Data Governance Manager

We’re the UK's largest ports operator with a network of 21 ports around Britain. We handle around one quarter of the UK's seaborne trade and contribute £7.5 billion to our economy every year. It’s a story we’re proud of but it doesn’t end there. We’re transforming our business and embracing the future. We offer a vast range of roles spanning the UK, all rooted in a culture that welcomes diversity, fosters talent, encourages internal movement and progression, and places safety as our number one priority.

Purpose: To establish and embed ABP’s enterprise data governance capability so that data is managed as a trusted business asset across policy, quality, stewardship, metadata, master data, privacy, and enabling tooling.

The role will work across business and technology teams to define ownership and stewardship, improve data quality, implement governance standards and controls, and support scalable analytics, self-service, and AI on governed foundations. This role is designed for a federated operating model: business domains remain accountable for their data, while the Data function sets standards, builds capability, and provides governance forums, tools, and oversight.

The post holder will turn governance principles into practical routines that improve decision-making, reduce regulatory and audit risk, and increase confidence in data across ABP. The role aligns to the DAMA-DMBOK data management framework, focused on the disciplines most relevant to ABP’s current priorities.

Accountabilities:

• Oversee the development of predictive, prescriptive, and machine learning models (including CNNs, computer vision, and advanced statistical methods), translating business challenges into structured analytical delivery plans.
• Ensure analytical solutions are robust, validated, well documented, and aligned to business needs across the full model lifecycle, from hypothesis through to deployment and monitoring.
• Ensure insights, dashboards, and models are accurate, timely, and clearly communicated to technical and non-technical audiences, and drive adoption of self-service analytics tools across the business.
• Ensure analytics products and models comply with ABP’s data governance, data quality, and metadata standards as set by the Data Governance function, maintaining appropriate documentation of assumptions, limitations, and monitoring requirements.
• Ensure compliance with security, regulatory, and ethical AI standards across all analytical outputs, including model transparency and auditability.
• Shape the analytics roadmap in support of ABP’s wider data strategy, identifying opportunities to automate processes, optimise performance, and introduce new analytical techniques or toolsets.
• Evaluate emerging analytics technologies and methods, including generative AI and large language models, ensuring the analytics team remains modern and future ready.
• Build strong relationships with business stakeholders to ensure effective adoption of analytical products and measurable outcomes.
• Balance delivery of quick-win insights with longer-term data science initiatives, in line with agreed team priorities.

About you:

You will have proven experience working collaboratively with senior stakeholders across a matrix business to define analytical requirements, set priorities, and translate complex findings into clear, well-structured recommendations.

Skills, Experience & Qualifications

Essential:

• Proven experience in data governance, data management, information management, or a closely related discipline in a complex enterprise environment, including implementing governance frameworks, standards, controls, or stewardship models.
• Working familiarity with DAMA-DMBOK principles (or equivalent recognised framework) and practical understanding of the connected disciplines most relevant to this role: data governance, data quality, metadata, master/reference data, data security, and architecture alignment.
• Working knowledge of data quality, business glossary / metadata, lineage, classification, and master/reference data concepts, with the ability to turn these into practical business and technical processes rather than policy-only documentation.
• Aware of UK GDPR / data protection obligations relevant to governance, particularly around accuracy, rectification, privacy, handling of personal data, and the need to evidence appropriate controls and processes.
• Strong stakeholder management, facilitation, and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively in a matrixed organisation and build collaboration across business and technology teams.
• Experience with governance-enabling tooling and data platforms, such as metadata/catalogue, lineage, data quality monitoring, MDM, Microsoft Purview, or comparable capabilities, and confidence working with Microsoft / SAP / cloud data environments at a practical level.

Ideal:

• Formal DAMA / CDMP training, certification, or equivalent recognised data management qualification.
• Experience working in Microsoft / SAP-centric enterprise data environments, especially where governance must bridge operational, commercial, and enterprise systems.
• Experience in a regulated, asset-intensive, operational, logistics, maritime, property, or engineering context, where governance must support practical business delivery as well as control and compliance outcomes.

When joining ABP you will find an environment that is both welcoming and challenging. We reward our employees well and offer a generous remuneration package, employer pension, private health insurance and a range of other benefits. We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their background, which helps us to provide a diverse and inclusive working environment.