Senior Associate - Data Protection Engineer

Location Designation:
Hybrid - 3 days per week

Role Overview

The Data Protection Engineer (Unstructured Data) plays a key role in advancing New York Life’s data governance initiatives. This individual contributor role focuses on the operational design and execution of metadata cataloging, lineage harvesting, governance workflows, data quality management, with a focus on Unstructured Data, leveraging technical platforms such as Atlan, Anomalo and Unity Catalog. Working closely with data governance analysts, product managers, and technology teams, the data governance engineer enhances data discoverability, quality, and compliance across the enterprise;

supporting New York Life’s Data Strategy and enabling timely, data-driven decisions built on trusted information.

• Develop and maintain automated data quality checks, validation rules and monitoring across multiple systems and datasets
• Support governance efforts related to metadata, tags, data definitions, and data standardization to improve consistency, traceability, and usability
• Configure, test, and maintain Atlan & Anomalo platform functionality, including building custom connectors and BAU platform operations.
• Work across both structured and unstructured data to support governance, profiling, assessment, and quality improvement efforts
• Build hands-on solutions, prototypes, dashboards, or lightweight applications using Python, SQL, Streamlit, Databricks, and related tools
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define data governance requirements for critical data elements and support remediation prioritization
• Create clear documentation and reporting to communicate findings, standards, and recommendations
• Drive adoption of governance tools through road-shows, training sessions, user enablement, and data owner/steward playbooks.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies by contributing to backlog building and sprint events in Jira.

• 3–5+ years of professional experience, including 1-2+ years in a data governance function.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• Strong understanding of unstructured data, data governance frameworks, metadata management, data quality management and data cataloging/lineage concepts.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills and experience working across business and technical teams.
• Strong proficiency with SQL, Python and data modeling/analysis concepts.

Salary Range: $124,000-$177,000

Overtime eligible:
Exempt

Discretionary bonus eligible:
Yes

Sales bonus eligible:
No

Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual’s experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.

At New York Life, our 180-year legacy of purpose and integrity fuels our future. As we evolve into a more technology-, data-, and AI-enabled organization, we remain grounded in the values that drive lasting impact.

Our diverse business portfolio creates opportunities to make a difference across industries and communities—inviting bold thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and purpose-driven innovation. Here, you’ll find the rare balance of long-standing stability and forward momentum, supported by an inclusive team that honors tradition while embracing progress.

As a Fortune 100 mutual company, we offer a place to grow your skills, contribute to meaningful work, and deliver solutions that matter. Your ideas drive what’s next, and your growth powers it.

We provide a full package of benefits for employees – and have unique offerings for a modern workforce, including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs. Based on feedback from our employees, we continue to refine and add benefits to our offering, so that you can flourish both inside and outside of work.  to discover more about our comprehensive benefit options or visit our NYL Benefits Site.

At New York Life, fostering an inclusive workplace…