Enterprise Data Governance Consultant

Job Title: Enterprise Data Governance Consultant
Location: Nashville, TN (Hybrid – Local Candidates Only)
Duration: 8+ Months Contract
Type: Contract
Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–4:30 PM CST

Position Summary

The Enterprise Data Governance Consultant will support the Clients Center for Enterprise Data & Analytics (CEDA) in expanding enterprise data governance services, AI governance, training, communications, stakeholder engagement, and agency implementation support. The consultant will work under the direction of the Enterprise Data Governance Manager to help state agencies establish, improve, and maintain effective data governance programs.

The role focuses on improving data quality, reducing risk, enabling secure data sharing, and standardizing data governance practices across agencies. The consultant will support data governance strategy development, maturity assessments, implementation planning, stakeholder engagement, governance meetings, training delivery, and program communications.

Key Responsibilities

• Support AI governance, data privacy, security, risk management, and compliance activities.

• Document AI-related data use cases, data sources, stewardship responsibilities, risks, and governance requirements.

• Coordinate with privacy, security, legal, records, and compliance teams regarding sensitive and regulated data.

• Reinforce data classification, access management, data minimization, retention, authorized use, and secure data-sharing practices.

• Support compliance activities involving HIPAA, FERPA, CJIS, IRS Publication 1075, PCI, FTI, PII, and other applicable standards.

• Develop and maintain data governance strategies, charters, roadmaps, operating models, stakeholder maps, and implementation plans.

• Assist agencies in defining data ownership, data stewardship, roles, responsibilities, decision rights, and governance processes.

• Conduct data governance maturity assessments, identify data quality issues and governance gaps, and develop improvement plans.

• Support implementation of data governance frameworks, policies, procedures, standards, controls, metrics, reporting, and audit practices.

• Prepare governance artifacts, including RACI charts, business glossaries, data dictionaries, data inventories, issue logs, stewardship plans, and governance roadmaps.

• Document data domains, data owners, data stewards, business definitions, data flows, data quality rules, risks, and controls.

• Coordinate with data governance analysts on data catalogs, metadata management, data classification, and data lineage documentation.

• Plan, facilitate, and document governance meetings, workshops, steering committee sessions, and stewardship working groups.

• Prepare meeting agendas, presentations, decision logs, action trackers, issue logs, and executive-ready reports.

• Develop stakeholder engagement, change management, communications, and adoption plans to promote data governance practices.

• Create communication materials, including presentations, FAQs, newsletters, briefing documents, talking points, job aids, and implementation updates.

• Develop training plans, course outlines, instructor-led materials, self-service learning content, and role-based training guides.

• Deliver training to data owners, data stewards, data custodians, data producers, data consumers, and agency governance teams.

• Track training attendance, feedback, adoption metrics, governance maturity indicators, and improvement recommendations.

• Support business value assessments for data governance initiatives and maintain organized governance documentation and audit evidence.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Experience in data governance, data management, enterprise information management, or related initiatives.

• Strong stakeholder engagement, cross-functional meeting facilitation, and communication skills.

• Experience developing data governance strategies, implementation plans, policies, procedures, training materials, and communications.

• Understanding of data governance frameworks, operating models, data ownership, data stewardship, metadata management, data catalogs, and data quality.

• Knowledge of data privacy, data classification, data lifecycle management, secure data sharing, risk management, and compliance requirements.

• Ability to translate complex technical and governance concepts into clear, practical guidance for business and executive stakeholders.

• Experience with change management, organizational adoption, training development, and training delivery.

• Ability to prepare professional documentation, presentations, executive summaries, meeting records, and governance artifacts.

• Ability to work independently and coordinate with management, analysts, and agency stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting state government, local government, public-sector programs, or highly regulated environments.

• Familiarity with DAMA-DMBOK, data governance maturity models, data quality management, metadata management, and data stewardship.

• Familiarity with AI governance, responsible AI principles, or the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.

• Experience supporting governance councils, committees, workshops, and cross-functional decision-making groups.

• Experience with enterprise data catalogs, business glossaries, data inventories, issue tracking, and knowledge management tools.

• Relevant certifications such as CDMP, Prosci/Change Management, PMP, CISA, or CIPM are desirable but not required.