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Head of Data Governance – London (Hybrid)
About Howden
Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its core. We foster a collaborative, boundary-pushing culture united by a no-limits mindset, comprised of 23,000+ employees across over 100 countries. Our success stems from our people-first approach, where the greatest rewards come from collective effort and driving meaningful change.
People join Howden for personal growth—whether through career advancement, work/life balance, sustainability initiatives, or volunteering—but they stay for our culture and the empowered, inclusive environment that sets us apart.
What is the Role?
The Head of Data Governance acts as the senior lead responsible for designing, implementing, and continuously improving Howden’s Group-wide data governance framework. Reporting to the Chief Data Officer (CDO), you will:
- Own the end-to-end governance operating model, including policies, roles, processes, tooling, and metrics.
- Lead the Data Owners and Data Champions community across divisions to ensure governance scales for data, AI/ML, and analytics.
- Partner closely with the Data Platform, Data Protection Office, Information Security, Architecture, Technology, and business leaders to ensure data is trusted, discoverable, governed, and secure.
This role blends strategic leadership, delivery, stakeholder engagement, and team management, touching every layer of the organisation’s data ecosystem.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategy & Governance Operating Model
- Define and execute the Group Data Governance strategy, aligned with Howden’s Data & Analytics vision, regulatory requirements, and business goals.
- Design the governance framework (Data Boards, escalation paths, KPIs, funding models) and ensure consistency and adherence across all divisions.
2. Policies, Standards & Assurance
- Develop and enforce group-wide data policies across classification, access, retention, usage, ethics, and PII handling.
- Establish and manage audit processes, ensuring compliance with:
- GDPR
- PKI/PCIDSS
- ISO 27001
- UKGC (Gaming regulations, where applicable)
3. AI, Model & Vendor Governance
- Collaborate with the Head of AI Governance to implement Responsible AI initiatives, including:
- Model registries
- Training data governance
- Explainability requirements
- Model monitoring (for drift, bias, EA risk)
- Synthetic data and governance controls
- Outline controls for large language models (LLMs) and third-party AI services, covering:
- Data leakage prevention
- Prompt governance
- Vendor risk assessment
- Security red-team testing
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4. Access, Security & Privacy
- Work with Information Security and Data Protection teams to:
- Design and enforce RBAC and ABAC access controls
- Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and anonymisation measures
- Govern AI/ML training environments
5. Change, Adoption & Capability
- Drive cultural adoption through:
- Training programmes for Data Owners and Champions
- Developing reusable playbooks and runbooks
- Leading stakeholder engagement, embedding governance into product and delivery lifecycles.
- Engage deeply with C-suite, business leaders, and technical teams to align governance with operational strategies.
6. Delivery & Leadership
- Lead a small, targeted governance team (including programme managers) and manage governance-related budgets.
- Oversee third-party supplier relationships, assessing their governance maturity and compliance.
- Report governance KPIs and risks to the CDO, Audit, and relevant executive forums.
What Are We Looking For?
Essential Requirements
- 10+ years of professional experience, with at least several years in a senior, cross-functional data governance role (experience building and scaling governance programmes).
- Proven expertise in insurance or financial services, particularly in regulated environments: demonstrate understanding of SEORM (Risk Governance), regulatory compliance (e.g., ABI, MIRA).
- Hands-on experience in AI/ML governance, including:
- Responsible AI and model risk management frameworks
- Knowledge of model registries, explainability tools, drift monitoring, and synthetic data controls
- Practical experience embedding governance into ML pipeline lifecycles
- Strong technical grounding:
- Proficiency with metadata/catalogue tools (Collibra DQ, Informatica, Alation)
- Experience with data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, cloud lakes), including data mesh concepts
- Deep privacy and security competence:
- GDPR familiarity and experience working with Data Protection Officers (DPOs), CISOs, and compliance assurance.
- Versed in ISO 27001, DLP, access control frameworks.
- Leadership and stakeholder influence:
- Exceptional communication and C-level engagement skills.
- Proven experience developing Data Stewards/Owners communities and coaching technical teams.
- Regulatory expertise:
- Excessive audits and regulatory scrutiny; experience preparing evidence-based assurance reports.
- Education:
- Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Management, or Business Information Systems.
- Advanced degree desirable.
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**Desirable (Not Required)]
- Certifications:
- CISM, CISSP (or equivalent information security)
- CIPP (Information Privacy Professional)
- Experience with cloud governance (AWS/Azure/GCP) and platform security controls.
- Channels Intelligence or similar insurance/sectoral qualifications.
Why This Role Offers More Than Just a Job
Career Development
At Howden, your growth is unlimited. We empower our teams to drive innovation—whether developing novel insurance products, deregionalising AI, or overhauling data frameworks—all whilst fostering mid-response opportunities. Above all, you’ll have the bandwidth to define your career trajectory on how you define it.
Work/Life Integration
We believe wellbeing and fulfilment are interdependent. Here are a few tangible benefits:
- Transparent career progression aligned with personal ambitions.
- Flexible working policies. If your mission requires specialist or hybrid working, rest assured Howden’s doors remain open. If there are adjustments needed (flexibility, workspace adjustments), it’s a discussion—not a hurdle.
Diversity, Inclusion & Sustainability
Howden thrives on diverse voices, collaboration, and ownership. Our collective success story comes through innovation, problem-solving, and a shared commitment to sustainability.
Individual merit has no upper or lower limit: If you’ve got a bold idea or drive, our culture encourages—and rewards—your pursuit of it. Our policies are holistic: we strive to meet our colleagues where they are, understand individual needs, and remove barriers.
About Howden
Howden started in 1994 with three people and a dog. Today, our 23,000+ team manages over $37bn in insurance premiums—scaling globally while remaining employee-owned. Our stakeholders are the people here: culturally, financially, and ethos-driven, we see our uniqueness in inclusive collaboration and sales to doing good.
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