Director of Data Governance
Lacon House, London
Data & Analytics – Governance /
Perm Full time Employee /
Hybrid
Expana is the world’s leading agrifood-focused Price Reporting Agency (PRA) and global commodity intelligence provider. Formed through the combination of Mintec, Urner Barry, and associated brands, Expana brings together over 200 years of accumulated expertise in global commodity markets, serving more than 3,000 customers across 50 countries.
The Expana platform delivers 36,000+ proprietary price series across 900+ commodities, 70 million+ data points, and 1,400+ price forecasts, all underpinned by IOSCO-assured data integrity. Clients across retail, food manufacturing, agriculture, financial services, and industrial production rely on Expana to optimise procurement, manage commodity risk, and improve profitability across their supply chains.
Director of Data Governance
Shape the Future of Data. Build Trust. Create Impact.
Shape the Future of Data. Build Trust. Create Impact.
Data is at the Heart of Everything We Do
We're looking for an exceptional Director of Data Governance to help transform the way data is managed, trusted, and leveraged across our organisation.
This is a rare opportunity to build and lead a modern data governance capability from the ground up while influencing how data powers products, analytics, AI innovation, and commercial decision-making across a global business.
You'll work at the intersection of data, technology, product, and commercial teams, ensuring that data is managed as a strategic asset with clear ownership, high quality standards, and strong governance practices.
The Opportunity
As Director of Data Governance, you'll partner closely with the CDO and senior leaders across Product, Technology, Price Reporting Agency (PRA), and the wider organisation to develop and embed a scalable governance framework.
This is not a role focused on control for control's sake.
Instead, you'll create practical, business-friendly governance that enables innovation, supports growth, improves trust in data, and helps the organisation make better decisions.
You'll establish a federated governance model that empowers teams to take ownership of their data while maintaining consistent standards across the business.
You'll establish a federated governance model that empowers teams to take ownership of their data while maintaining consistent standards across the business.
What You'll Be Doing
Strategic Leadership
- Define and implement the organisation's data governance strategy and operating model.
- Assess current governance practices and identify opportunities to improve ownership, quality, consistency, and accountability.
- Develop a scalable framework that supports both current business needs and future growth.
Governance & Data Management
- Establish and maintain a federated governance model across Product, Technology, and PRA teams.
- Define responsibilities for data owners and data stewards.
- Create enterprise-wide governance standards and best practices.
- Establish a cross-functional Data Governance Forum to drive decision-making and accountability.
Data Quality & Trust
- Define data quality standards across critical business domains.
- Implement monitoring, reporting, and governance controls to improve data confidence and usability.
- Develop approaches to measure and continuously improve data quality.
Metadata, Taxonomy & Ontology Leadership
- Develop and maintain enterprise taxonomies and ontology models.
- Build a business glossary and data catalogue that improve data understanding and accessibility.
- Create common definitions and consistent business language across the organisation.
Technology & Data Platforms
- Partner with Product and Technology teams to embed governance directly into data platforms, pipelines, and workflows.
- Ensure governance controls are practical, scalable, and support adoption.
- Help shape data governance approaches for emerging AI and machine learning capabilities.
Compliance & Risk Management
- Ensure data is managed in line with contractual obligations, licensing agreements, and regulatory requirements.
- Develop risk management approaches that protect critical data assets.
- Support business continuity through robust governance and data resilience practices.
What You'll Bring
- Significant experience in Data Governance, Data Management, or a closely related field.
- Experience designing and implementing governance frameworks within complex organisations.
- Experience creating federated or domain-led governance models.
- Experience establishing data quality standards, controls, and accountability frameworks.
- Experience working with modern data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, or similar environments.
- Experience influencing and partnering with technical, commercial, operational, and executive stakeholders.Experience supporting AI, machine learning, or generative AI governance initiatives.
- Experience within data-rich organisations such as:
- Market Intelligence
- Commodity Data
- Financial Services
- Subscription Information Services
- Data Product Businesses
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
We're looking for someone who combines strategic thinking with hands-on delivery and who can influence across all levels of the organisation.
- Strong knowledge of data governance principles and operating models.
Expertise in:
-
- Data Quality
- Metadata Management
- Data Catalogues
- Business Glossaries
- Taxonomies
- Ontologies
- Strong understanding of data lineage, governance controls, and modern data architecture.
- Understanding of data licensing, usage rights, and commercial data management.
- Ability to translate complex data concepts into clear business language.
- Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
- Excellent communication and influencing capabilities.
- Ability to facilitate governance decisions across multiple business functions.
- Strong risk management and problem-solving skills.
- Knowledge of responsible AI practices and data provenance.
- Understanding of semantic modelling and knowledge graph concepts.
- Experience governing commercial data products.
This is a high-impact leadership role with the opportunity to shape how data is managed across a growing and evolving organisation.
You'll have the chance to:
- Build and influence a modern governance function
- Work closely with executive leadership
- Help unlock the value of data across products, platforms, analytics, and AI
- Drive meaningful organisational change
- Collaborate with talented colleagues across product, technology, data, and commercial teams
- Leave a lasting legacy by creating the foundations for trusted, high-quality data
Our Commitment
We're committed to creating an inclusive workplace where different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds are valued.
We're committed to creating an inclusive workplace where different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds are valued.
Research shows that people sometimes hesitate to apply unless they meet every requirement. If you're excited about this opportunity but don't meet every single criterion, we'd still love to hear from you.
If you're ready to lead the next chapter of data governance and help shape a data-driven future, apply today.
Our Core Values at Expana
At Expana, we take great pride in our core values, which guide our actions and shape our culture:
Brilliance: We strive for excellence in everything we do, pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation to deliver outstanding results.
Connected: We believe in the power of collaboration and communication. By fostering strong relationships within our teams and with our partners, we create a supportive environment that drives success.
Make a Difference: We are committed to making a positive impact in our industry and community. Our actions reflect our dedication to sustainability, social responsibility, and delivering value to our stakeholders.
Other values such as trust, transparency, creativity, and ownership define our brand and company culture. These qualities are what we seek in our teams as well. Your unique communication style and optimistic vision will inspire harmony with colleagues, customers, and business partners. Your commitment to excellence and strong relationship skills are also valued. Positive energy and strategic skills are key to succeeding at Expana. We value both individual success and collaboration, seeking dynamic team players who think outside the box. Everyone's development is integral to our collective success, so we foster and support each person's strengths and talents.
In return for your hard work and dedication, we offer fantastic rewards. Please note that we operate with an agile working model, allowing for remote work and occasional travel to our offices.
It is important to mention that we cannot sponsor or provide any work visas to any candidate in our locations and we will be conducting Right to Work checks during our hiring practices to ensure compliance with employment laws.
