Head of Audit Data Governance in Aberdeen

Audit Technology is delivering a significant transformation agenda to modernise how data is created, governed, used and shared across the UK Audit business. As data becomes a foundational asset enabling Generative AI, digital audit delivery, and a more connected and efficient operating model we are expanding our leadership capability to ensure data is managed consistently, responsibly and strategically across all Audit portfolios.

The Head of Audit Data Governance is responsible for defining, operationalising, and continuously improving a holistic, enterprise-aligned data operating model across the UK Audit business. The role ensures that the people, processes, technology, and controls needed to manage data as a strategic asset are fully in place.

You will lead the four core pillars of the Audit Data:

• Data Governance: Establishing trust, ownership, accountability, policy, and lifecycle management.
• Data Quality: Ensuring data is accurate, complete, consistent, and continually monitored and improved.
• Data as Insight: Enabling actionable intelligence from data through reporting, analytics and trusted audit insights.
• Data as a Service: Operationalising data products, pipelines, and reusable data capabilities to support product teams and Audit delivery.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership: Define and implement a unified Data Operations strategy aligned to the firm's Enterprise Data Strategy and Audit Technology’s transformation roadmap. Provide leadership across the four data pillars, ensuring cohesive delivery and standardisation across portfolios. Shape the long-term vision for data as a strategic asset within Audit, ensuring data underpins our growth, trust, AI adoption, and Audit Quality ambitions. Represent Audit Technology in firmwide data governance forums and cross-capability data initiatives.

Data Governance: Establish and operationalise a robust governance framework, ensuring critical data assets are defined, catalogued, owned, and stewarded. Lead business-wide alignment of data roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and stewardship structures. Develop and maintain policies and processes for managing data throughout its lifecycle. Chair or oversee data governance forums, ensuring actions, risks and decisions are captured and enforced.

Data Quality: Build and operate a data quality management capability—including profiling, monitoring, controls, remediation and reporting. Identify and track data quality KPIs across portfolios and establish continuous improvement cycles. Implement automated data quality tooling and standards across Engineering and Product teams.

Data as Insight: Drive consistent reporting, dashboards and insight capabilities to support performance, risk management and audit delivery. Partner with the Audit function and SMEs to translate operational and audit data into meaningful insight. Define the operating model for insight development, including metadata management, lineage, and data interpretation standards.

Data as a Service: Develop a scalable model for providing reusable, trusted, secure datasets, pipelines and APIs to product teams. Work with Architecture, Engineering and Cloud teams to operationalise data platforms (e.g., Fabric, Informatica, Purview, Collibra). Establish service definitions, SLAs, demand processes and capacity models for data consumption across the portfolio.

Culture & Change: Champion data-driven culture change, embedding stewardship, data literacy, and trust in data across Audit. Lead education and enablement programmes to strengthen responsible data behaviours. Foster high-challenge, high-support ways of working, modelling KPMG values.

Performance & Risk: Conduct maturity assessments and define improvement roadmaps across the four pillars. Maintain oversight of data risks, issues, non-compliance and regulatory obligations. Ensure data controls are aligned with Audit Quality and risk management expectations.

Other responsibilities will typically include accountability for leading teams; providing technical, risk & compliance management, operational and quality management support; overseeing project management, budgeting and planning, senior stakeholder management, and analysis and delivery of quality reports; taking part in tenders or proposals; and some performance management responsibilities. Due to the nature of the position, you may be working at/visiting other KPMG offices or external sites.

Experience and knowledge requirements: Deep expertise in data governance, data quality, data management or enterprise data operations. Experience leading multi-pillar data functions or horizontal data capabilities across complex organisations. Strong understanding of data platforms, data integration, metadata cataloguing, lineage and data quality tooling (e.g., Informatica, MS Purview, Collibra, Fabric). Strong stakeholder and relationship management skills across technical and non-technical communities. Evidence of driving cultural and behavioural change related to data ownership and quality. Experience translating technical data concepts into business language. Strategic thinker able to balance long-term vision with practical delivery. A proactive, tenacious leader who can drive transformation across multiple teams and portfolios. Passionate advocate for trustworthy, responsible, high-quality data.

Behavioural Attributes and Skills: Role model the Audit Technology culture of high support and high challenge. Foster inclusion, empowerment, psychological safety and collaboration across teams. Actively coach and develop cross-functional colleagues, building data capability across the organisation. Contribute to a sense of community, purpose and enjoyment across the team.

Qualifications: A professional accountancy qualification from a recognised accountancy body is desirable but is not essential. KPMG are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunity employer and we seek to attract and retain the best people from the widest possible talent pool. As a member of the Business Disability Forum we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the Recruitment Process.