Operations Data Steward

Department:
Financial Advisor Services (FAS) Operations

Reports to:

Head of FAS Operations

At Vanguard, we are committed to giving investors the best chance of investment success. The Operations Data Steward (ODS) is a first-line business role accountable for the day-to-day management, maintenance and governance of data across FAS Operations. The role ensures that operational data is accurate, complete, appropriately controlled, compliant and fit for purpose, supporting safe client outcomes, operational resilience and effective decision-making.

Reporting to the Head of FAS Operations, the role remains embedded within Operations and operates as the principal data stewardship contact for the function. It works in close partnership with operational leaders and subject-matter experts, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Privacy, Information Security and the Chief Data & Analytics Office (CDAO) to implement the European Data Governance Framework and translate enterprise standards into effective operational practice.

This is a new role within FAS Operations and there is an expectation that the successful candidate will have a high degree of personal ‘hands on’ involvement in formulating and execution of agreed data governance activities across the operational data lifecycle, including data inventory and metadata, critical data elements, lineage, data quality, retention, control evidence and remediation. The ODS will provide informed challenge, elevate material risks or non-compliance and drive issues through to sustainable closure, while business and data owners retain ultimate accountability.

Own Operational Data Governance and Data Management

• Maintain a complete and accurate inventory of structured and unstructured operational data assets, including ownership, location, classification, business purpose, criticality and lifecycle status.
• Maintain business metadata, data definitions, critical data elements, glossaries, data dictionaries and ownership records in approved governance repositories such as Collibra.
• Document and maintain end-to-end operational data lineage, process flows, source systems, hand-offs, transformations, business rules and third-party dependencies.
• Implement data governance policies, standards, processes and controls across FAS Operations, maintaining evidence that requirements are operating as intended.
• Ensure operational management information and reporting use authoritative, controlled and consistently defined data sources.

Drive Data Quality, Controls and Remediation

• Define and maintain data quality rules, thresholds and monitoring for critical operational data, aligned to business, client and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor data quality performance through dashboards and management information, identify emerging risks and provide transparent reporting to operational and data governance forums.
• Investigate data issues, perform root-cause analysis and coordinate corrective actions across Operations, Technology and third parties.
• Own data remediation plans through to closure, validate that outcomes are complete and sustainable, and elevate overdue actions, control failures or risks outside tolerance.
• Execute and evidence agreed data governance controls, support assurance and audit activity, and respond to findings within agreed timescales.

Manage Data Retention and Lifecycle

• Implement approved data retention schedules and records-management requirements across operational data assets.
• Identify data without a defined retention basis, assess business value and regulatory impact, and coordinate agreed archival, deletion, obfuscation or disposition activity.
• Maintain evidence of retention decisions and validate that lifecycle actions have…