UK National Audit Office
Data Governance Manager
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Job Title: Data Governance Manager
Contract type: Permanent
Location: London or Newcastle with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office in line with our hybrid working policy.
Salary: Newcastle: Salary - c£56,875; London Salary - c£65,000 more may be available for exceptional candidates
Role overview
The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s main public sector audit body. Independent of government, we have responsibility for auditing the accounts of various public sector bodies, examining the propriety of government spending, assessing risks to financial control and accountability, and reviewing the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of programmes, projects, and activities.
The NAO is seeking a highly hands-on, operational Data Governance Manager. This role requires a proactive, hands-on individual to take full responsibility for data documentation, metadata, and data quality tooling. You will serve as the primary engine for keeping our data house in order, acting as the orchestrator for data stewards and owners to ensure maximum data fidelity without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Main purpose of the role
A critical component of this role is coordinating the smooth operational flow across a data operating model. By doing so, you will take hands-on responsibility for ensuring that the data is managed as a strategic asset while remaining secure, compliant, high quality and fit for purpose. You will be fully responsible for documenting it once defined and ensuring the day-to-day processes run seamlessly. You will bridge the gap between business users and technical teams, engaging the data engineering team when specific technical expertise or pipeline actions are required.
In This Role, You Will
- Take full, hands-on responsibility for the daily administration of our metadata management and data quality tools
- Author and maintain comprehensive documentation of our data assets, metadata, and the broader data operating model.
- Engage, coordinate, and act as the central point of contact for data stewards and data owners to enforce data quality and resolve issues at their root cause
This role reports into the Head of Business Architecture in the change and transformation team.
Main responsibilities
Data Governance Framework
- Develop and maintain the NAO’s Data Governance Framework
- Establish data policies, standards, principles and procedures
- Work with key stakeholders to ensure that governance requirements are embedded into business processes and technology solutions
- Lead the implementation of data ownership and stewardship models across the NAO
Data Quality Management
- Define and oversee NAO data quality standards and measures
- Accountable for monitoring data quality performance and working collaboratively with Data Stewards and the Data engineering team to orchestrate the remediation of complex data quality flaw
- Establish process for identifying, reporting and resolving data quality issues
Data Ownership & Stewardship
- Establish critical data assets and accountability for them
- Review and refine [where appropriate] the roles of Information Asset Owners, Data Owners and Data Stewards
- Work with IAOs, DOs and DSs to maintain asset inventories and catalogues
- Support areas in managing data throughout its lifecycle
Strategy, Architecture & Metadata
- Contribute to NAO Data Strategy development, lead data maturity assessments
- Work with the Enterprise & Data Architects to define and implement a blueprint from NAO Enterprise Data Architecture
- Oversee metadata management standards
- Maintain data definitions, classifications, and business glossaries
- Support master data management and reference data processes
- Champion the discoverability and re-use of NAO data assets
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Stakeholders, Literacy & Culture
- Chair or support data governance boards and working groups
- Provide expert advice on data governance matters
- Promote understanding of data ownership and accountability, encouraging good data management practices across the NAO
- Deliver training & awareness activities, support the development of a strong data culture
Key Skills / Competencies Required
The skill sets listed also include the corresponding skill level https://bit.ly/3S10PN6 (awareness; working; practitioner; expert):
- Communicating analysis & insight: you can turn complex data into compelling, clear and actionable stories, share data communication skills with the team and across government, present analysis and visualisations in clear ways to communicate complex messages, communicate negative and positive information to stakeholders, give tactical and strategic recommendations (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Communicating between Technical & non-technical: you can listen to and interpret the needs of technical and non-technical stakeholders, and manage their expectations, manage active and reactive communication, support or host difficult discussions within the team or with diverse senior stakeholders. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Ethics and privacy: you can work with stakeholders to identify and address ethical and privacy concerns, demonstrate and communicate how data ethical issues fit into the wider organisational context, research developments in data ethics and privacy to improve compliance and processes, assess and constructively challenge proposed data ethics policies. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Governance: you can implement and monitor data governance using standard, methodology throughout the data life cycle, within a large organisation, meet the requirement for relevant data governance accreditation, take responsibility for specific parts of a data governance framework within the organisation (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Innovation: You can test and evaluate the feasibility of unfamiliar and emerging technologies, as well as apply familiar technologies in new data contexts, share insights with the organisation including potential benefits, risks, and practical considerations, and recommend, design, and implement innovative data solutions aligned to organisational objectives, user needs, and operational constraints. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Life Cycle: You can apply data governance principles across the full data life cycle, ensuring best practice at each stage, demonstrate knowledge of relevant industry standards, drive continuous improvement to optimise governance processes, and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to strengthen organisational data governance capability. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Literacy Improvement: You can promote the importance of data literacy across all organisational levels, and identify training opportunities and initiatives to improve data skills and foster a data-driven culture. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Management: You can promote effective data governance and management policies across teams, monitor and enhance data management practices, and contribute to the development and adoption of tools, procedures, and methods that align with governance requirements. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Maturity: You can lead the adoption of data best practices, identify and communicate opportunities to improve data maturity, and drive initiatives to monitor and enhance maturity across the organisation. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Data Standards: You can develop data standards across subject areas and ensure senior leaders understand their importance, collaborate with subject matter experts to implement best practices, monitor compliance, and recommend appropriate actions to address any breaches. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Enabling and Informing Risk-Based Decisions: You can assess more complex or higher-impact risks, provide guidance on impact and alignment with risk tolerance, and apply appropriate risk methodologies proportionate to the situation. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Stakeholder Relationship Management: You can support the development of stakeholder understanding and communication strategies, identify and resolve issues, effectively influence stakeholders, and build strong, long-term relationships through clear and consistent engagement. (Skill level: Practitioner)
- Strategic Thinking: You can define strategies and policies, guide others in applying them within a strategic context, and evaluate existing approaches to ensure business needs are met and opportunities for improvement are realised. (Skill level: Practitioner)
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Essential criteria
- Proven, hands-on experience in data governance or data management roles, specifically focused on execution rather than high-level strategy.
- Significant experience administrating data governance tools (e.g., data catalogues, metadata management, and data quality platforms).
- Demonstrated experience creating and maintaining clear, comprehensive data documentation, business glossaries, and operating model process flows.
- Experience coordinating decentralized networks of data stewards, owners, or business subject matter experts to resolve data quality exceptions.
- Demonstrated experience translating governance policies into actionable, day-to-day tasks and workflows for business users.
To apply candidates should provide:
- An up-to-date CV
- A covering letter outlining briefly how you meet the essential criteria and why you are a good fit for the role.
The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 16th August
Selection process
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend 1st stage interview which will be held online on 7-8th September. Second-stage interviews will be held in person and will take place on 21-24th September.
Nationality Requirements:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas. Please contact us at hrservicedesk@nao.org.uk should you have any questions on your nationality eligibility.
Equal opportunities and diversity
Disability and Reasonable Adjustments: Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process (HR Service Desk HRServiceDesk@nao.org.uk).
We are committed to fair and open recruitment. All applications will be assessed on merit against the requirements of the role. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010.
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