AVP, Data Governance

AVP, Data Governance

Job Description

Pacific Life Re is progressing a major business, technology and data transformation across Divisional Business Services. The Divisional Data Team is delivering the governed data foundations, warehouse, data quality and reporting capabilities required to support Project Unify, regulatory and management reporting, operational resilience and future analytics.

The AVP, Head of Data Governance provides strategic and delivery leadership for data governance and data quality across Pacific Life Re. The role translates the Data Strategy and Data Governance and Management Program into practical standards, controls, operating practices and measurable outcomes, ensuring that data is trusted, understood, appropriately controlled and fit for operational, regulatory and strategic use.

Working across business functions, Technology, Architecture, Risk, Legal, Compliance, Internal Audit and Pacific Life enterprise teams, the role embeds governance into transformation delivery, the Snowflake data warehouse, reporting and analytics, and the wider information lifecycle. A central expectation is to communicate progress, risks, dependencies, decisions and business outcomes clearly to executive sponsors, governance forums, delivery teams and data users.

This role is on-site 4 days per week and work from home 1 day per week.

Role Responsibilities

Strategy, Framework and Accountability

• Lead the execution of the divisional Data Governance strategy, framework, operating model and roadmap, aligned with the PL Re Data Strategy and relevant enterprise standards.

• Develop and maintain clear decision rights, accountability and escalation routes across Data Owners, Business Data Managers, Data Stewards, Business Process Owners and Technology Owners.

• Chair the Data Governance Forum and ensure that decisions, actions, standards, exceptions and escalations are recorded, communicated and progressed.

• Define and report measures for governance maturity, adoption, control effectiveness and the resolution of material data issues.

Program Delivery

• Support the VP for Data, in delivering the Data Governance and Management Program, including mobilization, analysis, target-state design, investment planning, prioritized remediation and transition into sustainable implementation.

• In collaboration with strategic projects and business workstreams, embed data requirements, definitions, ownership, quality thresholds, lineage, controls, acceptance criteria and governance sign-off throughout delivery.

• Maintain an integrated delivery view of milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, resources, budgets, benefits and readiness, escalating decisions promptly and constructively.

• Provide executive sponsors and governance bodies with concise, evidence-based updates on progress, outcomes, residual risks and decisions required.

Data Quality & Metadata

• Develop and implement the divisional data quality strategy and operating model, covering critical data, quality rules, measures, controls, scorecards, root-cause analysis and remediation prioritization.

• Lead the adoption of metadata, business glossary, lineage and data catalogue capabilities, ensuring that priority data assets are discoverable, consistently defined and supported by accountable business roles.

• In collaboration with Business Analysts, Data Engineering, Reporting and Architecture, embed governance by design into data products, semantic models, workspaces and reporting solutions.

• Direct the effective use and integration of strategic governance and data quality technologies, including Collibra and Informatica IDMC, with a focus on control outcomes and business adoption.

Risk, Lifecycle & Assurance

• Lead data lifecycle governance, including retention, classification, discoverability, permitted access, defensible disposition and remediation of identified control gaps.

• Act as the senior Data Governance contact for regulatory, audit and risk activity, coordinating evidence, management responses, remediation plans and reporting through the appropriate governance routes.

• In collaboration with Legal, Data Protection, Information Security, Risk and Technology, translate policy and regulatory requirements into proportionate, implementable data controls.

• Monitor material data risks and issues, challenge remediation plans and support accountable business and technology leaders in reaching documented decisions on residual risk. Working closely with legal and risk functions.

People, Engagement and Capability

• Build and lead a high-performing Data Governance team, setting clear objectives, developing capability, delegating effectively and creating succession depth.

• Develop and maintain an engagement and communication plan that translates governance priorities into clear executive narratives, adoption messages, training and role-based guidance.

• Establish and support an active stewardship community that shares good practice, resolves cross-functional issues and embeds governance in day-to-day business activity.

• Manage specialist partners and contractors against clear deliverables, quality expectations, knowledge-transfer requirements and value outcomes.

Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience in data governance, data management, data quality and data leadership within a complex, regulated organization.

• Demonstrable success in moving governance from policy and framework design into practical delivery, adoption, and measurable business outcomes.

• Strong program and change delivery experience, with the ability to coordinate concurrent workstreams, dependencies, risks, resources and budgets.

• Strong knowledge of data ownership and stewardship, metadata, business glossaries, lineage, data quality, controls, retention, classification and information lifecycle management.

• Practical knowledge of governance and quality technologies, ideally Collibra, Informatica IDMC, Snowflake and Power BI.

• Experience supporting regulatory reporting, audit, risk and control remediation in financial services, ideally insurance or reinsurance.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, including executive updates, decision papers, roadmaps, program communications and adoption materials.

• Strong people leadership, coaching and capability-building skills, including experience developing federated communities as well as direct teams.

• Relevant professional qualification, such as CDMP or an equivalent data-management credential; recognized program, risk or change qualifications would be advantageous.

Competencies and Behaviours

• Strategic and outcome-focused, with the delivery discipline to convert direction into measurable progress.

• Creates clarity from complexity and connects governance, data quality, engineering, reporting, risk and change into a coherent agenda.

• Visible and accountable, surfacing risks and dependencies early and following through on commitments.

• Commercial and pragmatic, applying proportionate governance that protects the business without creating unnecessary delivery friction.

• Collaborative and influential, building shared accountability across business and technology teams.

• Communicates with precision and adapts messages for executives, delivery teams and business users.

• Develops others, delegates effectively and builds sustainable organizational capability.

• Demonstrates integrity, sound judgement and resilience when operating with ambiguity, scrutiny and competing priorities.

Salary: $165,000.00 – $175,000.00 CAD

Compensation Range

The compensation range noted represents the company’s good faith minimum and maximum range for this role at the time of posting. The actual compensation offered to a candidate will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to experience, qualifications and geographic location.

Working For Pacific Life Re

Every person in our global team is valued for the unique qualities they bring to our business and we seek to build their expertise and support their individual ambitions at every step. We work hard and thrive on achievement, but we also know how to have fun and relax too. We regularly host a range of team building days to strengthen our team's connection with each other and reflect on their successes.

Providing employees with a healthy work-life balance is very important to our culture. We have a wide range of employee benefits and we host regular social activities and well being initiatives. We are also committed to supporting our employee's involvement in their communities, by actively fundraising, hosting charity events and overseeing volunteering opportunities.

Leave

• 23 days of annual leave (Regular employees) with option to buy or sell more days 

• Fertility leave

• Generous parental leave  

Healthcare

• Group Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment coverage for all permanent employees 

• Dental & Optical benefits 

Savings & Retirement

• RRSP: company-matched contributions

Wellness

• Employee and Family Assistance Program

• Subsidized gym membership  

• Time off for volunteering 

• Charitable matching of employee donations 

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we will provide reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process to ensure equal access to applicants with disabilities. Please contact us about your needs so that we can discuss these with you to make sure that suitable adjustments are made, where possible.

Pacific Life Re Values

Please click here to view our company values

Use of AI 

As part of our commitment to a fair and efficient hiring experience, we want to inform you that we may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in reviewing resumes, and during the assessment process, including through platforms like HireVue. These tools help us identify relevant qualifications and streamline evaluations, but final decisions are always made by our hiring team.