Senior Data Governance Officer

The Senior Data Governance Officer is responsible for developing, implementing, and enforcing organizational data governance frameworks, policies, and standards that ensure data is managed securely, ethically, and in compliance with global regulations. This role serves as the primary steward of IFRC's data governance program, translating strategic governance objectives into practical policies, processes, and procedures that enable safe, ethical data utilization across the organization and protect vulnerable populations. The Data Governance Officer will establish data governance structures, manage roles and responsibilities, consider any applicable regulatory compliance, to assist with improving data quality and security, and foster a culture of data responsibility aligned with IFRC's humanitarian principles and commitment to privacy and dignity. The incumbent will support in developing the organizational approach to the distribution of data capabilities and roles.

Data Governance Framework & Strategy

• Design and implement comprehensive organizational data governance framework, including policies, standards and compliance requirements, aligned with organizational strategy, humanitarian principles, and relevant requirements
• Develop governance roadmaps outlining phased implementation of policies, standards, and controls with clear milestones and success metrics
• Establish governance scope, identifying critical data assets, stakeholder roles, and organizational priorities requiring governance attention
• Create and maintain governance policies covering data classification, ownership, stewardship, quality, security, access, and lifecycle management
• Develop governance principles reflecting IFRC's humanitarian values, including principles of data protection, dignity, transparency, and accountability

Data Classification and Sensitivity Management

• Develop classification standards and guidance for categorizing data based on sensitivity, criticality, and relevant requirements
• Design and implement sensitivity labeling strategies using Microsoft Information Protection and related tools integrated within Microsoft Fabric and Purview
• Create clear labeling guidelines that are easily understood across the organization

Data Privacy and Compliance

• Support the Data Protection Office with implementation of IFRC s Policy on the Protection of Personal Data
• Support Data Protection Officer (DPO) with governance policy input, and compliance documentation
• Support Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) processes for new data initiatives, ensuring privacy by design principles
• Draft incident response and data breach protocols in coordination with the DPO and CISO, ensuring timely notification and mitigation in accordance with relevant requirements

Roles, Responsibilities and Accountability

• Establish, assign and document organizational data governance structure with clear role definitions (Data Owners, Data Stewards, Data Custodians, Data Users) and create related RACI matrices
• Support in the development of organizational approach to distribute Data, Analytics and AI capabilities and roles, across dimensions back-end, supporting and front-end as well as centralized, decentralized and emerging roles.
• Provide steward training and onboarding covering governance policies, data quality management, compliance, and communication expectations
• Establish governance committees and forums (e.g., Data Governance Council, domain steward groups) to facilitate coordination and decision-making
• Monitor role performance and accountability, providing coaching and support to ensure effective governance execution

Data Quality Standards and Monitoring

• Define organizational data quality standards and dimensions (accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, validity, uniqueness)
• Establish and automate data quality metrics, rules and validation checks aligned with business use cases and decision-making requirements
• Develop data quality assessment and monitoring protocols identifying critical data assets and quality requirements
• Establish data quality governance processes including issue identification, escalation, resolution, and continuous improvement
• Monitor data quality metrics, reporting on trends and issues to governance committees and data stewards

Asset Inventory and Cataloging

• Oversee the development and maintenance of enterprise data asset inventory
• Establish standards for data asset documentation including business definitions, data lineage, and usage guidance
• Implement and maintain Microsoft Purview data catalog systems for centralized data asset discovery, classification, and governance
• Coordinate cataloging activities across the organization, ensuring data assets are properly documented and discoverable
• Monitor catalog usage and provide training to support effective data discovery and asset management

Access Management and Information Security

• Develop guidelines for secure information sharing with internal teams, partners, vendors, and external stakeholders, including third-party information sharing agreements
• Build and maintain tools and automation to monitor and audit access patterns, investigating and addressing potential violations of access governance policies
• Support implementation of technical security and privacy controls including access controls (including row and column access controls), encryption, pseudonymization, anonymization, and masking where appropriate
• Coordinate with cybersecurity teams on access controls in Microsoft Fabric and related platforms

Governance Policy Development and Maintenance

• Create and implement data governance policies addressing data collection, processing, storage, access, sharing, retention, and deletion
• Develop policies specific to sensitive data categories (examples: beneficiary data, health information, location data) with appropriate safeguards
• Monitor policy compliance, investigating deviations and implementing corrective actions
• Maintain policy library and version control, ensuring staff access current guidance

Desired Candidate Profile

The Senior Data Governance Officer is responsible for developing, implementing, and enforcing organizational data governance frameworks, policies, and standards that ensure data is managed securely, ethically, and in compliance with global regulations. This role serves as the primary steward of IFRC's data governance program, translating strategic governance objectives into practical policies, processes, and procedures that enable safe, ethical data utilization across the organization and protect vulnerable populations. The Data Governance Officer will establish data governance structures, manage roles and responsibilities, consider any applicable regulatory compliance, to assist with improving data quality and security, and foster a culture of data responsibility aligned with IFRC's humanitarian principles and commitment to privacy and dignity. The incumbent will support in developing the organizational approach to the distribution of data capabilities and roles.

• Design and implement comprehensive organizational data governance framework, including policies, standards and compliance requirements, aligned with organizational strategy, humanitarian principles, and relevant requirements
• Develop governance roadmaps outlining phased implementation of policies, standards, and controls with clear milestones and success metrics
• Establish governance scope, identifying critical data assets, stakeholder roles, and organizational priorities requiring governance attention
• Create and maintain governance policies covering data classification, ownership, stewardship, quality, security, access, and lifecycle management
• Develop governance principles reflecting IFRC's humanitarian values, including principles of data protection, dignity, transparency, and accountability
• Develop classification standards and guidance for categorizing data based on sensitivity, criticality, and relevant requirements
• Design and implement sensitivity labeling strategies using Microsoft Information Protection and related tools integrated within Microsoft Fabric and Purview
• Create clear labeling guidelines that are easily understood across the organization
• Support the Data Protection Office with implementation of IFRC s Policy on the Protection of Personal Data
• Support Data Protection Officer (DPO) with governance policy input, and compliance documentation
• Support Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) processes for new data initiatives, ensuring privacy by design principles