Data Governance Lead (SC Cleared)

Data Governance Lead (SC Cleared)

Location: London (Hybrid)

Duration: 9 months

Rate: £500 - £600/day (Outside IR35)

Clearance: Active SC (Security Check) mandatory

iO associates are partnering with a central government department in London to bring in an experienced Data Governance Lead for a major 9-month digital transformation programme.

This is a hands-on role where you'll be helping kick off the discovery phase, sitting down with business teams to map out key processes, and getting a clear inventory of existing data assets. You'll be designing and shaping data strategies, operating models, and workflows, while working directly with technical and business stakeholders to get metadata sorted, build out data lineage, and roll out data catalog tools.

Beyond setting up the framework, you'll be hands-on with data quality-assessing issues, setting rules, creating metrics, and automating monitoring. You'll also touch upon Master Data Management (MDM) by helping refine cleansing, enrichment, and match/merge rules, as well as coaching and training data stewards so they can own the process long-term.

Experience

• Active SC Clearance: Essential. Must be fully active, transferable, and valid at the start of the contract.

• Central Gov Experience: A strong background delivering data governance initiatives within central government departments or closely aligned public sector bodies.

• Tooling Expertise: Hands-on experience working with modern data governance technologies (e.g., Microsoft Purview, Collibra, Databricks Unity Catalog, Alation, Atlan, or Ataccama).

• Framework & Metadata Experience: Proven track record defining data governance strategies, operating models, and organizing business/technical metadata through enterprise data management tools.

• Data Quality & MDM: Practical experience handling data quality rules, automation, and master data management solutions.

• Collaboration & Drive: A proactive, outcome-focused approach with strong stakeholder management skills to bridge technical teams and business units.