Senior Data & Records Governance Lead

About Uphold

Uphold is a financial technology company that believes on-chain services are the future of finance. It provides modern infrastructure for on-chain payments, banking, and investments. Offering Consumer Services, Business Services, and Institutional Trading, Uphold makes pioneering financial services easy and trusted for millions of customers in more than 140 countries. Uphold strips away the complexity and lack of transparency to open up Web3 finance for everyone. To learn more about Uphold, please visit uphold.com.

The opportunity

Uphold is seeking a Senior Data & Records Governance Lead to join our Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) team. This pivotal role is responsible for designing, implementing, and operating a robust data and records governance framework that supports Uphold's global compliance obligations and business objectives. This role ensures that the company meets both internal data standards and the expectations of global regulators.

You will collaborate across Legal, IT, Information Security, Data Privacy, and Operational Resilience teams to define and enforce policies that align with privacy, compliance, and business continuity goals. This role is ideal for a systems-savvy professional passionate about integrating technology with governance to reduce risk and enable compliance-by-design.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain a scalable data and records governance framework that aligns with global regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, SEC, MiCAR) and Uphold's internal policies.
• Establish robust governance processes and tooling to ensure the discoverability, classification, retention, and secure disposal of data across structured and unstructured environments.
• Monitor and enforce data quality and records lifecycle compliance across Uphold's platforms and regions, driving continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Legal, Privacy, Security, IT, GRC, and Product to integrate governance standards into platform design and business operations.
• Lead assessments and remediation of data and records-related risks, ensuring traceability and defensibility for audits and regulatory inquiries.
• Define and track governance KPIs and KRIs to measure program effectiveness and influence data-driven decision-making.
• Serve as a key stakeholder in Uphold's privacy-by-design and operational resilience initiatives, embedding records retention governance standards into core workflows.
• Support global stakeholder education through training and awareness programs focused on records obligations, data integrity, and regulatory readiness.
• Act as an internal advisor on best practices for data lifecycle management, legal holds, and compliant data handling within a fast-paced fintech environment.

Required qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in data governance, records management, or privacy operations, preferably within fintech, financial services, or highly regulated technology environments.
• Good understanding of GDPR, UK GDPR, and CCPA/CPRA.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and operating data lifecycle management programs across multiple jurisdictions and technology stacks.
• Working knowledge of records retention schedules and legal hold requirements.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence and lead cross-functional initiatives in highly regulated, innovation-driven environments.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline; Comfortable working in a remote-first, fast-paced, and globally distributed team.
• Experience preparing for or supporting internal and external audits or regulatory examinations involving data and records governance.

Bonus, but not essential if you have

• Hands-on experience with data discovery and governance platforms (e.g. 1Touch.io, BigID, Collibra).
• Familiarity with integrating governance processes into platforms like Jira, Zendesk, or other workflow tools.
• Professional certifications such as CIPP/E, CIPT, CDMP, or IGP are a strong advantage.
• Knowledge of blockchain, digital assets, or Web3 technologies and the associated data risks.
• Understanding of control and compliance frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST, or COBIT.

What we have to offer you

• An amazing work environment in a company that continues to grow, driven by extraordinary and passionate people who keep innovating and challenging more each day.
• An international team, in a cutting-edge field, working on the most fascinating projects.
• Growth and career opportunities, and the chance to be proactive and creative.
• A flexible and enthusiastic work environment that offers you snacks, a lot of coffee, and other great benefits.
• Interesting events that keep you connected with the team and celebrate our success.

EEOC Employer

We're proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and we celebrate our employees' differences, including race, color, religion, gender identity, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, and any other protected classes. Difference makes us stronger and better - together.