Lead Consultant (Data Governance)

The Role

As a Lead Consultant focusing on data governance, you will be responsible for leading the successful delivery of Data Governance engagements for Simpson Associates’ clients. You will work closely with clients to design and implement practical governance frameworks, operating models, ownership structures, policies, processes and adoption approaches that help them create trusted, secure and well-managed data estates. This is a delivery-focused role within our consulting practice. You will work alongside presales, sales, delivery management, data engineering, analytics, cloud platform and security teams to take Data Governance opportunities from mobilisation through to successful client outcomes. While you will understand modern governance platforms, including Microsoft Purview, Databricks Unity Catalog and comparable tools, this is a technology-agnostic role. The focus is on helping clients put effective governance into practice, regardless of the specific platform or tooling in use. You will play a key role in building Simpson Associates’ Data Governance delivery capability, ensuring engagements are delivered consistently, commercially and to a high standard. You will also help develop reusable delivery methods, templates and accelerators that support a scalable and repeatable Data Governance proposition.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end‑to‑end delivery of data governance engagements, either independently or as part of larger multi-disciplinary programmes, ensuring alignment to client objectives and business outcomes.
• Act as the primary delivery contact for customers, building trusted relationships and providing clear governance leadership across business, data and technology stakeholders.
• Convert requirements and scope into structured delivery plans, managing activities throughout the engagement lifecycle in collaboration with Delivery Managers and technical teams.
• Take responsibility for governance delivery quality, ensuring outputs are consistent, practical and aligned to agreed standards and client expectations.
• Identify, manage and mitigate delivery risks, issues and dependencies, maintaining oversight of scope, assumptions and stakeholder responsibilities.

Data Governance offerings and outcomes

• Work with customers to identify, challenge and prioritise governance requirements, including facilitating workshops, maturity assessments and current-state reviews.
• Translate business and regulatory requirements into practical governance operating models, including data ownership, stewardship, policies, standards and decision‑making frameworks.
• Develop and implement data governance frameworks and delivery plans, ensuring that governance activities are clearly defined, actionable and embedded into day‑to‑day operations.
• Support the definition and implementation of data governance operating models, including data ownership, stewardship structures, governance forums, decision rights, policies, standards and practices.
• Support clients in defining practical approaches to data quality, metadata, lineage, business glossary, critical data elements and trusted data products, and help clients develop their maturity through appropriate governance and remediation processes.
• Ensure governance requirements are reflected in enabling platforms and tooling, working closely with technical specialists to align operating models with data catalogues, classification, lineage and access control capabilities.
• Produce clear documentation and communicate governance designs effectively, ensuring that concepts are understood by both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ensure governance solutions are adopted by client stakeholders, supporting the embedding of processes, routines and accountabilities across business and technology teams.

Collaboration with Presales and Practice Leads

• Work closely with the Data Governance Presales Specialist and wider Sales/Presales teams to contribute to estimation and pre‑sales activities where required, validating that opportunities are deliverable, appropriately scoped, and aligned to Simpson’s delivery capability.
• Collaborate with internal teams including Delivery, Technical and Practice Leads to ensure governance engagements are integrated effectively within broader data transformation programmes.
• Develop and contribute to reusable governance frameworks, templates and delivery assets, supporting consistent and scalable delivery across clients.
• Share knowledge and support capability development across the organisation, contributing to internal best practice, mentoring colleagues and maintaining awareness of industry trends, regulatory developments and emerging tooling.

Skills and Attributes Required

• Strong consulting experience delivering Data Governance initiatives in complex client environments, including requirements gathering, workshop facilitation and supporting clients through varying levels of maturity and ambiguity to create clear, practical delivery plans.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to explain governance concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, navigate differing priorities, manage resistance and support organisational and behavioural change.
• Demonstrable experience across core Data Governance disciplines, including governance frameworks, operating models, data ownership, stewardship, policies, standards, data quality, metadata and lineage.
• Knowledge of DAMA-DMBOK is essential, with other frameworks strongly beneficial.
• Experience designing governance approaches that are practical, proportionate and capable of being embedded into day‑to‑day operations.
• Experience leading governance workstreams or advisory engagements, taking ownership of delivery outcomes including planning, mobilisation, stakeholder management, risk, dependencies, scope and production of high‑quality, client‑ready outputs.
• Understanding of modern data governance and metadata management platforms (e.g. Microsoft Purview, Databricks Unity Catalog or equivalent), with the ability to define requirements and work closely with technical specialists to align tooling to governance objectives.
• Strong understanding of how Data Governance operates within wider data and analytics environments, with the ability to work credibly with technical teams, define governance requirements and align platforms, tooling and delivery decisions to governance objectives.
• Commercial awareness within a consulting environment, including understanding of scope, effort, margin, risk, change control and the ability to manage scope creep while keeping work aligned to agreed outcomes and delivery constraints.
• Collaborative approach, with experience working across multidisciplinary teams including Sales, Presales, Delivery, Data Engineering, Analytics, Cloud Platform and Security.
• Commitment to capability development, including mentoring colleagues, contributing to delivery methods and supporting the development of a scalable Data Governance proposition.

Advantageous Qualifications and Skills

• Experience in one or more of the following would be advantageous: Data Governance maturity assessments and roadmap development, Implementation of data ownership and stewardship models, Business glossary and metadata management, Data quality frameworks and remediation processes, Governance for platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure or Databricks, Use of governance tooling such as Microsoft Purview, Databricks Unity Catalog or equivalent, Regulatory or compliance-driven Data Governance programmes, AI readiness, responsible AI or governance for AI use cases, Experience working with public sector, health, policing, education or other purpose‑led organisations.