools so that governance is embedded in the flow of work.

At Otsuka, we defy limitation, so that others can too. We have an unwavering belief in doing more. In transcending expectations. In going above and beyond—under any circumstances—for patients, families, providers, and for each other. It's this deep-rooted dedication that drives us to uncover answers to complex, underserved medical needs, so that patients can push past the limitations of their disease and achieve more than they thought was possible each and every day.

We believe that the bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity. We are doing everything in our power to live up to our mission of creating new products for better health worldwide in two important therapeutic categories: neuroscience and nephrology.

Job Description

The Senior Manager, Data Quality and Metadata Lead will be a key member of the Information Governance team, responsible for establishing and evolving Otsuka's enterprise data quality and metadata management practices. The Senior Manager will partner with Data Stewards, Data Owners, Data Product Owners, and the Enterprise Data Catalogue Platform Owner to translate governance strategy into practical guidance, actionable playbooks, and adopted tools.

Core Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

Data Quality Framework & Standards

• Define and maintain the enterprise Data Quality Framework, including dimensions (accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, validity, uniqueness), scoring models, thresholds, and remediation practices.
• Establish standards, guardrails, and reusable patterns for data profiling, rule definition, monitoring, and issue management across data domains.
• Publish playbooks, templates, and reference implementations that data domain teams can adopt to accelerate their data quality journey.
• Continuously evolve the framework to reflect emerging best practices, regulatory requirements, and lessons learned from domain implementations.

Data Quality Enablement & Support

• Provide hands-on guidance, coaching, and training to Data Stewards, Data Owners, and Data Product Owners on data quality practices, tools, and metrics.
• Support data domain teams in defining data quality rules, building dashboards, and interpreting results—especially during early adoption.
• Establish a Data Quality Community of Practice to share knowledge, patterns, and lessons learned across domains.
• Partner with domain teams to prioritize and resolve high-impact data quality issues, driving measurable improvement over time.

Metadata & Lineage Management

• Define enterprise standards for business, technical, and operational metadata covering both structured (databases, data warehouses, files) and unstructured (documents, media, content) data.
• Establish guidance for capturing and maintaining data lineage end-to-end—from source systems through pipelines, transformations, analytics, and AI consumption layers.
• Define metadata enrichment practices that support discovery, semantic understanding, and AI grounding (in partnership with the Information Architect).
• Ensure metadata practices support regulatory traceability (e.g., GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, GDPR) and audit readiness.

Platform Operationalization

• Partner with the Enterprise Data Catalogue Platform Owner to operationalize the catalogue (Atlan) as the source of truth for metadata, lineage, and data assets.
• Collaborate with data quality tool owners (e.g., Ataccama DQM) to configure, extend, and adopt the platform in support of domain use cases.
• Define integration patterns between the catalogue, data quality tools, MDM platforms, data pipelines, and analytics platforms to automate metadata capture and quality monitoring.
• Contribute to platform roadmaps and requirements to ensure they meet the evolving needs of the Information Governance program.

Reporting, Metrics & Continuous Improvement

• Define and publish enterprise data quality and metadata KPIs (e.g., coverage, quality scores, lineage completeness, catalogue adoption).
• Provide regular reporting to the Information Governance Lead and stakeholders on program progress, adoption, and business value.
• Drive continuous improvement of practices, tools, and standards based on metrics, feedback, and industry trends.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with the Associate Director, Information Architecture to ensure metadata standards align with taxonomies, ontologies, and semantic assets.
• Collaborate with Data Stewards, Data Owners, and Data Product Owners as their primary IT partner for data quality and metadata topics.
• Engage with Information Security, Legal, and Compliance to embed sensitivity, classification, and regulatory metadata into the framework.
• Support the broader Information Governance program by contributing to governance forums, councils, and cross-functional initiatives.

Qualifications

Knowledge / Experience and Skills:

• Minimum of 6+ years of experience in Data Quality, Metadata Management, Data Governance, or a related discipline, with at least 2 years in a lead or senior individual contributor capacity.
• Deep working knowledge of Data Quality best practices and frameworks (e.g., DAMA-DMBOK, DCAM, ISO 8000), including profiling, rule authoring, monitoring, and remediation.
• Hands-on experience with Data Quality tools and platforms (Ataccama DQM, Informatica IDQ, Collibra DQ, Talend, or equivalent) is a must.
• Strong expertise in Metadata Management covering business, technical, and operational metadata, with experience across structured and unstructured data.
• Experience with Enterprise Data Catalogues (Atlan strongly preferred; Collibra, Alation, Informatica EDC also relevant).
• Solid understanding of data lineage concepts, tools, and implementation patterns across modern data ecosystems (ELT, streaming, APIs).
• Experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or life sciences industry with knowledge of pharma data, data flows, and business processes (strongly preferred).
• Working knowledge of cloud data platforms (AWS, Azure, Snowflake) and modern data stack tools (Matillion, dbt, etc.).
• Familiarity with pharmaceutical regulatory requirements (e.g., GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, GDPR, HIPAA) and their implications for data quality and metadata.
• Understanding of AI/ML and GenAI data readiness concepts, including the role of quality and metadata in RAG pipelines and LLM grounding.
• Strong analytical, systematic problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate technical topics for diverse audiences and produce clear guidance and training materials.
• Experience delivering initiatives using Agile / SDLC practices.
• Experience working with globally distributed business and IT teams, including engagements with Japan, EU, and India.
• Customer-Focused: Anticipates user needs and delivers practical, value-driven solutions.
• Accountable: Owns technical deliverables and outcomes.
• Innovative: Challenges the status quo and champions new ideas.
• Collaborative: Builds strong partnerships across disciplines and cultures.
• Ethical: Demonstrates integrity and aligns with Otsuka's corporate values.
• Resilient: Adapts quickly to new challenges and shifting priorities.
• Up to 10-15% travel is required, based upon business needs.

