Associate Director, Data Strategy & Governance

The Associate Director, Data Strategy & Governance leads the University’s data governance program, partnering with senior leaders and data stewards to strengthen a data-informed culture. This role promotes best practices in metadata, data quality, and data security/privacy to increase Harvard’s overall data maturity.

The position reports to the Associate Provost for Institutional Research & Analytics, with a dotted line to the AVP for Administrative Technology Services in HUIT and works closely with both OIRA and HUIT to support University-wide data needs.

Job-Specific Responsibilities: 

The Associate Director, Data Strategy & Governance will play a pivotal role in bringing together stakeholders from across the University to tackle our most pressing data challenges, while also creating a mechanism to protect our data and leverage our data for strategic initiatives. Outlined below are the primary focus areas for this position. However, the expectation is that as the University’s data maturity grows, the responsibilities of the Associate Director may evolve. 

Organizational Development & Communications: 

• Convene, lead, and recruit members of the University’s Executive Data Committee (EDC), University Data Advisory Group (UDAG), and Data Stewardship Council (DSC). 
• Foster communication channels on data initiatives across schools and functional areas and develop an active community of practice amongst data stewards. 
• Create and maintain data governance learning and development curriculum for data stewards and other key data stakeholders. 
• Maintain and elevate executive buy-in on data governance efforts across all aspects of the University. 
• Provide executive updates on strategic data initiatives to stakeholders across the University. 
• Participate in thought leadership and higher education leadership forums on data strategy and governance. 

Data Strategy Development:

• Collaborate on the development of an enterprise data strategy for the University, and upon establishment of an enterprise data strategy, serve as the primary project manager for tracking progress towards its objectives. 
• Drive the identification, business case development, and socialization of strategic data Initiatives. 

Data Governance Execution:

• Create data governance standards, policies, procedures, and best practices, and establish a mechanism to diffuse these practices across stakeholder groups. 
• Enhance the University’s ability to manage metadata (i.e., data definitions, data lineage, etc.) across data sources. 
• Actively partner with the Information Security and Data Privacy (ISDP) team on data security and privacy efforts, including compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g., General Data Protection Regulation, Family Educational Rights and Privacy (GDPR), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), etc.). 
• Enable data stewards and other data stakeholders to implement tactical data quality improvement solutions. 
• Collaborate with OIRA staff to conduct research and analysis to inform data governance proposals and challenges. 

Performance & Maturity Measurement:

• Establish and report on metrics to measure the effectiveness of data governance and other strategic data initiatives relative to the institution’s priorities and data strategy. 
• Create a mechanism to monitor and report data governance effectiveness regularly to university leadership.