Senior Data Platform Governance Specialist

Role Summary The Senior Data Platform Governance Specialist drives governance excellence, operational discipline, and cost predictability across global data platforms. This role champions a “Governance-as-Code” approach, ensuring that platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, and Cloudera are secure, audit-ready, and optimized by default. The position acts as a bridge between Platform Engineering, FinOps, Security, and Leadership, enabling engineering velocity without compromising enterprise risk standards. Key Responsibilities 1. Strategic Governance and Policy-as-Code (“Golden Rules”) • Define, develop, and maintain “Golden Paths” and global standards for data platform architecture, usage, and compliance. • Translate written governance policies into automated, executable checks (Governance-as-Code) using GitLab CI/CD, Terraform, ServiceNow, and platform-native security controls. • Maintain a version-controlled, audit-ready repository of governance policies ensuring traceability and seamless compliance for regulated workloads. 2. Analytics, Auditing, and Executive Reporting • Design, build, and deliver monthly Best-Practice Scorecard Reports to track platform health, cost anomalies, and compliance drift. • Present actionable compliance, security, and FinOps metrics to senior IT and business leadership, highlighting risks and optimization opportunities. 3. Engineering Enablement and Culture • Conduct training sessions, architectural forums, and 1:1 coaching to upskill data engineers and architects on best practices. • Partner with engineering teams to ensure compliance controls are embedded early in the deployment lifecycle (Shift-Left). 4. Cross-Functional Alignment • Serve as the central governance liaison across Platform Engineering, FinOps, Cloud Security, and other teams. • Ensure platform configurations align with corporate data privacy standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) and industry regulations. Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities • Platform Expertise: 7+ years of hands-on experience managing, architecting, or governing at least two major enterprise data platforms (e.g., Cloudera CDP, Snowflake, Databricks, Oracle, SQL Server). • Cloud Infrastructure: Strong foundational knowledge of AWS and/or Azure infrastructure concepts (compute sizing, storage classes, data transfer/egress economics). • Regulatory Acumen: Proven experience creating and enforcing technical standards in highly regulated, global enterprises (Pharma, Life Sciences, Healthcare, or Finance preferred). • Modern Tooling: Hands-on familiarity with automation and ITSM tools (GitLab CI, Terraform, ServiceNow). • Frameworks: Solid knowledge of ITIL service management and Policy-as-Code concepts. • Leadership and Influence: Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; able to drive change without direct authority and push back constructively when needed. Minimum Education and Certifications • Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Systems Engineering, or related field. • Highly Preferred Certifications: • ITIL 4 Foundation or Managing Professional • Platform-specific certifications (Snowflake, Databricks, AWS/Azure, Cloudera) IQVIA Core Competencies • Results Orientation • Collaboration and Teamwork • Strategic Problem Solving • Adapting to Change