Senior Data Governance Lead – Healthcare

Job Description Senior Data Governance Lead – Healthcare - BA3 Client: Service New Brunswick (SNB) / New Brunswick Department of Health Program: Provincial Clinical Information Solution (CIS) – Symbio Program Openings: 2 Location: Remote within Canada Travel: Must be available to travel to New Brunswick at least once per month Contract: August 17, 2026 – August 16, 2028 Extensions: Two optional 1-year extensions Hours: 7.5 hours/day Engagement: Full-time Contract About the Opportunity Service New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Department of Health are seeking an experienced Data Governance Lead (BA3) to support the Provincial Clinical Information Solution (CIS) / Symbio Program . The Symbio Program is a major healthcare transformation initiative focused on transitioning from multiple standalone hospital information systems to a unified, standardized and integrated provincial Clinical Information Solution . The Data Governance Lead will provide strategic leadership in establishing, implementing and maturing a province-wide health data governance program that ensures healthcare data is trusted, secure, appropriately governed, ethically used and effectively leveraged for public benefit. The successful candidate will act as a key link between health policy, privacy, clinical operations, analytics, digital health platforms and data governance , translating legislative and policy requirements into practical governance frameworks and operational practices. Key Responsibilities 1. Provincial Data Governance Strategy & Framework Lead the design, development and implementation of a provincial healthcare data governance framework. Establish governance policies, standards, decision rights, accountability models and operating practices. Define and implement data ownership, stewardship and custodianship models . Develop data classification schemas and governance artefacts. Establish governance practices across the complete health data lifecycle. Align the data governance framework with the Symbio CIS transformation and enterprise analytics strategy. 2. Legislative, Policy & Compliance Provide strategic advice and recommendations regarding health data legislation, regulations and policies. Translate provincial health information legislation, including PHIPPA , into practical governance policies and operational guidance. Support initiatives related to privacy, consent, information network designation and secondary use of health information. Develop policies, standards and procedures supporting the responsible and ethical management of personal health information. 3. Data Governance & Stewardship Establish and support provincial data governance committees, councils and working groups. Define roles and responsibilities for Data Owners, Data Stewards and Data Custodians . Develop common data dictionaries, standards and governance practices. Establish decision-making, oversight and escalation mechanisms. Champion data quality, standardization and interoperability across the healthcare system. 4. Analytics & Secondary Use of Health Data Develop governance models that enable secure, compliant and ethical secondary use of health data for: Health system planning Population health management Performance management Analytics and reporting Research Policy development Collaborate with analytics, privacy and business teams to establish appropriate data access, governance and usage controls. 5. Privacy, Consent & Access Management Collaborate with Chief Privacy Officers (CPOs) and Privacy departments. Support the development of Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) . Contribute to privacy policies, procedures and governance frameworks. Lead or support development of a scalable Consent Management Framework . Develop appropriate Access Control frameworks for the Symbio Program and future provincial data assets. Ensure personal health information is appropriately protected and safeguarded. 6. Stakeholder & Executive Engagement Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders across the Department of Health, SNB, Regional Health Authorities and broader healthcare system. Engage with: Healthcare executives Clinical leaders and physicians Privacy leaders and CPOs Business stakeholders Technical teams Operational teams Analytics teams Government and public-sector partners The successful candidate must be able to facilitate complex discussions, resolve competing perspectives, build consensus and navigate politically sensitive healthcare environments. 7. Program & Project Leadership Lead planning, execution and delivery of data governance and stewardship initiatives. Drive implementation of governance strategies, policies, standards and operating models. Coordinate cross-functional workstreams. Track deliverables and ensure high-quality outcomes. Prepare executive-level reports, presentations, recommendations and program materials. Support stakeholder alignment, adoption and implementation of governance practices. Requirements Mandatory Qualifications Candidates must clearly demonstrate all mandatory requirements in their resume and submission matrix. M1 – Education University degree in one of the following: Healthcare Sciences Health Administration Business Administration Health Informatics Information Technology OR an equivalent combination of applicable education and experience. M2 – Canadian Healthcare Data Governance – 10+ Years Minimum 10 years of demonstrated experience leading Canadian healthcare data governance strategy, planning, policy and implementation within a province or territory comparable to New Brunswick in size or complexity. Experience must include: Healthcare data governance Data governance strategy