Head of Data Governance in London

Company Description / Business Unit Location: London (hybrid working 3 office days per week)

Employment Type: Permanent, full time

Additional Benefits: Annual Bonus, Cash-Car Allowance & Private Medical Insurance

Think the AA is just about roadside assistance? Think again. For over a century, we’ve been evolving and adapting. Today, as the nation’s leading motoring organisation, we offer a wide range of products and services to millions of customers. From roadside assistance to home and motor insurance, and the latest driving technologies, we have it all. As we continue to expand, diversify, and modernise, joining us as a Head of Data Governance means you’ll play a crucial role in our success and be part of this exciting motoring journey.

Our Chief Operating Office (COO) is the backbone of The AA, providing both stability and structure to support growth and innovation. We are the drivers of change.

Job Overview: At The AA, we are putting data at the heart of how we make better decisions, deliver better customer outcomes and shape the future of our business. As we continue centralising our key commercial and customer data onto a modern lakehouse platform, we are looking for a Head of Data Governance to build and embed the operating model that ensures our most critical data is trusted, controlled, and used with confidence. This is a high impact leadership role where you will shape data governance from an early stage across a large, complex and well‑recognised organisation. You will lead the rollout of our critical data governance operating model, introducing data domain ownership and stewardship, embedding governance controls into business change, and operationalising data quality monitoring across our lakehouse platform. You will play a visible Group level role, partnering with senior leaders across Data, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Cyber Security, Data Privacy and business domains. With strong executive sponsorship and the foundations in place, this is an opportunity to build a meaningful, lasting capability and create governance that enables the business rather than slows it down.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, rollout and embedding of a critical data governance operating model across the Group, including data domain owners, data stewards, critical data elements, definitions, lineage, quality rules and service levels.
• Embed data governance controls into business and technology change, ensuring upstream changes are managed effectively and do not compromise critical data, reporting or customer outcomes.
• Own Group‑wide oversight of data and reporting risk, including governance, controls, Key Risk Indicators and audit actions across the Data and AI function.
• Select, deliver and operationalise enterprise‑grade data governance and data quality tooling across a modern lakehouse environment, including Microsoft Purview and comparable platforms.
• Work closely with senior stakeholders to build confidence, understanding and advocacy for data governance, translating complex topics into clear business value.
• Lead and develop a small specialist team, creating a positive, delivery focused culture with clear standards, strong accountability and room for professional growth.

Key Qualifications:

• Proven experience rolling out a critical data governance operating model in a large, complex or regulated organisation, preferably from an early stage rather than only operating an established model.
• Strong practical knowledge of data governance and data management principles, including data ownership, stewardship, critical data elements, data quality, metadata, lineage, controls and governance by design.
• Hands‑on experience selecting, implementing or operationalising enterprise data governance tooling, preferably Microsoft Purview, with exposure to tools such as Soda, Great Expectations, Databricks, Unity Catalog or comparable platforms.
• Strong understanding of risk and controls, ideally including first line risk oversight, Three Lines of Defence, data reporting risk, privacy, compliance and regulatory expectations.
• The confidence and communication style to influence senior leaders, engage domain experts and take stakeholders on the data governance journey with clarity and impact.
• AI fluency, with a clear understanding of how AI can improve the data governance domain, including monitoring, controls, quality management, automation and insight generation.

Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and holiday buying scheme
• Worksave pension scheme with up to 7% employer contribution
• Free AA breakdown membership from Day 1 plus 50% discount for family and friends
• Discounts on AA products including car and home insurance
• Employee discount scheme that gives access to a car salary‑sacrifice scheme and great discounts on healthcare, shopping, holidays and more
• Company‑funded life assurance
• Diverse learning and development opportunities to support you to progress in your career
• Dedicated Employee Assistance Programme and a 24/7 remote GP service for you and your family

We’re an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from everyone. The AA values diversity and the difference this brings to our culture and our customers. We actively seek people from diverse backgrounds to join us and become part of an inclusive company where you can be yourself, be empowered to be your best and feel like you truly belong. We have five communities to bring together people with shared characteristics and backgrounds and drive positive change.