Hiring: Data Governance Lead Company: Ares Management Location: New York, NY Job Posted Time: 2026-09-10 14:30:01 Target Skills & Keywords : Azure, Databricks, GDPR, IAM, LLM, RAG, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management About the job Experience: •3-5 years in a leadership capacity; financial services or alternative asset management experience strongly preferred •10+ years in data governance, data management, or related roles, with at least 3-5 years in a leadership capacity; financial services or alternative asset management experience strongly preferred Required Skills: •This is a hands-on, build-from-the-ground-up mandate: the VP will design governance frameworks, stand up the tooling and processes to enforce them, and partner with Legal, Compliance, Risk, Cyber, and business stakeholders to ensure governance keeps pace with an aggressively expanding Data & AI ecosystem. •Design, implement, and continuously mature the firm's end-to-end data governance framework, including policies, standards, operating models, and RACI structures for data ownership and stewardship •Define and drive the firm's data classification scheme (e.g., public, internal, confidential, restricted/PII) and ensure consistent application across Databricks/Unity Catalog and downstream systems •Establish data governance councils/forums and stewardship roles across investment and corporate functions •Align governance roadmap with the Enterprise Data Strategy and the AURA platform roadmap •Data Catalog Management •Own the data catalog strategy and administration (Unity Catalog), including taxonomy, metadata standards, business glossary, lineage tracking, and ownership tagging •Ensure all critical data assets and supporting documents — fund master data, deal data, portfolio data, LP data — are cataloged, documented, and discoverable Qualifications: •Demonstrated experience building data governance programs from scratch, including catalog, classification, quality, and access management frameworks •Hands-on familiarity with modern data platforms — Databricks, Unity Catalog, Azure data services — and how governance is operationalized within them •Solid functional working knowledge of AI/ML governance concepts: model risk management, RAG/LLM data handling, responsible AI principles, and emerging AI regulatory frameworks •Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills; able to operate effectively with Legal, Compliance, Risk, Cyber/IAM, and Enablement & Control functions as well as technical and investment teams •Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to translate technical governance concepts for non-technical/investment audiences •Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or relevant certifications (CDMP, DAMA, CIMP etc.) a plus •Principal, Data & AI Program Delivery Compensation: •$200,000 - $220,000 / year •Total compensation may also include a discretionary performance-based bonus Interested candidates, please apply directly through the job posting on company's career page or try via AI auto apply on this platform. Don't miss this opportunity to join a forward-thinking team!