Governance planning Governance policy development Governance implementation Provincial/territorial healthcare environments Large-scale health data initiatives M3 – Government / Provincial Health Leadership – 10+ Years Minimum 10 years of progressive leadership experience within government or public healthcare environments , focused on areas such as: Health system planning Provincial healthcare initiatives Data initiatives Digital health initiatives Large-scale public-sector transformation Candidates must demonstrate progressively increasing leadership responsibilities. M4 – Availability Must be available to start on or about August 17, 2026 , or earlier if possible. M5 – Submission Limit Maximum 2 candidates per vendor . Scored Qualifications – High Priority S1 – Public Healthcare Data & Digital Health – 10+ Years Minimum 10 years of experience in the public healthcare sector , including government, provincial agencies or acute-care environments, leading initiatives involving: Data governance Data policy Health data strategy Digital health transformation Healthcare transformation Provincial health information initiatives S2 – Progressive Leadership & Large Teams – 10+ Years Minimum 10 years of progressive leadership experience in public-sector healthcare , including: Direct people management Large-team leadership Organizational leadership Cross-functional leadership Large-scale healthcare program leadership S3 – Digital Health Strategy & Roadmaps – 8+ Years Minimum 8 years of experience developing digital health strategies, policies and roadmaps at provincial/territorial scale , particularly initiatives supporting the ethical secondary use of health data for: Health system planning Population health management Research Analytics Policy development S4 – Stakeholder Management – 10+ Years Minimum 10 years of stakeholder management experience involving diverse public- and private-sector stakeholders, including: Clinical teams Business stakeholders Technical teams Operational teams Government stakeholders Healthcare leadership Strong ability to facilitate discussions, resolve competing perspectives and build consensus is required. S5 – Executive & Clinical Engagement – 8+ Years Minimum 8 years of experience engaging with healthcare executives, clinical leaders and system stakeholders to drive system-level transformation. Experience should demonstrate the ability to: Influence senior stakeholders Navigate complex healthcare environments Manage politically sensitive issues Build consensus Drive organizational/system transformation Communicate effectively with executive and clinical leadership S6 – Privacy, CPO & PHI Governance – 5+ Years Minimum 5 years of experience collaborating with Privacy departments and/or Chief Privacy Officers (CPOs) on: Privacy governance Privacy policies and procedures Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) Consent management Personal health information Ethical use of health information Access controls Health data privacy initiatives S7 – Executive Communication & Reporting – 8+ Years Minimum 8 years of strong verbal and written communication experience , including: Executive reporting Program-level reporting Executive presentations Facilitation Stakeholder presentations Governance documentation Program/project deliverables Stakeholder engagement Key Deliverables The successful candidate will contribute to or deliver: Provincial data governance framework covering data ownership, governance, stewardship and custodianship . Policies and procedures for the secure, responsible and ethical management of personal health information. Support for modernization of health information legislation, including PHIPPA . Provincial data standards, policies and procedures. Health data classification schema, including public, internal and confidential categories. Symbio Data Strategy aligned with the Symbio Business Intelligence strategy. Provincial data strategy aligned with the provincial BI strategy. Scalable Consent Management Framework for the Symbio Program. Access Control Framework supporting the Symbio Program and future provincial data assets and systems. Ideal Candidate Profile The ideal candidate is a senior healthcare data governance leader/executive with extensive Canadian public-sector experience and a strong record of leading provincial-scale healthcare transformation. The strongest candidates will typically have: 10+ years of healthcare data governance leadership 10+ years of government/public-sector healthcare leadership Provincial/territorial healthcare transformation experience Digital health strategy and roadmap development Enterprise/provincial data governance framework development Data ownership, stewardship and custodianship expertise Health data policy and standards experience PHIPPA or comparable Canadian health-information legislation experience Privacy and CPO collaboration PIA and consent-management experience Data classification and access-control expertise Large-team people leadership Executive and clinical stakeholder engagement Strong facilitation and presentation skills Experience enabling ethical secondary use of healthcare data Work Location & Travel This is a remote position within Canada . The successful candidate must be able to travel to New Brunswick at least once per month throughout the project . Travel time and costs from the candidate's remote location to New Brunswick are the vendor's responsibility. Authorized travel, meals and accommodation while in New Brunswick will be reimbursed according to applicable Province of New Brunswick travel rates. Upstaff is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, veteran disability or genetic information or any other reason prohibited by law in employment.