Data Governance Lead

Requisition 39375: B4 Data Governance Lead 

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Norfolk Southern offers a unique opportunity to be part of our proud legacy that spans nearly 200 years. We are a customer-centric, operations-driven team dedicated to advancing safety, serving communities, and driving innovation for tomorrow's rail.  As part of Norfolk Southern, you’ll join a collaborative team where there are opportunities for growth across the organization. We are building a culture where everyone can thrive by owning and driving exceptional results, being humble and leading with trust, serving our customers with excellence, and collaborating and coaching to win.

Job Description

Norfolk Southern Corporation is seeking a Data Governance Enterprise Lead to lead the development and execution of a comprehensive, organization-wide data governance strategy. This role is part of a newly formed team dedicated to transforming how data is managed, governed, and leveraged across the enterprise.

 

As the lead, you will be responsible for shaping and driving Norfolk Southern’s data governance vision. You will collaborate closely with business units and functional areas to define and implement our data fabric—a unified governance framework supported by modern tools and practices.

 

The Data Governance Enterprise Lead will serve as the primary point of contact for all data governance initiatives. In partnership with stakeholders across the organization, you will help establish a shared understanding of data and build a centralized mechanism for its aggregation, cleansing, transformation, augmentation, validation, and syndication. This effort will lay the foundation for trusted, high-quality, secure data that powers decision-making and innovation across Norfolk Southern.

Responsibilities

•    Drive the value of data governance and enterprise data management across Norfolk Southern, fostering a culture of data stewardship and accountability.
•    Lead the design and implementation of a comprehensive data governance framework, including the development of key artifacts such as policies, standards, documentation, definitions, processes, and templates.
•    Establish and lead an Enterprise Data Governance Committee, driving cross-functional alignment and executive sponsorship.
•    Advance data governance principles, policies, and programs that support data stewardship, advocacy, and custodianship across business and technology domains.
•    Collaborate with stakeholders across business units and IT to integrate governance practices into strategic initiatives and operational workflows.
•    Coordinate and align cross-functional resources to ensure consistent application of governance standards and practices.
•    Identify, track, and manage opportunities for continuous improvement in data governance standards, guidelines, and processes.
•    Ensure the implementation of data quality action plans where data does not meet established governance standards, driving remediation and accountability.
•    Define, monitor, and report on performance metrics related to data governance, data management, data quality, and metadata management.
•    Develop and deliver education and training programs to promote awareness and adoption of data governance concepts, standards, and best practices across the enterprise.
•    Ensure data governance practices comply with regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA).
•    Collaborate with legal, risk, and compliance teams to manage data-related risks.
•    Support audits and assessments related to data governance and data privacy.
•    Evaluate and implement data governance tools and platforms.
•    Work with IT and data engineering teams to embed governance into data architecture and pipelines
•    Promote data literacy and governance awareness across the organization.
•    Develop training programs and materials for data owners, data stewards and business users.
•    Lead change management efforts to embed governance into business processes.

Education Required

•    Bachelors in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Data Engineering or related field. 

Skills Required:

•    5-8 years of experience in establishing and running any of the following programs: data management, data governance, data quality, me