Master Data Governance Lead

We have been exclusively engaged by a global manufacturing and distribution organization to help them hire an Enterprise Master Data Governance Lead. This is a company that relies heavily on clean, consistent, and well-governed enterprise data across finance, supply chain, procurement, sales, manufacturing, quality, engineering, and compliance. The company operates in a Microsoft environment, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, Microsoft CRM, Azure, Microsoft 365, Power BI, and related Microsoft tools. As the business continues to mature its global ERP and data practices, master data governance has become a critical priority. This role is ideal for someone who understands that master data governance is not just a documentation exercise or a reporting function. The right person will know how master data is created, approved, validated, secured, maintained, and used inside the ERP and supporting enterprise systems. They will also understand how poor source-system data can create downstream problems across operations, reporting, compliance, analytics, and future AI-enabled initiatives. This is a direct hire position based in Horsham, PA, with a hybrid schedule requiring 3 days onsite per week. The Role You’ll Play The Enterprise Master Data Governance Lead will own and mature the company’s global master data governance strategy, with a strong focus on ERP-driven data domains such as products, items, BOMs, routes, vendors, customers, suppliers, finance data, and other critical enterprise master data. This person will report into the Data and Analytics organization and work closely with business and IT stakeholders across the U.S., EMEA, APAC, Australia, and other global regions. There are no direct reports initially, but this role will have dotted-line influence over roughly 20 regional data stewards and will be responsible for creating better consistency, structure, accountability, and governance across the global master data ecosystem. Key responsibilities include: Own and drive the enterprise master data governance strategy across global ERP, CRM, PIM, PLM, and related enterprise applications, with a focus on improving global consistency, accuracy, security, and data quality. Establish and operationalize data ownership, stewardship, RACI models, workflows, approval processes, escalation paths, naming conventions, standards, and accountability across master data domains. Govern end-to-end master data lifecycle processes, including creation, modification, extension, validation, approval, retirement, audit readiness, and change history documentation. Partner with regional data stewards and business users to standardize how master data is requested, reviewed, approved, entered, validated, maintained, and measured across global regions. Create detailed governance documentation, including data owners, approvers, stewards, validation points, quality checks, workflow models, and compliance requirements. Build master data health metrics, KPIs, dashboards, and reporting to measure request volume, data quality, completeness, defects, cycle time, and governance effectiveness. Assess the current state of master data governance, identify gaps, and create a practical roadmap for short-term improvements and longer-term maturity. Support master data governance needs tied to manufacturing, supply chain, production planning, costing, procurement, quality, engineering, finance, sales, analytics, and compliance. Ensure master data processes align with regulatory, audit, privacy, access control, segregation of duties, financial reporting, and global compliance expectations. Help improve automation around master data request intake, validation, approval, quality checks, and ERP updates where practical. Background Profile: The ideal candidate has deep experience in master data governance, master data management, or ERP data governance within a manufacturing, distribution, industrial, chemical, CPG, or similar product-based business. This person should be comfortable operating as both a governance leader and a hands-on builder. They need to assess the current state, document what exists, identify what is missing, create practical workflows, influence data stewards and business owners, and turn governance concepts into repeatable operating practices. 7+ years of experience in master data management, master data governance, data quality, or enterprise data stewardship within an ERP-driven environment. Strong understanding of enterprise master data domains such as item master, product master, BOMs, routes, vendors, customers, suppliers, finance master data, and related operational data. Experience governing master data across ERP and surrounding enterprise applications, ideally including global ERP implementations, ERP operations, data migrations, data transformation, or enterprise data cleanup. Strong knowledge of data governance, data quality, data lifecycle management, data ownership, data stewardship, data standards, data controls, and governance documentation. Ability to create process flows, RACI models, approval workflows, escalation models, data standards, data quality rules, and master data operating procedures. Experience working with business stakeholders across manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, finance, sales, quality, engineering, compliance, analytics, and IT. Ability to influence dotted-line data stewards and regional business users, with strong communication skills and the ability to drive process adoption without relying solely on formal authority. Strong analytical, problem-solving, documentation, and process improvement skills, with experience using Excel, Power BI, and data integration or data quality tools. Understanding of data security, access control, segregation of duties, approval evidence, audit-ready documentation, and compliance concepts. Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Data Management, or a related field. Preferred: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations experience. Microsoft ERP experience, including D365FO, Dynamics AX, or related Microsoft Dynamics platforms. Experience in chemical manufacturing, regulated manufacturing, industrial products, distribution, or another complex product-based environment. Experience with Microsoft CRM, PIM, PLM, Power BI, Power Automate, Microsoft Fabric, SQL, Azure, or Microsoft Purview. Experience with MDM frameworks, governance tools, workflow automation, and data integration technologies. Experience creating master data health dashboards, data quality KPIs, or governance metrics. Familiarity with SOX-style controls, ISO requirements, financial reporting controls, data privacy, supply chain traceability, and regulatory compliance concepts. Certified Data Management Professional, CDMP. Microsoft D365 Finance & Operations certification. Power BI certification. Compensation: $135,000-$145,000 per year Spinnaker Search