IT&D Director, Global Data Governance in England

We are Reckitt, home to the world’s best loved and trusted hygiene, health, and nutrition brands. Our purpose defines why we exist: to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We are a global team united by this purpose. Join us in our fight to make access to the highest quality hygiene, wellness, and nourishment a right and not a privilege.

In IT&D, you’ll be a force for good, whether you’re championing cyber security, defining how we harness the power of technology to improve our business, or working with data to guide the innovation of consumer loved products. Working globally across functions, you’ll own your projects and process from start to finish, with the influence and visibility to achieve what needs to be done. And if you’re willing to bring your ideas to the table, you’ll get the support and investment to make them happen. Your potential will never be wasted. You’ll get the space and support to take your development to the next level. Every day, there will be opportunities to learn from peers and leaders through working on exciting, varied projects with real impact.

The Global Data Governance Director is a senior leadership role responsible for building, executing, and sustaining the enterprise-wide data governance strategy. Reporting to the VP, Global Data & Analytics, this role ensures that the company’s data are trusted, standardized, well-governed, and available as a strategic asset to enable business growth, regulatory compliance, and digital transformation.

The successful candidate will chair Global Data Governance committees to drive data feasibility assessments (i.e. data availability, quality, consistency and synergies) and will monitor compliance of the current Group / BU projects with Data Governance standards. The Director will lead three specialized sub-teams covering data domain stewardship, master data technology platforms and foundational datasets as products in the company’s data lake. This leader will work closely with business stakeholders, technology partners, and executive leadership to drive data quality at source, implementing scalable governance processes, and promoting a culture of data literacy and accountability across the enterprise.

Your responsibilities

• Communicate the value of data governance and explain/influence senior executives (usually GEC-1) to reach an understanding of how fundamental and structural it is to make progress in this area, knowing this often requires difficult trade-offs.
• Work with a large complex ecosystem of current and potential internal and external partner organizations to provide value to Reckitt.
• Ensure data governance initiatives are supported by sound business cases which identify measures of success and are value based.
• Actively contribute to the development and implementation of the overall Global Data & Analytics strategy, especially the stewardship, master data, data products, and AI readiness.

Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute the enterprise data governance strategy in alignment with business goals and IT&D priorities.
• Serve as the executive point of contact for data governance, influencing senior stakeholders and setting the framework for cross-functional duties and oversight of Data Governance sub-teams.
• Partner with business and IT leaders to align governance initiatives with key strategic priorities (e.g., digital transformation, analytics, AI readiness, regulatory compliance).
• Close collaboration with global partners will be required to ensure alignment with data strategy and not limited to data privacy and cybersecurity.
• Enables the definition and roll-out of data policies, standards, monitoring the compliance across all areas.
• Articulate the impact of poor data governance on value realisation and ensure clear ownership and accountability for data governance within functions/geographies as appropriate.
• Ongoing education of internal and external stakeholders on Data Governance (data literacy).

Team & Capability Leadership

• Lead three global sub-teams to deliver an integrated program.
• Establish, develop and empower effective data domain stewards that define data standards, rules, and quality expectations.
• Partner with business process owners to improve data quality at source, especially for critical master data (customer, product, supplier, etc.).
• Monitor compliance with data governance standards, especially data quality and remediation.
• Ownership of the data governance forums to ensure all critical decisions are discussed, debated, and agreed upon to enable a holistic approach to data governance.

Master Data Technology Platforms

• Own and evolve the master data management (MDM) platforms and related tools.
• Partner with IT architecture to ensure scalability, automation, and integration with enterprise systems.

Governance & Compliance

• Develop, maintain, and enforce data policies, standards, and procedures across domains.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, SOX) and internal audit controls.
• Drive data security and privacy alignment with enterprise risk management.
• Work closely with Shared Services leads (Finance, HR, Supply, etc.) to ensure the execution of their services is done per policies and procedures defined by the Global Data Governance organization.

Performance & Value Realization

• Establish KPIs and scorecards for data quality, data usage, and governance maturity.
• Demonstrate business value of governance initiatives through improved decision-making, cost reduction, and risk mitigation.

The experience we’re looking for

• Extensive and proven experience in data governance, data management, or enterprise information management, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role directly managing Senior Managers and budgets in the £M ranges.
• Proven success in building and leading global data governance programs in complex, matrixed organizations.
• Experience managing MDM platforms, data stewardship frameworks, and data product lifecycle.
• Demonstrable experience building and managing teams to deliver complex data & analytics requirements.
• Demonstrable experience building and delivering data & analytics strategies at global level that quantify value that good data brings to an organization.
• Expert in defining and running data governance operational processes: DQ measurements and tools, Data Maturity assessments, data architecture and technical solutions, policies and standards enforcement.

Skills & Competencies

• Deep knowledge of data governance frameworks (e.g., DAMA-DMBOK), master data management, and data quality management.
• Strong leadership and influencing skills, able to engage stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent understanding of data architecture, data lakes, and data product thinking.
• Strong program management and change management skills.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex data topics for business audiences.
• Agile mindset and ability to pivot when needed and to resolve difficult conversations.
• Passionate mentor for more junior colleagues with an interest to develop and coach people.

The skills for success

• Digital Strategy, Product Solution Architecture, Data Governance, Product Compliance, Digital Transformation, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Outstanding Communication, stakeholder engagement, Innovation Processes, Innovation, User Experience Design.

What we offer

With inclusion at the heart of everything we do, working alongside our four global Employee Resource Groups, we support our people at every step of their career journey, helping them to succeed in their own individual way. We invest in the wellbeing of our people through parental benefits, an Employee Assistance Program to promote mental health, and life insurance for all employees globally. We have a range of other benefits in line with the local market. Through our global share plans we offer the opportunity to save and share in Reckitt’s potential future successes. For eligible roles, we also offer short-term incentives to recognise, appreciate and reward your work for delivering outstanding results. You will be rewarded in line with Reckitt’s pay for performance philosophy.

Equality

We recognise that in real life, great people don’t always ‘tick all the boxes’. That’s why we hire for potential as well as experience. Even if you don’t meet every point on the job description, if this role and our company feels like a good fit for you, we still want to hear from you. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, disability or medical condition; colour, ethnicity, race, citizenship, and national origin; religion, faith; pregnancy, family status and caring responsibilities; sexual orientation; sex, gender identity, gender expression, and transgender identity; protected veteran status; size or any other basis protected by appropriate law.