Director, Master Data Management

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technical authority on enterprise master data management, maintaining deep working proficiency in EnterWorks and MDM design patterns including data modeling, match-merge configuration, survivorship rules, and golden record creation.
• Personally engage in the design and review of complex, high-risk, or cross-domain MDM solutions to ensure data quality, scalability, and alignment with enterprise architecture standards.
• Define and enforce MDM architecture standards including data domain modeling, hierarchy management, entity resolution patterns, data quality rules, and environment-promotion workflows.
• Lead root-cause analysis on critical master data quality failures and guide the team toward durable resolution, including remediation of duplicate records, orphaned entities, and cross-system inconsistencies.
• Develop, implement, and maintain MDM policies, standards, and procedures to support business goals and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Establish and oversee data governance strategies for product, customer, and vendor data domains, including data ownership, stewardship roles, and accountability frameworks.
• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for data quality, integrity, completeness, and availability across all master data domains.
• Oversee data stewardship activities and provide guidance to business users on master data processes, change workflows, and approval protocols.
• Champion the adoption of a business glossary and metadata management practices to ensure common data definitions and business rules across the enterprise.
• Define and own the multi-year MDM platform strategy and technology roadmap, aligned with enterprise architecture principles and business growth objectives.
• Evaluate emerging MDM technologies, data governance tools, and vendor offerings; make build-vs-buy recommendations with supporting business cases.
• Lead strategic planning, roadmap development, and operational planning for the MDM function, including domain prioritization and phased rollout plans.
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Integration, Data & Analytics, Application, and Security teams to ensure MDM solutions support the broader technology portfolio.
• Represent the MDM function in IT governance forums, architecture review boards, steering committees, and other forums as needed.
• Collaborate with IT, business units, and external partners to identify data quality issues, understand business data needs, and drive remediation efforts.
• Act as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and the MDM team, ensuring the MDM approach and methodology meets business expectations and delivers measurable value.
• Support major projects and initiatives requiring master data expertise, including acquisitions, system migrations, and edge application implementations, and other projects and enhancements.
• Facilitate data governance council meetings and cross-functional working sessions to align MDM priorities with business strategy.
• Establish and continuously improve the MDM delivery framework encompassing intake, estimation, prioritization, sprint planning, testing, deployment, and post-go-live support.
• Own release management practices for the MDM platform, coordinating with DevOps/CI-CD pipelines and environment management.
• Drive adoption of automation in data quality monitoring, data profiling, and data validation to increase velocity and reduce manual effort.
• Report on team delivery metrics to IT and business leadership, including throughput, cycle time, backlog health, data quality scorecards, and team utilization.
• Manage resource capacity planning: balance incoming demand against team availability, flag risks early, and recommend staffing or outsourcing adjustments.
• Maintain visibility into the MDM backlog; prioritize work in collaboration with business stakeholders and the PMO to maximize value delivery.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations; build a high-performing, engaged MDM team.
• Own vendor relationship including sourcing, contracting, and ensuring timely, high quality deliverables.
• Plans, recruits, hires, and on-boards strong talent to build and sustain a best-in-class MDM team.
• Prepare executive-level status reports, dashboards, and presentations summarizing MDM program health and strategic progress.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Management, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in master data management, data governance, or data management, with at least 5 years in a people-leadership role (Manager or above).
• Hands-on expertise with enterprise MDM platforms (e.g., EnterWorks, Informatica MDM, Reltio, Profisee, or comparable solutions).
• Strong knowledge of MDM design patterns including multi-domain data modeling, match-merge and entity resolution, survivorship logic, hierarchy management, and golden record creation.
• Demonstrated understanding of data governance frameworks, data stewardship models, and data quality management practices.
• Experience managing MDM technologies and ensuring integration with ERP, CRM, and other enterprise business systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, or similar).
• Strong proficiency in SQL and relational databases (SQL Server, Oracle, Snowflake, or similar).
• Experience working in a hybrid (on-premises and cloud) infrastructure environment.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum development methodology.
• Proven ability to manage team capacity, report on delivery metrics, and communicate effectively with both technical and executive audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or MBA.
• Certifications in data management or governance (e.g., CDMP – Certified Data Management Professional, DGSP – Data Governance & Stewardship Professional).
• Experience establishing or maturing data governance programs, including data governance councils, RACI matrices for data ownership, and business glossary initiatives.
• Familiarity with data quality and profiling tools for monitoring and enforcing data standards.
• Experience with data warehousing platforms (Snowflake, Redshift) and analytics pipelines (dbt, Sigma, Tableau).
• Working knowledge of integration platforms (e.g., Informatica IICS) and how MDM interacts with enterprise integration and data pipelines.
• Experience with IT portfolio and project management tools such as Jira and/or Confluence.
• Track record of vendor management, including SOW negotiation, partner delivery oversight, and third-party resource integration.
• Background in manufacturing, distribution, or B2B industries is a strong plus.