Data Governance Lead

What’s the role

We are seeking a senior Data Governance Subject Matter Expert to define, embed, and continually improve data governance across Shell’s energy trading landscape. The role provides leadership across governance strategy, operating model, policy, standards, stewardship, metadata, data quality, lineage, and control frameworks to ensure trading data is trusted, well‑managed, fit for purpose, and supports commercial, risk, finance, regulatory, and strategic decision‑making.

What you’ll be doing

• Define and evolve the data governance framework, operating model, and control environment for energy trading data.
• Establish and embed clear data ownership and stewardship responsibilities across business and technology teams.
• Develop and maintain governance policies, standards, procedures, and decision forums.
• Lead the creation and adoption of business glossaries, critical data element definitions, metadata standards, and data cataloguing practices.
• Drive data quality management, including rules, controls, KPIs, issue management, remediation tracking, and reporting.
• Improve and oversee data lineage, traceability, and auditability across key trading data flows and reporting processes.
• Support governance of reference data and master data, ensuring consistent definitions and controls across systems.
• Partner with architecture, engineering, analytics, risk, compliance, finance, and operations teams to embed governance into delivery and change.
• Facilitate Data Governance Councils, working groups, and stakeholder forums, ensuring effective prioritisation, escalation, and decision‑making.
• Conduct data maturity assessments and define practical roadmaps to improve governance capability over time.
• Ensure governance requirements align with internal policy, control, regulatory, and assurance expectations.
• Provide leadership on governance requirements for emerging use cases including advanced analytics, AI, automation, and cloud data platforms.

Principal Responsibilities

Governance Strategy and Operating Model

• Design and implement pragmatic governance structures that balance control, usability, and delivery pace.
• Define roles, responsibilities, RACI models, and governance processes across trading data domains.
• Translate enterprise data principles into workable standards for energy trading.

Data Ownership and Stewardship

• Identify and formalise Data Owners, Data Stewards, and SME communities.
• Build stewardship capability and accountability across business functions.
• Support adoption of governance practices through engagement, coaching, and change leadership.

Metadata, Catalogue, and Glossary

• Lead the definition of common business terms and critical data definitions.
• Drive improvements in metadata capture, data asset documentation, and cataloguing.
• Promote consistent classification, lineage, and usage information for key datasets.

Data Quality and Controls

• Define data quality dimensions, thresholds, controls, and reporting mechanisms.
• Establish KPI and MI frameworks for monitoring data health and governance performance.
• Lead triage and remediation of priority data issues affecting business outcomes.

Lineage, Risk, and Regulatory Support

• Strengthen lineage and control transparency across critical reporting and decision‑making data flows.
• Support regulatory, assurance, and audit needs through robust governance evidence and traceability.
• Ensure governance standards are embedded in change initiatives and platform evolution.

Leadership and Change

• Operate effectively with senior stakeholders across trading, risk, operations, finance, compliance, and technology.
• Lead workshops, forums, and governance councils with credibility and authority.
• Influence decisions and drive adoption in complex, multi‑stakeholder environments.

Success Measures

• Clear and adopted governance framework and operating model.
• Formalised data ownership and stewardship for priority domains.
• Improved data quality controls and measurable KPI reporting.
• Stronger lineage, metadata, and auditability for critical data.
• Effective governance forums and sustained stakeholder engagement.
• Visible improvement in data management maturity across the trading landscape.

What you bring

• DAMA‑aligned knowledge or equivalent experience in data management best practices.
• Significant experience in data governance, data management, or enterprise data roles within complex organisations.
• Proven track record designing and implementing data governance frameworks and operating models.
• Strong experience in data ownership, stewardship, policy, standards, and governance forums.
• Demonstrable experience in data quality, metadata, glossary, catalogue, and lineage.
• Experience working across large, federated, or regulated environments with multiple stakeholder groups.
• Strong record of influencing senior stakeholders and embedding lasting governance practices.
• Experience leading or supporting enterprise change, transformation, or platform modernisation initiatives.

Domain Experience Preferred

• Energy trading, commodities trading, risk, market data, trade lifecycle, or adjacent regulated trading environments.
• Understanding of data challenges across front office, middle office, back office, risk, finance, and regulatory reporting.
• Familiarity with data governance implications for trade capture, pricing, market data, reference and master data controls, reconciliations, and reporting; cloud and modern data platforms.

Knowledge, Skills, and Capabilities

• Practical grounding in recognised data management disciplines: data governance, data quality, metadata management, reference and master data, data architecture, data security and controls.
• Ability to combine strategic thinking with practical execution.
• Strong facilitation, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
• Excellent written communication, able to produce policies, standards, frameworks, and executive‑ready materials.
• Ability to lead with authority without relying on direct line management.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capability.
• Comfortable working in ambiguity and bringing structure to complex environments.

Leadership Expectations

• Act as a visible leader for trusted data practices across energy trading.
• Build credibility with senior business and technology stakeholders.
• Drive cross‑functional collaboration and accountability.
• Raise the maturity of governance practices, not just define them.
• Create a culture where data is managed as a business asset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant certifications in data management, business analysis, project delivery, or cloud/data platforms.
• Experience with governance and data tooling such as catalogues, workflow, metadata, quality, or lineage platforms.

Shell is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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