Lead Data Governance Manager

Job description

Job Title: Data Governance Manager

Band: 5

Salary: £59,877 - £69,457

Available Locations

Liverpool or Birmingham.

The following locations listed below are restricted to contracted GCA staff already based in one of these offices:

London, Bristol, Manchester or York.

External applicants are not eligible for these sites. If you select one of these locations as an external applicant your application will, unfortunately, be withdrawn.

Contract Type: Fixed Term - 2 Years

Hours: Full Time

Closing Date: 29th November

Interview Date(s): 14/17/18th December (subject to change)

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Ready to build trusted data foundations powering UK public spending decisions and solve complex data quality challenges? Billions in public funds depend on data for efficiency and transparency, yet quality gaps hinder insights. As Lead Data Governance Manager, you will establish robust governance frameworks, define stewardship, and drive standards across the Government Commercial Function (GCF) and Government Grants Management Function (GGMF). You will deliver vital national value by securing and standardising data across £160bn in grants and £400bn in procurement, enabling smarter spending, mitigating risks, and enhancing public services.

Job Summary

The Data Governance Manager sits within Data & Analytical Services, reporting directly to the Head of Data Strategy & Governance. Our team exists to drive grants and commercial data transformation and deliver analytical solutions to internal teams, contracting authorities and citizens, enabling better decision-making and enhancing public transparency.

We foster a supportive culture focused on innovation, professional growth, and technical expertise. Recent achievements include delivering a data quality review of critical commercial systems, completing and publishing an overhaul of commercial data standards, and establishing a clear governance framework for our critical data assets.

Key Accountabilities:

• Lead and guide team members, manage performance to ensure a high-performing team, and support staff development through regular feedback
• Establishing and embedding a data governance framework across the GGMF and GCF, including defining data ownership, stewardship roles, and data quality responsibilities;

• Work across the functions to identify and resolve data quality issues in critical datasets;
• Develop and monitor data quality metrics and set up dashboards and other tooling to assess completeness, accuracy and timeliness of data;
• Maintain data standards and drive adoption of these across government to ensure consistency in key grants and commercial datasets;
• Champion the use of consistent data definitions, metadata and data standards across the function and across wider government;

• Provide expert advice on data governance and data quality improvements to senior leadership;
• Build data quality and governance community in the function and promote data owner, stewardship behaviours across GGMF and GCF for critical data assets;
• Contribute to cross-government data governance and data health forums and communities;

Essential Criteria (to be assessed at application stage):

• Data governance. You can implement and monitor data governance using standard methodology throughout the data life cycle, within a large organisation. You can meet the requirement for relevant data governance accreditation. You take responsibility for specific parts of a data governance framework within the organisation.
• End-to-end data life cycle governance and standards. You can design, monitor, and continuously improve data governance frameworks, establish robust organisational data standards, and ensure compliance across complex systems.
• Data management and literacy advocacy. You can promote data best practices, champion data quality tooling and procedures, and lead initiatives to elevate organisational data maturity and data literacy skills.
• Communicating across diverse stakeholders. You can turn complex technical information into compelling stories and clear visualisations, host challenging discussions with senior leaders, and provide actionable tactical recommendations aligned to the organisational strategy.
• Line manager experience / capability. You can effectively line manage others, supporting performance and professional development; and enabling a positive, inclusive culture across the wider team.

Success Profiles (to be assessed at interview):

Behaviours:

Communicating and Influencing

Working Together

Leadership - Lead success profile

Technical

Data ethics and privacy

Data governance

Data management

(A link to the Civil Service Success Profiles Framework is provided below)

Success Profiles Framework

Valuing our people:

• Competitive salary
• Generous pension scheme
• A discretionary non-contractual performance related bonus
• Working remotely in addition to working in advertised office location
• Flexi time scheme (available for B1-B6)
• Minimum 25 days annual leave to a maximum service related 30 days excluding bank holidays

Want to make a difference? Find out more about the rewarding work that we do in our candidate pack.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

We want to make our recruitment process accessible to everyone, so if there is any way that we can support you, please contact recruitment@gca.gov.uk

Working flexibly, delivering outcomes

GCA operates a smarter working model that balances flexibility with collaboration. Successful candidates are expected to spend at least 26 days per quarter (approximately 2 days per week, pro-rata) at their contracted office, another GCA site, or off-site for meetings. For the remainder of the time, you may work from home or another suitable location that meets business needs.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection Process

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitably similar vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview. Should you be placed on a reserve list and want to be removed please contact recruitment@gca.gov.uk.

Please note that as part of this recruitment process, if you are unsuccessful at the interview stage but are close to the benchmark score you may be considered for and offered a role at a lower pay band within the same job family.

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Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

Complaints Procedure

Our recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles details of which can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-principles/

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you remain unsatisfied with the response you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk

Internal candidates should apply using their Workday account. Please use the careers hub for your application.

About Us

Government Commercial Agency (GCA) is the largest public procurement organisation in the UK. With over 800 staff, we help thousands of public and third sector buyers in the UK with billions of pounds of spending each year. We have a wide range of commercial agreements to help our customers buy what they need, when they need it - saving time and money.

Why join GCA? We offer fantastic benefits as well as career development opportunities, have an inclusive culture that values work-life balance and offers flexibility in how you work.