Business Data Architect

About the role

The Business Data Architect serves as the organization’s data governor, thought leader, and subject-matter expert, driving continuous improvement in the quality, efficiency, control, and business use of the team’s data across its lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own the data governance framework in partnership with business, legal, and technology teams.
• Define and maintain data governance policies, standards, and procedures aligned with security, privacy, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead cross-functional governance councils to align priorities, resolve issues, and drive adoption of data standards.
• Identify critical data domains and establish clear ownership, stewardship, and accountability models.
• Maintain an inventory of Sales Support data sources and ensure proper security, access, and usage controls.
• Design and evolve data architecture, models, and shared reporting structures to support business, analytics, and operational needs.
• Document end-to-end data flows, including sourcing, transformations, storage, usage, and ownership.
• Establish controls, monitoring, and data quality metrics/dashboards to ensure accurate, timely, and consistent data.
• Partner with business and technology teams to design controls, remediate data quality issues, and drive sustainable process improvements.
• Optimize and support data governance, data quality, MDM, access management, and related enabling technologies.
• Design and implement a data operating model (roles, RACI, workflows, change management, issue management).
• Liaise with Legal/Public Policy to keep governance practices aligned with changing regulatory requirements.
• Respond to Sales Support data inquiries and guide stakeholders on data availability, lineage, definitions, and proper use.
• Maintain documentation of processes, standards, and governance decisions; conduct periodic audits of dealer data usage and access.
• Educate and coach data owners and users through training and communications, acting as a trusted advisor to leadership on data governance for major initiatives.
• Continuously improve governance processes, tools, and practices to boost efficiency, adoption, data quality, and business value.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; technical fields (IT, Engineering, Math/Statistics, Information Systems/Data Management) strongly preferred.
• Equivalent professional experience considered.
• 5–8+ years of relevant experience, ideally in data governance, master data management, or similar roles.
• 5+ years of data modeling experience and strong proficiency with relational/NoSQL databases (e.g., Postgres, Oracle) and advanced SQL.
• Experience with modern data platforms, data hubs/warehouses, and reporting/analytics or enterprise data environments.
• Hands-on experience with data profiling, cleansing, and defining / applying data quality rules.
• Prowess in translating business requirements into practical data models, governance requirements, and solution designs.
• Strong track record leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing senior stakeholders without direct authority.
• Deep knowledge of data governance, data quality, and master data management concepts and best practices.
• Outstanding communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences; strong facilitation and stakeholder management.
• Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills with a structured, continuous-improvement mindset and high attention to data integrity and control.
• Experience working in Agile environments; able to move quickly, identify automation opportunities, and collaborate effectively across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with data integration platforms, tools, and techniques such as Azure Databricks, Spark, Informatica, Ab Initio, Hadoop, Hive, and related big data technologies.
• Master’s or advanced degree preferred.
• Experience working with reporting technologies such as Cognos, Power BI, and Tableau.
• Development experience using RDBMS technologies.
• SQL and PL/SQL experience.
• Experience with data pipeline and workflow management tools such as Azkaban, Luigi, and Airflow.
• Experience with AWS cloud services such as EC2, EMR, RDS, and Redshift.
• Experience with stream-processing systems such as Storm and Spark Streaming.
• Experience with data catalog, data quality, governance, and master data management tools.
• Professional certifications in data governance, data management, or analytics such as DAMA or CDMP are a plus.
• Background in regulated, complex, or global environments with multiple business units, legal entities, or broad governance requirements.
• Prior experience supporting enterprise transformation programs or large-scale system implementations.

Benefits

GM offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well-being at work and at home. Learn more about our Total Rewards resources to understand what's included in your benefits package.