Master Data Management Lead - Master Data Management

Nelnet Business Services (NBS), a division of Nelnet, Inc., provides payment technology and education services to more than 1,200 higher education institutions, nearly 12,000 K-12 schools, and millions of individual students, families, and supporters across the globe. Our culture of service enables us to form long-lasting and trusted partnerships, while our focus on creativity and innovative solutions empowers our customer communities to thrive.

The Master Data Management (MDM) Lead owns the definition of customer, institution, and payment identity
across Nelnet Business Services systems, including CRM platforms, enterprise payment and enrollment systems,
and the Snowflake data platform. The role authors the match rules, thresholds, and survivorship logic that
determine which record is authoritative when systems disagree, owns the canonical identifier architecture those
rules produce, and independently validates that production pipelines enforce the standard as written. It sits
within Data Governance and remains independent of the teams that build and operate the pipelines, preserving
the separation between defining what “correct” means and executing against it, while working daily alongside
data engineering, system owners, and implementation partners through CRM migration and consolidation
efforts.

The Master Data Management (MDM) Lead owns the definition of customer, institution, and payment identity across Nelnet Business Services systems, including CRM platforms, enterprise payment and enrollment systems, and the Snowflake data platform. The role authors the match rules, thresholds, and survivorship logic that determine which record is authoritative when systems disagree, owns the canonical identifier architecture those rules produce, and independently validates that production pipelines enforce the standard as written. It sits within Data Governance and remains independent of the teams that build and operate the pipelines, preserving the separation between defining what “correct” means and executing against it, while working daily alongside data engineering and system owners.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES: • Author, document, and maintain the match rules, thresholds, and survivorship logic that define golden records for customer, institution, and payment identity across NBS systems. • Own the canonical identifier architecture, including canonical institution and customer IDs, and define where those identifiers are assigned, stored, and enforced across the system landscape. • Establish formal entity resolution between business unit CRM records, replacing informal name and tax ID matching with documented, repeatable, business-approved match logic. • Define system of record and ownership rules for master data attributes, and adjudicate conflicts where multiple systems claim authority over the same entity or field. • Partner with data engineering to translate the match rulebook into production pipelines, and independently validate that pipeline output conforms to the approved standard. • Establish match quality thresholds and monitoring, including false positive and false negative review, and define manual stewardship workflows for records that cannot be resolved automatically. • Direct remediation of duplicate, conflicting, and orphaned master records at production volume, in coordination with the data quality program. • Embed master data requirements into system implementations, migrations, and integration design, including sequencing requirements for identifier assignment prior to data load. • Review vendor and implementation partner proposals covering identity resolution, migration mapping, and data acceptance criteria, and confirm scope boundaries before work is contracted. • Maintain version control, change history, and business approval records for all match and survivorship rules so that every value can be traced to its source system and governing rule. • Provide resolved, consistently keyed master data to downstream analytics, reporting, and AI initiatives, and advise on the identity requirements of new use cases before they are built. • Facilitate master data decisions with business unit data product owners and stewardship forums, and escalate unresolved ownership disputes to the Director with clear recommendations. • Report on master data coverage, match rates, duplicate volumes, and remediation progress to the Director and program stakeholders.

EDUCATION • Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Data Analytics, Computer Science, Business, or related field. • Professional certifications related to data management or master data management (e.g., DAMA CDMP or similar) preferred. EXPERIENCE Required • 5+ years of experience in master data management, data quality, data engineering, or related data management roles. • Demonstrated experience authoring match rules, thresholds, and survivorship logic for one or more master data domains (customer, account, party, product, or similar). • Experience designing identity resolution and golden record logic across multiple source systems. • Experience working with enterprise CRM data models (Creatio, Salesforce, HubSpot, or comparable). • Experience with cloud data warehouse platforms (Snowflake or comparable), including SQL proficiency sufficient for profiling, match testing, and validation. • Experience producing governance documentation that business owners, auditors, and external partners can act on without further interpretation. Preferred • Experience supporting system migrations, consolidations, or platform implementations from a master data or data governance perspective. • Experience in a multi-brand or multi-entity organization where the same customer legitimately exists in more than one business unit's systems. • Experience with MDM tooling or match and merge engines, and with data catalog platforms (e.g., Atlan). • Experience overseeing external implementation vendors or contractors on data migration or identity resolution scope.

Our benefits package includes medical, dental, vision, HSA and FSA, generous earned time off, 401K/student loan repayment, life insurance & AD&D insurance, employee assistance program, employee stock purchase program, tuition reimbursement, performance-based incentive pay, short- and long-term disability, and a robust wellness program. Click here to learn more about our benefits: Benefits & Perks - Nelnet Inc

Nelnet is committed to providing a welcoming and respectful workplace where all associates have the opportunity to succeed. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we ensure that all qualified applicants are considered for employment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion/creed, national origin, gender, sex, marital status, age, disability, use of a guide dog or service animal, sexual orientation, military/veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. We value the unique contributions of every team member and believe that a positive work environment benefits everyone.  

Qualified individuals with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations in order to apply or compete for positions at Nelnet may request such accommodations by contacting Corporate Recruiting at 402-486-5725 or [email protected].

Nelnet is a Drug Free and Tobacco Free Workplace.

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