Remote Data Steward Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Summary

We are seeking a remote IT Director, Master Data Management, to lead and mature our enterprise MDM practice. This is a high-impact role that blends hands-on technical depth with strategic leadership, owning the MDM platform roadmap, data governance framework, golden record strategy, and team performance. The Director will set data management standards, mentor a team of MDM product owners, technical leads, and analysts, and remain close enough to the work to guide complex data modeling decisions, troubleshoot data quality issues, and drive architectural alignment with enterprise IT standards.

The ideal candidate is equally proficient in presenting a multi-domain MDM strategy to senior leadership and rolling up their sleeves to review match-merge logic, define survivorship rules, or resolve critical data quality incidents. This role partners with C-level executives, business partners, and external suppliers to ensure the business is satisfied with the MDM approach and methodology, delivering a single, trusted view of product, customer, and vendor data across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

Hands-On Technical Leadership

• Serve as the senior technical authority on enterprise master data management, maintaining deep working proficiency in EnterWorks and MDM design patterns including data modeling, match-merge configuration, survivorship rules, and golden record creation.

• Personally engage in the design and review of complex, high-risk, or cross-domain MDM solutions to ensure data quality, scalability, and alignment with enterprise architecture standards.

• Define and enforce MDM architecture standards including data domain modeling, hierarchy management, entity resolution patterns, data quality rules, and environment-promotion workflows.

• Lead root-cause analysis on critical master data quality failures and guide the team toward durable resolution, including remediation of duplicate records, orphaned entities, and cross-system inconsistencies.

Data Governance & Stewardship

• Develop, implement, and maintain MDM policies, standards, and procedures to support business goals and regulatory compliance requirements.

• Establish and oversee data governance strategies for product, customer, and vendor data domains, including data ownership, stewardship roles, and accountability frameworks.

• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for data quality, integrity, completeness, and availability across all master data domains.

• Oversee data stewardship activities and provide guidance to business users on master data processes, change workflows, and approval protocols.

• Champion the adoption of a business glossary and metadata management practices to ensure common data definitions and business rules across the enterprise.

Strategic Direction & Roadmap

• Define and own the multi-year MDM platform strategy and technology roadmap, aligned with enterprise architecture principles and business growth objectives.

• Evaluate emerging MDM technologies, data governance tools, and vendor offerings; make build-vs-buy recommendations with supporting business cases.

• Lead strategic planning, roadmap development, and operational planning for the MDM function, including domain prioritization and phased rollout plans.

• Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Integration, Data & Analytics, Application, and Security teams to ensure MDM solutions support the broader technology portfolio.

• Represent the MDM function in IT governance forums, architecture review boards, steering committees, and other forums as needed.

Business Partnership & Satisfaction

• Collaborate with IT, business units, and external partners to identify data quality issues, understand business data needs, and drive remediation efforts.

• Act as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and the MDM team, ensuring the MDM approach and methodology meets business expectations and delivers measurable value.

• Support major projects and initiatives requiring master data expertise, including acquisitions, system migrations, and edge application implementations, and other projects and enhancements.

• Facilitate data governance council meetings and cross-functional working sessions to align MDM priorities with business strategy.

Delivery Framework & Execution

• Establish and continuously improve the MDM delivery framework encompassing intake, estimation, prioritization, sprint planning, testing, deployment, and post-go-live support.

• Ensure the team follows a consistent SDLC methodology (Agile/Scrum preferred) with well-defined Definition of Ready and Definition of Done for MDM work items.

• Own release management practices for the MDM platform, coordinating with DevOps/CI-CD pipelines and environment management.

• Drive adoption of automation in data quality monitoring, data profiling, and data validation to increase velocity and reduce manual effort.

Team and Vendor Performance, Reporting & Resource Management

• Report on team delivery metrics to IT and business leadership, including throughput, cycle time, backlog health, data quality scorecards, and team utilization.

• Manage resource capacity planning: balance incoming demand against team availability, flag risks early, and recommend staffing or outsourcing adjustments.

• Maintain visibility into the MDM backlog; prioritize work in collaboration with business stakeholders and the PMO to maximize value delivery.

• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development conversations; build a high-performing, engaged MDM team.

• Own vendor relationship including sourcing, contracting, and ensuring timely, high quality deliverables.

• Plans, recruits, hires, and on-boards strong talent to build and sustain a best-in-class MDM team.

• Prepare executive-level status reports, dashboards, and presentations summarizing MDM program health and strategic progress.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Management, or a related discipline.

• 10+ years of progressive experience in master data management, data governance, or data management, with at least 5 years in a people-leadership role (Manager or above).

• Hands-on expertise with enterprise MDM platforms (e.g., EnterWorks, Informatica MDM, Reltio, Profisee, or comparable solutions).

• Strong knowledge of MDM design patterns including multi-domain data modeling, match-merge and entity resolution, survivorship logic, hierarchy management, and golden record creation.

• Demonstrated understanding of data governance frameworks, data stewardship models, and data quality management practices.

• Experience managing MDM technologies and ensuring integration with ERP, CRM, and other enterprise business systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, or similar).

• Strong proficiency in SQL and relational databases (SQL Server, Oracle, Snowflake, or similar).

• Experience working in a hybrid (on-premises and cloud) infrastructure environment.

• Experience with Agile/Scrum development methodology.

• Proven ability to manage team capacity, report on delivery metrics, and communicate effectively with both technical and executive audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters degree or MBA.

• Certifications in data management or governance (e.g., CDMP Certified Data Management Professional, DGSP Data Governance & Stewardship Professional).

• Experience establishing or maturing data governance programs, including data governance councils, RACI matrices for data ownership, and business glossary initiatives.

• Familiarity with data quality and profiling tools for monitoring and enforcing data standards.

• Experience with data warehousing platforms (Snowflake, Redshift) and analytics pipelines (dbt, Sigma, Tableau).

• Working knowledge of integration platforms (e.g., Informatica IICS) and how MDM interacts with enterprise integration and data pipelines.

• Experience with IT portfolio and project management tools such as Jira and/or Confluence.

• Track record of vendor management, including SOW negotiation, partner delivery oversight, and third-party resource integration.

• Background in manufacturing, distribution, or B2B industries is a strong plus.

Key Competencies

• Technical
  • MDM architecture & multi-domain data modeling
  • MDM platform expertise (EnterWorks & comparable)
  • Golden record design & survivorship logic
  • Data governance frameworks & stewardship
  • Data quality management & profiling
  • SQL, data modeling & entity resolution
  • ERP/CRM system integration knowledge
• Leadership & Management
  • Strategic thinking & roadmap ownership
  • Team building, coaching & mentorship
  • Stakeholder communication & executive reporting
  • Delivery framework design & continuous improvement
  • Capacity planning & resource management
  • Vendor & partner management
  • Cross-functional collaboration & influence