Head of Enterprise Data Governance & Architecture (Contract)

6-month contract | Exceptional day rate | Remote (UK) with occasional travel to Shoreham

Immediate start

The opportunity

Focus Group is a £300m-revenue, 1,400-person technology services company backed by Hg Capital, following a $1bn valuation in 2024. We're scaling fast, acquiring regularly, and investing heavily in the data foundation that underpins AI, analytics, billing and decision-making across the business.

The groundwork is already in place — the data function structure, a growing canonical data model, and a live platform estate (including Snowflake). What's evolving is the governance layer that turns that design into everyday reality: real ownership, real stewardship, and evidence of control that holds up to scrutiny.

This is a deliberate, funded engagement to build that governance function from the ground up — and to leave it standing on its own once you're gone.

What you'll be doing

• Designing and launching a governance framework covering ownership, stewardship, lineage and data quality standards — specified as enforceable, usable standards rather than a policy document that sits on a shelf.
• Building the evidence base so the function can demonstrate control, not just claim it — tying data quality directly to commercial outcomes like billing accuracy and revenue assurance.
• Proving adoption in priority areas first: named owners bought in, stewardship operating, training delivered — a working model, not just a designed one.
• Extending the canonical data model into remaining priority domains and ensuring the architecture scales cleanly through continued M&A activity.
• Building the investment case that funds the permanent capability for the long term.

What you'll need

• A track record of standing up data governance from scratch in a complex, multi-entity or acquisitive business — and making it stick, not just designing it.
• The credibility to work alongside a Technical Design Authority and a Data Analytics team who already own and operate live platforms, without stepping on their toes or slowing them down.
• Comfort operating at both ends of the job: senior enough to shape the investment case and influence the CTO, hands-on enough to embed stewardship with the people who'll actually own the data day to day.

The details

• Duration: 6 months, fixed-term
• Rate: Exceptional day rate, reflecting the scope and seniority of this engagement
• Location: Remote, UK-based, with occasional/regular travel to our Shoreham office
• Reports to: Chief Technology Officer

If you've built governance that outlasted your contract before, we'd like to talk

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