Data Governance Lead

About Tamara

Tamara is a foremost fintech platform based in Saudi Arabia serving the GCC region, committed to enabling individuals to fulfill their ambitions through a highly customer-centric financial super-app. The firm supports millions of users locally and collaborates with global and regional brands such as Apple, SHEIN, Jarir, noon, IKEA, Amazon, along with various SMEs. Recognized as Saudi Arabia's first fintech unicorn, Tamara is backed by prominent investors including Sanabil Investments (a PIF affiliate), SNB Capital, and Checkout.com, operating from Riyadh headquarters with regional and global support offices.

Role Overview

The Data Governance Lead is tasked with spearheading the design, execution, and ongoing enhancement of Tamara's data governance framework. This role ensures organizational data is managed securely, reliably, and effectively as a key asset. Collaboration with business units, data teams, engineering, security, privacy, compliance, risk, and product is vital to define data ownership, bolster data quality, maintain governance protocols, integrate governance in business and tech processes, and ensure regulatory and audit preparedness. The role drives maturity in aspects like ownership, classification, quality, lifecycle, metadata, reporting, and governance assurance.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, deploy, and continuously refine Tamara’s data governance policies, standards, procedures, and operational models.
• Set up and uphold data ownership, stewardship, and accountability structures across business and technology sectors.
• Define, track, and report metrics related to data governance performance, risk indicators, maturity, and management updates.
• Seek and implement opportunities to boost governance maturity, operational workflows, reporting quality, and control efficiency.
• Lead the application of data governance processes including classification, lifecycle handling, retention, metadata management, and business glossaries.
• Oversee the monitoring of data quality by identifying, prioritizing, and resolving issues of accuracy, completeness, consistency, and integrity.
• Maintain and enhance governance documentation such as data inventories, ownership logs, data lineage records, and governance dashboards.
• Provide governance insight and scrutiny for projects involving data usage, sharing, new platforms, analytics, and integration efforts.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory and industry standards (including SAMA, PDPL, PCI-DSS, and relevant financial service regulations).
• Lead evaluations of data governance compliance and control effectiveness.
• Detect data-related risks and control deficiencies, collaborating with stakeholders to create and follow through on remediation plans.
• Prepare governance documentation and evidence for audits and regulatory reviews.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to embed governance prerequisites in new system deployments and technology updates.
• Boost organizational awareness, accountability, and acceptance regarding data governance through stakeholder engagement.
• Provide continuous guidance to data owners, stewards, and technical teams about governance best practices.

Required Expertise

• Between 2 and 5 years' experience in Data Governance, Data Management, Data Quality, or Compliance, preferably within fintech, banking, or regulated financial environments.
• Deep knowledge of data ownership, stewardship, metadata management, data lineage, and lifecycle processes.
• Strong understanding of compliance mandates relating to data management and privacy, especially SAMA requirements, PDPL, and PCI-DSS.
• Highly skilled in analysis with proficiency in Excel and familiarity with SQL, Power BI, Tableau, or comparable reporting platforms; good knowledge of enterprise data architectures and reporting frameworks.
• Proven aptitude for identifying root causes of data quality issues, defining corrective actions, conducting governance audits, and supporting compliance reviews.
• Exceptional capabilities in stakeholder management, able to influence diverse teams and produce clear, accessible documentation for varied audiences.
• Ability to work autonomously while balancing multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.

Preferred Education and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Management, Computer Science, Risk Management, or related discipline.
• Professional certifications such as CDMP, DCAM, COBIT, CIPP, or ISO 27001 highly desirable.
• Experience in leading enterprise-wide data governance initiatives or data maturity programs.
• Hands-on usage of data governance tools including cataloging, metadata, lineage, or GRC software.
• Prior involvement in organizations regulated under SAMA oversight.