Job Description

General Description:

As Associate Director of R&D Data Governance, you will spearhead governance framework execution, guide data stewards, operationalize policies and controls, and deliver governed data products. Partnering with research, clinical, safety, regulatory, and other R&D teams, you will ensure data quality and compliance, streamline processes, and leverage AI/GenAI innovations to elevate data practices and contribute to generating value across the drug-development lifecycle.

Essential Functions of the job :

• Governance Framework Implementation

• Roll out and maintain data governance policies, standards, and SOPs across R&D domains.

• Translate governance standards into measurable business outcomes, define target KPIs (e.g., reduced time-to-insight, improved decision accuracy), align with R&D objectives, and drive execution roadmaps.

• Data Stewardship Leadership

• Lead and mentor the data steward team-assign stewardship domains, define workflows, and report progress.

• Convene regular steward forums to share best practices, resolve data issues, and reinforce governance disciplines.

• Capability Deployment & Enablement

• Drive deployment of data governance tools (metadata catalog, data lineage, access controls) and integrate them into the enterprise data platform.

• Develop user enablement materials such as training modules, quick-reference guides, and drop-in support sessions, to accelerate self-service adoption.

• Business Enablement & Data Products

• Partner with R&D business owners to define and deliver governed data products (for clinical trials efficiency, portfolio insights, resource optimization and more) that support strategic insights and operational efficiency.

• Establish data product SLAs, usage metrics, and feedback loops to continuously enhance data product value and adoption.

• Data Quality & Compliance

• Monitor data quality metrics (completeness, accuracy, timeliness) in partnership with data engineering; coordinate remediation plans.

• Support audit and regulatory inspections by providing documentation of governance controls and evidencing corrective-action closure.

• Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as governance liaison for clinical operations, safety, regulatory, and biostatistics teams-translate functional requirements into stewardship tasks and system configurations.

• Escalate emerging data risks and propose operational enhancements to minimize downstream impact.

• AI & Automation Enablement

• Identify and evaluate opportunities to leverage emerging AI/GenAI technologies for automating governance workflows (e.g., metadata tagging, data quality checks) and accelerating data stewardship tasks.

• Collaborate with AI/ML teams to pilot proof-of-concepts, assess ROI, and scale successful AI-driven governance solutions.

• Continuous Improvement & Value Measurement

• Collect user feedback and governance health-check results to identify process optimizations.

• Track and report on stewardship adoption, tool utilization, data-product usage, and business value metrics (e.g., time saved, decision-cycle reduction) against established targets.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

No

Computer Skills:

• Microsoft Applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project)

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences, Data Management, Information Systems, or related field required

• 8+ years' experience in data stewardship, governance, or data management; ideally within Pharma R&D

• Proven track record defining and operationalizing governance frameworks and leading cross-functional teams

• Deep expertise in R&D data domains, FAIR principles, relevant regulatory requirements and data standards

• Hands-on experience leveraging data governance and management platforms (e.g. Informatica CDGC for cataloging and lineage, Informatica CDQ for data quality, Informatica marketplace, Reltio for master data management, Databricks for data product development and sharing, and tools for policy-driven access controls)

• Strong leadership, mentoring, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, project-management, and communication abilities

• Ability to champion data-driven culture and demonstrate the business value of governed data products

Travel:

Minimal

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

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