This question was raised by my friend and former colleague Hemant Patil. He feels (and rightly so) that the Data Governance Coordinator is an important role in a data governance initiative, so he asked me to explain what the responsibilities of a Data Governance Coordinator are.
I think firstly I should clarify that this is not a role that I would expect to see in every organization. Whilst the responsibilities I mention below need to be undertaken regardless of the size of a company or its Data Governance initiative, only in big organizations would I expect this to exist as a separate role as part of a larger Data Governance or Data Quality Team.
So what should the Data Governance Coordinator be doing? Well the primary responsibility is to support the Data Governance Manager to ensure that the Data Governance Framework is working and being followed.
Activities will include things such as:
- Monitoring that processes are being followed.
- Supporting the Data Owners and Data Stewards in following Data Governance processes.
- Identifying when Data Owners and Data Stewards have left or changed roles.
- Preparation and administration for Data Governance Committee meetings.
- They may coordinate and provide support for a business glossary.
- They may be the first point of contact in a Data Quality Issue Management process.
- They may be the central reference point for changes to reference data.
- They may manage small projects to fix data quality issues.
Just remember that the role is not limited to these activities – in essence it will depend on the size of the organization and the scope of the Data Governance initiative. Whilst the Data Governance Manager is accountable for the Data Governance Framework and managing the senior stakeholders, the coordinator is responsible for making sure that data governance actually happens. Perhaps Data Governance Facilitator would be a better role description.
As with all things Data Governance, it is important that the role adds value to your company and supports what is needed, so this is another area where I believe there are no standard role descriptions that work for everyone. This means it is vital that if you have this role, it is well defined, so that it’s clear what the person is responsible for (and what they aren’t).
