Data Governance Officer

Background

TII’s data environment is diverse and operationally complex, reflecting the breadth of its remit across roads, light rail, greenways and active travel infrastructure. Data is created, managed and used across multiple functions and delivery partners, and varies in maturity from established operational systems to emerging digital initiatives.

TII has developed a data governance model and supporting artefacts; the priority now is to operationalise these into day-to-day behaviours across divisions. The Data Governance Officer will lead this transition by establishing a practical governance cadence, supporting Data Owners and Data Stewards, improving visibility of data assets, and strengthening data quality and compliance practices across the data lifecycle.

Role and Responsibilities

• Lead the Data Governance Office and implement TII’s data governance framework.
• Provide leadership and subject matter expertise on the availability, usability and integrity of data across the data lifecycle; advise on best practice from creation and maintenance through to retention and deletion.
• Provide day-to-day direction to assigned internal resources or external consultancy/vendor teams delivering governance artefacts; agree priorities, monitor delivery against plan, and ensure outputs meet quality standards.
• Define and embed pragmatic governance controls that improve trust in data without disrupting operational delivery; focus on repeatable, viable behaviours that can scale.
• Act as the central point of coordination for “how data should be managed” across divisions; ensure consistency while respecting federated ownership.

Own and evolve the governance framework, policies and artefact set

• Maintain and update the Data Governance Charter, Data Governance Framework and related policies and procedures; ensure artefacts are kept current, usable and aligned to organisational needs.
• Draft, assure and iterate data policies, standards, and requirements in line with legal, regulatory and organisational requirements; coordinate inputs from key stakeholders and ensure clear, actionable guidance.
• Maintain the integrity of the governance toolkit used across TII (for example ownership confirmation, issue logging, metadata capture and classification guidance); keep it concise, practical and easy to follow.

Support the Head of Digital Transformation on governance operationalisation

• Support the Head of Digital Transformation in establishing frameworks, methodologies and practices to sustain governance day-to-day.
• Define clear requirements that connect governance (ownership, metadata, quality, lineage and access) to TII’s data architecture, ensuring governance decisions translate into delivery-ready technical requirements.

Enable Data Owners and Data Stewards to operate effectively

• Provide advisory support and guidance to Data Owners and Data Stewards through tools, templates, and training; reduce ambiguity around responsibilities so everyone is clear on their role and what “good” looks like in practice.
• Coordinate ownership confirmation processes and keep ownership records accurate over time; resolve, arbitrate or escalate disputes through the agreed governance mechanisms.
• Support Data Governance Framework adoption in outsourced and partner contexts; ensure appropriate mirror owner or operational steward arrangements exist where contractors or third parties manage or supply data.

Enforce data governance to improve quality and protect sensitive data

• Enforce governance frameworks that improve data quality and reduce avoidable rework; drive remediation through clear issue ownership, triage and closure.
• Ensure sensitive data is identified, appropriately classified, and governed through proportionate access controls and handling requirements; ensure local practices align with agreed organisational standards.

Partner with Legal, IT, Security and Data Protection to embed compliance by design

• Collaborate and partner with the Data Protection Office and other relevant functions to ensure governance policies and practices align with applicable obligations.
• Work closely with legal, compliance, IT and business units to assess data privacy risks; support privacy impact assessment activity where needed; foster a culture of privacy awareness as part of routine governance.
• Coordinate with IT and security teams to ensure technical and organisational measures protect data appropriately; ensure governance requirements are reflected in delivery processes and operational controls.

Convene governance forums and working cadence

• Organise and support regular governance and oversight committees, forums and working groups as Chair or Secretariat, as required; ensure each session has a clear purpose, decisions, actions, owners, and follow-ups.
• Enable productive cross-divisional collaboration and consistent escalation; reduce escalation-by-email by providing a clear, reliable pathway for resolution.
• Serve as formal escalation point for data governance risks/issues.

Make governance measurable and visible; drive a culture of improvement

• Coordinate tracking and reporting of governance metrics and performance indicators; produce clear dashboards and summaries that show progress, coverage and priority gaps.
• Champion data governance, data management and data quality practices through clear communication, practical examples and targeted enablement; explain the benefits in operational terms, not jargon.
• Drive the production and validation of governance performance outputs (issue logs, maturity snapshots, KPI packs) and ensure they lead to action and measurable improvement.

Anticipate emerging requirements and maintain alignment

• Scan for emerging regulatory, ethical and technological developments; translate implications into clear governance actions, artefact updates and communications.

General

• Undertake such tasks, activities or other duties as may be required or assigned as appropriate to the grade.
• All divisions within TII have inter-dependent responsibilities and close cooperation and teamwork is required across the organisation.
• Undertaking all other duties as may be assigned appropriate to the grade.

Education & Experience

• A third level professional qualification (NFQ Level 8 or equivalent) in Information Technology, Civil Engineering, Data Science, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field.
• A minimum of seven years professional experience working in a responsible position which would include direct experience in a data governance, data management, data quality, metadata or information risk role, with evidence of translating governance frameworks into working practice.
• Demonstrated experience leading or coordinating multi-disciplinary teams, including managing work delivered by external consultants/suppliers, and holding teams to account for timely, high-quality outcomes.
• Strong knowledge of data governance fundamentals including ownership and stewardship, metadata management, data quality, classification, access controls and issue management.
• Knowledge of data protection principles and the ability to apply privacy-by-design thinking in practical governance workflows.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate with and influence a wide range of stakeholders at varying levels.
• Strong analytical, organisational and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver measurable outcomes.
• Knowledge of relevant regulatory obligations, guidelines, and strategies as they may apply to the role, such as:
• GDPR, Data Protection Act
• Data Governance Act
• EU AI Act
• NIS2, CER Directive
• AI Governance and Ethical Innovation (AI – Here for Good)
• Responsible use of AI (Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Service)
• Citizen-Centric Service Delivery (Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services)
• Seamless Digital Interoperability (Connecting Government 2030)
• Open Data Leadership (Open Data Strategy 2023-2027)

Desirable

• Experience working in, or with, a public sector organisation, regulated environment or complex multi-stakeholder operating context.
• Experience coordinating governance in environments with significant use of external partners and contractors.
• Familiarity with enterprise data cataloguing, metadata registries, data quality tooling or MDM concepts, and the governance required to make these effective.
• Professional certification in data privacy advantageous (e.g., CIPP, CIPM, CIPT).