Product Owner - Data Governance

Aquent is proud to partner with a leading organization at the forefront of innovation within a vital industry. This company is dedicated to maximizing the value, quality, and usability of its critical data assets, shaping the future through robust standards and practices. This is an exceptional opportunity to make a significant impact, directly contributing to strategic objectives and operational excellence by empowering advanced analytics and AI initiatives.

Step into a pivotal leadership role where you will be instrumental in transforming how our partner organization leverages its information. This isn't just about managing data; it's about driving the evolution of data governance and data quality across key operational areas, ensuring transparency, integrity, and strategic value. You will be at the forefront of translating complex business needs and data challenges into actionable product initiatives and governance requirements, directly shaping data-driven decisions that propel the company's success. Your influence will extend to establishing standards that support cutting-edge analytics and artificial intelligence applications, making a tangible difference in a dynamic and impactful environment.

About the Role

We are seeking a visionary leader to take on a critical role in data governance and quality. This is an exciting opportunity to drive the strategic evolution of how our partner organization utilizes its most valuable asset: data. You will be the architect of robust data practices, directly influencing decision-making, enabling advanced analytics, and powering future AI initiatives. If you are passionate about data integrity, strategic impact, and leading transformative change, this is where you belong. You will lead the charge in shaping the future of data, ensuring it is a trusted, powerful engine for innovation and operational excellence.

What You'll Do

• Serve as a primary driver and data steward for data governance and data quality workstreams within operational teams, leading the charge in data integrity and excellence.
• Collaborate closely with business stakeholders, technology teams, data owners, and enterprise data governance offices to align strategies and cultivate a data-driven culture.
• Translate diverse business needs and complex data challenges into clear, prioritized product initiatives, features, user stories, and governance requirements.
• Lead efforts to establish and maintain robust data governance standards, policies, processes, and controls, building the foundation for reliable data assets.
• Drive continuous improvements in data quality, metadata management, and data controls as new analytics use cases and data sources are integrated.
• Influence the application of data governance standards to ensure they effectively support current and emerging analytics and AI initiatives, pushing the boundaries of data utilization.
• Identify data gaps, pinpoint root causes of data issues, and implement proactive process improvements to enhance data integrity and usability across the organization.

Must-Have Qualifications

• Proven experience in Data Governance, including establishing policies, standards, controls, and stewardship programs.
• Expertise in Product Backlog Management, encompassing epics, features, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Strong background in Data Quality Management, including data profiling, issue identification, and implementing quality controls.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Metadata Management and Data Catalog Management.
• Solid experience with Agile/Scrum Product Ownership methodologies.
• Significant Product Owner experience, specifically managing roadmap and backlog priorities.
• Exceptional ability to translate complex business needs into clear requirements, user stories, and governance initiatives.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, capable of effectively collaborating across business, IT, analytics, and data teams.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in Data Governance and Data Quality.
• Adept at identifying gaps, analyzing root causes, and driving impactful process improvements.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience within a heavily regulated industry.
• Proficiency in SQL for data analysis, validation, and investigation.
• Familiarity with Data Catalog tools such as Collibra, Alation, Informatica, or Microsoft Purview.
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau, or other analytics/reporting tools.
• Background in supporting AI, advanced analytics, or other data-driven business initiatives.
• Experience with Oracle Customer Care & Billing (CC&B).