Principal Specialist, IDT Governance, Data & Security

The Principal Specialist, IDT Governance, Data & Security owns the design and governance of Armstrong's enterprise system landscape across all Group entities and sites, with a specific mandate over IT governance, enterprise data management and the safe adoption of AI.

Reporting to the Group IDT Director, the role sets the target-state architecture, the standards and policies that govern it, and the review gates that enforce them, aligned to recognized practice such as COBIT, ITIL, DAMA-DMBOK and ISO/IEC 42001. The role has no direct reports; it works through the wider IDT function, site IT teams, data owners, project teams and vendors, while Group technology strategy and investment approval remain with the Group IDT Director.

Responsibilities:

Enterprise Architecture and System Landscape

• Define and maintain the Group's target-state architecture and roadmap across application, data, integration and technology layers.
• Maintain an accurate view of the current landscape — applications, integrations, data flows, hosting and licensing — and rationalize duplicate or end-of-life systems.
• Set architecture principles, reference architectures and an approved technology catalogue, and keep them current.
• Review solution designs for new systems, integrations and cloud services, and recommend approval, conditions or rejection to the Group IDT Director.
• Provide architecture input to Group programmes such as ERP, MES, analytics and cloud migration.

IT Governance, Policy and Standards

• Maintain the Group IT governance framework — governance processes, decision rights and approval structures.
• Develop and maintain enterprise IT, data and AI policies, standards and controls.
• Chair the architecture review board and supporting governance forums.
• Run compliance assessments, exception and waiver management and remediation tracking, and support internal and external audits and certification exercises.

Data Governance and Management

• Own the Group data governance framework — data domains, ownership and stewardship, policies and decision rights — and drive its adoption across sites.
• Maintain master and reference data architecture, including golden records, data models and the business glossary for core domains.
• Set data quality standards and metrics, and work with data owners to improve quality at source.
• Define the data and analytics platform architecture and the standards governing its use, covering classification, retention, lineage, privacy and cross-border transfer.

AI Governance and Enablement

• Establish the Group AI governance framework — acceptable use, use-case intake and approval, risk classification, human oversight and tool inventory — aligned to ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI RMF.
• Review AI and analytics use cases for data suitability, privacy, intellectual-property and regulatory exposure, and recommend approval, conditions or rejection.
• Define standards for Group-approved AI services, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, and strengthen AI literacy across IDT and the business.

Portfolio, Investment and Performance Governance

• Define governance processes for IT demand management, project prioritization and investment decision-making, and provide architecture assurance at each stage gate.
• Establish KPI frameworks, governance dashboards and executive reporting covering architecture compliance, governance maturity, data quality, AI adoption, risk exposure and project health.
• Provide the Group IDT Director and senior management with visibility of key architecture, governance, data and AI risks, issues and trends.
• Assess technology spend, vendor arrangements and licensing for architectural fit, duplication and total cost of ownership.

Collaboration and Stakeholder Management

• Work collaboratively with the wider IDT function — infrastructure, applications, data and site IT teams — sharing standards, reviewing designs and providing architecture, governance and data advice.
• Partner with business and technology leaders across divisions, functions and regions to align business priorities with the Group's architecture and governance requirements.
• Influence site IT teams, application owners, project teams and vendors to adopt Group standards through advice, evidence and escalation rather than direct authority.
• Build architecture, governance, data and AI capability across the wider IDT function through training, documentation and communities of practice.

Continuous Improvement

• Assess architecture and governance maturity, benchmark against industry practice, and identify improvement opportunities.
• Lead governance and architecture transformation initiatives and capability-building programmes.
• Track emerging technology, data and AI developments, including new AI services adopted by the business, and advise on their architectural, governance and risk implications.

Requirements:

• 10+ years in IT, with at least 4 years in enterprise/solution architecture (spanning application, integration, data, and infrastructure).
• Proven track record defining target-state architectures/roadmaps for multi-site/multi-country landscapes and rationalizing legacy portfolios.
• Manufacturing or industrial environments (including OT and site-level systems) strongly preferred.
• Experience working within regional/global HQ IT functions of multinational groups, influencing cross-site standards without direct authority.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering, or a related field.
• Required/Preferred Certifications: TOGAF or equivalent (strongly preferred), COBIT, CGEIT, CISA, DAMA CDMP, Microsoft DP-600, IAPP AIGP, or equivalent, ITIL Foundation, cloud/data platform credentials (Azure, AWS).
• Fluency in written and spoken English; Mandarin proficiency is an advantage.