Director - Data Quality & Observability Lead

About the role

The Data Quality & Observability Lead is a director level role within Ookla’s Chief Data & Analytics Office responsible for building and leading the enterprise data quality framework, monitoring capabilities, and observability practices that ensure data used across analytics, AI/ML, and products is accurate, trustworthy, and fit for purpose. This role reports directly to the VP of Data Governance & Strategy. This leader will define quality standards, operate data observability tooling, partner with data engineering and governance teams to embed quality into pipelines, and drive a culture of shared accountability for data health across the organization.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement Ookla’s enterprise data quality framework, including rules, standards, measurement practices, and ownership accountability.
• Build and operate a data observability capability to monitor data health, freshness, volume, schema changes, and pipeline reliability.
• Partner with data engineering, analytics engineering, and governance teams to embed quality checks and SLAs across data pipelines and data products.
• Define and track data quality KPIs and metrics; communicate status, trends, and risk to stakeholders and leadership.
• Lead root cause analysis and remediation for data quality incidents across the data ecosystem.
• Champion a data-as-a-product mindset, ensuring data quality is a shared organizational accountability across business and technology teams.
• Evaluate, implement, and manage data quality and observability tooling in partnership with engineering and architecture.
• Manage and develop the Data Quality Analyst function and support cross-functional data steward networks.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in data quality frameworks, data observability, data monitoring, and data reliability practices.
• Strong understanding of data pipelines, data warehousing, transformation tools, and modern data stack components.
• Experience designing and deploying enterprise data quality programs, including rules engines, profiling, and remediation workflows.
• Familiarity with data observability platforms and data quality tooling such as Monte Carlo, Great Expectations, Soda, or dbt tests.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Ability to translate data quality concepts and metrics into business-relevant language for executive audiences.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to balance governance rigor, delivery speed, and business enablement.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Management, Engineering, Analytics, or a related field.
• Advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in data quality, data engineering, analytics engineering, or related data disciplines.
• 3+ years of leadership experience managing data quality programs, teams, or governance functions.
• Experience implementing data observability and quality monitoring capabilities at enterprise scale.
• Relevant certifications in data management, data quality, cloud platforms, or related disciplines are preferred.

Pay

The salary compensation for this role is $140,000 - $220,000.

Schedule

This position operates in a hybrid work environment and includes approximately 25% travel to support stakeholder engagement, quality program execution, and team collaboration.