Director, Data Platform & Governance

A financial institution with a significant regional footprint is looking for a senior data leader to take the helm of its enterprise data platform — a role that sits at the heart of the organisation's broader data and AI ambitions.

This is a rare opportunity to shape both the strategic direction and day-to-day reality of a cloud-based data platform, working at the intersection of technology, governance, and business transformation. You will be as comfortable whiteboarding architecture with engineers as you are presenting roadmaps to senior leadership.

The Role

You will own the data platform agenda — from defining how data is ingested, curated, and made available for consumption, to ensuring the platform operates within a robust governance framework. This is not a purely strategic seat; delivery accountability is central, and you will be expected to lead complex, multi-market programmes with both rigour and pace.

A key part of the mandate is embedding governance into the platform itself — not as an afterthought, but as a design principle that spans data quality, discoverability, and trust. You will also define the conceptual data models and standards that allow the organisation to treat data as a reusable, enterprise-wide asset.

Working closely with architecture and engineering counterparts, you will ensure the platform scales to support analytics, AI, and regulatory reporting needs across the region.

What You Bring

• Senior leadership experience running enterprise data platform or lakehouse programmes within financial services or a regulated industry
• Hands-on familiarity with modern cloud data platform technologies, including Azure-based environments
• The ability to define data models at a conceptual and logical level, with a solid grasp of master data and entity management principles
• A track record of operationalising data governance — turning policy into practice across large, complex organisations
• Experience managing cross-functional programmes across multiple markets, with a structured approach to delivery and stakeholder alignment
• People leadership capability — experience building and developing teams, managing vendors, and influencing without direct authority
• Strong communication skills across technical and business audiences at all levels of seniority