Director of Enterprise Data Operations

Job Summary

The Director of Enterprise Data Operations leads NiSource's end-to-end data operating model—governing, enabling, and running the capabilities that make trusted, well-managed data available for analytics and operations. This role owns the enterprise data governance framework and the cloud data strategy, operationalizes stewardship and master/reference data, curates the enterprise catalog/metadata, and partners with engineering and architecture to industrialize data ingestion and curation through the data lake.

The Director builds a high performing, inclusive team; prioritizes the enterprise ingestion backlog; establishes measurable service levels for data quality, availability, and cost; and partners closely with Business Unit leaders and the IT Transformation team to accelerate value while maintaining strong security and compliance.

Own the enterprise data strategy and data governance/enablement framework (people, process, policy, technology) across on-prem, cloud, and edge environments. Lead a Center of Excellence that scales best practices for data engineering, architecture, quality, and stewardship.

Define and operationalize data ownership and stewardship roles with clear decision rights and accountabilities. Establish and continuously improve enterprise data quality practices, including CDE identification, controls, monitoring, and defect remediation. Lead master data and reference data management to drive consistency across operational and analytical systems.

Build and curate the enterprise data catalog/business glossary and lineage to enable one-stop data discovery and shared definitions. Advance data literacy and adoption through standards, coaching, and enablement of business and technical communities.

Partner with IT to design and operate the data lake and industrialized ingestion/curation pipelines; manage and prioritize the enterprise ingestion backlog. Set and meet SLOs/SLAs for throughput, availability, cost, and reliability; optimize performance and resource utilization.

Ensure appropriate classification, access, privacy, and retention controls; align with cybersecurity, legal, and regulatory requirements. Proactively identify and manage operational risks; drive remediation plans and continuous improvement.

Lead or oversee large, cross functional programs and third party engagements; ensure scope, schedule, budget, and value realization. Benchmark against utilities and broader industry to inform roadmap, standards, and tooling decisions.

Recruit, mentor, and develop a high performing, diverse team; foster a culture of safety, accountability, learning, and change adoption. Build coalitions in a matrixed environment; serve as a trusted advisor to business and technology leaders to accelerate data‑driven decisions.

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years total experience.
• 3+ years of direct leadership experience building and managing high performing teams.
• Proven success owning enterprise data initiatives (data quality, integration/management, metadata/catalog, stewardship, MDM/RDM or related) and delivering outcomes at scale.
• Strong program/project leadership with a track record driving cross functional IT/Business transformation and analytics enablement in a matrixed organization.
• Working knowledge of data lake architectures and cloud data platforms; familiarity with blob/object storage, databases, ingestion/ETL/ELT patterns, and data modeling.
• Demonstrated ability to set priorities and manage multiple initiatives in a fast‑paced environment; skilled at stakeholder management, negotiation, and influence.
• Excellent executive communication skills, including management reporting and the ability to translate between business, functional, and technical audiences.

• Advanced degree in Data Science, Math, MBA, or other related field.
• Hands‑on experience with governance/catalog/MDM technologies (e.g., Microsoft Purview, Collibra, Alation, Informatica) and enterprise data modeling.

$ - $

NiSource is committed to providing equal employment opportunities in each of its companies to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, veteran status, disability, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth or related medical conditions), genetic information, citizenship status, or any protected group status as defined by law.

Each employee is expected to abide by this principle.