Educational Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Science, Computer Science, Data Management, Engineering, or a related field (required).
• Master's degree in Data Management, Information Science, Health Informatics, or a related field (preferred).

Certifications (Preferred)

• CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional) – DAMA International
• DCAM (Data Management Capability Assessment Model) – EDM Council
• Vendor-specific certifications: Atlan, Ataccama, Collibra, Informatica
• Cloud data certifications (Snowflake, AWS, Azure)
• ITIL Foundation or comparable IT service management certification
• Six Sigma or process improvement certifications (advantageous)

Disclaimer

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the people assigned to this position. It is not intended to include every job duty and responsibility specific to the position. Otsuka reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet business and organizational needs as necessary.

Otsuka is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to their protected veteran or disabled status, or any protected status.

The Senior Manager, Data Quality and Metadata Lead is a hands-on senior technical role responsible for operationalizing the data quality and metadata pillars of Otsuka's Information Governance program. The Senior Manager will define frameworks, provide enablement to data domain teams, and operationalize platforms such as the enterprise data catalogue and data quality tools.

The work centers on three areas:

• defining and evolving enterprise data quality frameworks and providing hands-on support to data domain teams
• establishing metadata and lineage standards for both structured and unstructured data
• operationalizing platforms (Atlan, Ataccama) to make governance an integral part of the data lifecycle

This role requires close collaboration with Data Stewards, Data Owners, Data Product Owners, the Enterprise Data Catalogue Platform Owner, and the Associate Director, Information Architecture, reporting to the Information Governance Lead as a core member of the Information Governance program.

Competencies
Accountability for Results - Stay focused on key strategic objectives, be accountable for high standards of performance, and take an active role in leading change.
Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving - Make decisions considering the long-term impact to customers, patients, employees, and the business.
Patient & Customer Centricity - Maintain an ongoing focus on the needs of our customers and/or key stakeholders.
Impactful Communication - Communicate with logic, clarity, and respect. Influence at all levels to achieve the best results for Otsuka.
Respectful Collaboration - Seek and value others’ perspectives and strive for diverse partnerships to enhance work toward common goals.
Empowered Development - Play an active role in professional development as a business imperative.

Minimum $150,034.00 - Maximum $224,250.00, plus incentive opportunity: The range shown represents a typical pay range or starting pay for individuals who are hired in the role to perform in the United States. Other elements may be used to determine actual pay such as the candidate’s job experience, specific skills, and comparison to internal incumbents currently in role. Typically, actual pay will be positioned within the established range, rather than at its minimum or maximum. This information is provided to applicants in accordance with states and local laws.

Company benefits:  Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, company provided basic life, accidental death & dismemberment, short-term and long-term disability insurance, tuition reimbursement, student loan assistance, a generous 401(k) match, flexible time off, paid holidays, and paid leave programs as well as other company provided benefits.

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Disclaimer: 

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the people assigned to this position. It is not intended to include every job duty and responsibility specific to the position. Otsuka reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet business and organizational needs as necessary. 

Otsuka is an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will be given consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, national origin, veteran status, marital status, or any other legally protected characteristic.   

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you may request a reasonable accommodation, if you are unable or limited in your ability to apply to this job opening as a result of your disability.  You can request reasonable accommodations by contacting [email protected]. 

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Otsuka will not be held liable or responsible for any claims, losses, damages or expenses resulting from job recruiting scams. If you suspect a position is fraudulent, please contact Otsuka’s call center at: 800-363-5670. If you believe you are the victim of fraud resulting from a job recruiting scam, please contact the FBI through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at: https://www.ic3.gov,  or your local authorities.

Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc., and Otsuka Precision Health, Inc. (“Otsuka”) does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities.  All CVs/resumes submitted by search firms to any Otsuka employee directly or through Otsuka’s application portal without a valid written search agreement in place for the position will be considered Otsuka’s sole property.  No fee will be paid if a candidate is hired by Otsuka as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.