Senior Director of Data

About the role

The NYC Campaign Finance Board is seeking an experienced and strategic Senior Director of Data (SDD) to lead the agency's data governance, privacy, information management, records and public disclosure, and artificial intelligence (AI) assurance functions. The SDD will establish and oversee the frameworks, standards, policies, and controls necessary to ensure that agency data is trustworthy, secure, appropriately governed, legally compliant, and suitable for operational, analytical, research, and public-disclosure purposes.

This position will lead the agency's data strategy across structured and unstructured data environments, oversee governance of the data lakehouse and cloud-migration initiatives, strengthen the agency's privacy program, and ensure appropriate management of records and Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) production. The role will also establish an independent AI assurance function to evaluate data readiness, privacy, fairness, transparency, and accountability before AI use cases are authorized for production and while they remain operational.

The successful candidate will combine strategic leadership, sound governance judgment, technical fluency, and the ability to build new capabilities while strengthening established teams. The position works in partnership with senior leadership, data engineering, legal, records, product, and other cross-functional stakeholders.

Role Expectations

This is a strategic governance and organizational leadership position, not a hands-on data engineering role. The successful candidate must be able to establish governance standards, influence peer engineering leaders, exercise independent judgment on AI assurance, and build effective programs and teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and oversee enterprise data governance frameworks, including data classification, quality, metadata, lineage, and retention standards.
• Establish and lead the agency's privacy and information-governance program, including sensitive-data protection, data loss prevention (DLP), and disclosure screening.
• Oversee records management, FOIL/public-records production, retention schedules, and proactive open-data disclosure.
• Lead independent AI assurance reviews covering data readiness, privacy, bias, fairness, transparency, and accountability.
• Govern data platforms, cloud migration, and data lakehouse initiatives by establishing standards and reviewing technical and vendor deliverables.
• Partner with engineering leadership to ensure data solutions meet governance requirements while maintaining appropriate separation between governance and technical implementation.
• Build and strengthen governance, privacy, and records functions; lead team integration, workforce planning, staff development, and performance management.
• Develop long-term data strategy and a roadmap for future in-house data science and predictive modeling capabilities.
• Advise executive leadership on data risks, compliance, governance priorities, and organizational strategy.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; an advanced degree in data, information management, law, public policy, or a related discipline is preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in data governance, privacy, records management, or related information-governance functions, including 5+ years of team leadership.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing enterprise data governance frameworks and holding technical teams accountable to established standards.
• Experience building or improving privacy, information-governance, records-management, or compliance programs.
• Knowledge of AI/ML governance, data readiness, bias and fairness assessment, and responsible AI assurance.
• Familiarity with data lakehouses, cloud governance platforms, DLP, and relevant FedRAMP/NIST-aligned requirements.
• Strong understanding of records retention, public-records disclosure, and statutory or regulatory compliance.
• Excellent leadership, communication, stakeholder-management, documentation, and strategic planning skills.
• Public-sector, regulated-industry, or comparable governance experience is strongly preferred.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Abilities & Other Behaviors

We're seeking individuals eager to make an impact, even if they don't tick every box on our job description. We believe in the power of diverse perspectives and the unique blend of lived experiences, non-traditional education pathways, practical know-how, and a variety of skills and abilities that each candidate brings to the table. If you're ready to learn and grow with us, we encourage you to apply and be part of our dynamic team.

Knowledge

• Comprehensive understanding of enterprise data governance frameworks, including data classification, data quality, metadata, lineage, and retention across structured and unstructured data environments.
• Knowledge of privacy and information governance, sensitive-information protection, data loss prevention, and regulatory compliance.
• Understanding of records management, retention schedules, public-records disclosure, and FOIL or comparable statutory disclosure requirements.
• Knowledge of AI/ML assurance principles, including data readiness, bias and fairness assessment, privacy, and accountability.
• Familiarity with data lakehouse governance, cloud data platforms, and relevant FedRAMP/NIST-aligned requirements.

Skills

• Ability to establish and implement data governance standards that technical teams can operationalize and maintain.
• Demonstrated skill in holding engineering teams accountable to governance standards without direct reporting authority.
• Experience building and strengthening privacy, information-governance, or records-management functions while integrating established teams.
• Strong skills in AI assurance, risk assessment, privacy review, and evaluating governance deliverables from vendors and technical teams.
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration, executive communication, strategic planning, documentation, and team leadership skills.

Abilities

• Ability to build new governance capabilities while improving established programs, processes, and teams.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment on data privacy, AI assurance, fairness, and compliance risks, even when delivery timelines create competing priorities.
• Ability to translate complex governance and regulatory requirements into practical, documented standards and actionable policies.
• Ability to build consensus across engineering, Legal, IT, records, and executive leadership while balancing operational needs with statutory obligations.
• Ability to develop long-term data strategies and establish a roadmap for future data science and predictive modeling capabilities.

Other Behaviors

• Demonstrates strong ownership, accountability, integrity, and sound professional judgment.
• Maintains high standards of documentation, audit readiness, transparency, and defensible decision-making.
• Demonstrates a builder mindset, taking initiative to establish new functions and improve existing operations.
• Communicates respectfully, handles sensitive information with discretion, and fosters a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture.
• Demonstrates a commitment to public service, responsible data use, ethical AI, and the agency's mission.
• Promotes a discrimination-free workplace where staff feel valued, respected, and supported.
• Demonstrates fairness and transparency in their professional interactions, decisions, and evaluations.
• Values and integrates diverse perspectives and experiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in a relevant field; an advanced degree in data, information management, law, public policy, or a related field is preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in data governance, privacy, records management, or related information-governance work, including 5+ years of experience leading teams. These experience thresholds are subject to confirmation against the applicable civil service title.
• Demonstrated experience leading data governance, information governance, privacy, or records functions, ideally spanning more than one of these areas.
• Experience establishing governance standards that technical teams implement and holding delivery teams accountable to those standards.
• Experience strengthening and maturing functions with statutory or compliance responsibilities.
• Public-sector, regulated-industry, or comparable governance experience.
• Experience building operational privacy and data-governance capabilities while integrating and developing established teams.
• Experience with records management, retention scheduling, public-records production, and proactive disclosure workflows.
• Knowledge of AI/ML assurance, including data readiness, bias and fairness assessment, privacy, and accountability.
• Familiarity with data-platform governance, data lakehouse environments, centralized governance platforms such as Microsoft Purview, and FedRAMP/NIST-aligned requirements.
• Experience evaluating strategic vendor deliverables and overseeing governance requirements for data platforms and cloud-migration initiatives.
• Knowledge of data science and predictive modeling sufficient to scope, staff, and lead a future data science function.
• Strong cross-divisional leadership, stakeholder-convening, and executive communication capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to build new functions, strengthen existing programs, and maintain high standards of documentation, defensibility, and audit readiness.

Qualifications & Requirements

• A master's degree from an accredited college in computer science, business administration, public administration, or a related field, and three years of satisfactory full-time experience in a large technology operation involving complex and highly confidential information technology systems and emergency telecommunications, or in a related field, at least 18 months of which must have been in an executive, managerial or administrative capacity or supervising personnel performing duties in the fields described above; or
• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of satisfactory full-time experience as described in "1" above, at least 18 months of which must have been in an executive, managerial, administrative, or supervisory capacity as described in "1" above; or
• Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative, or supervisory experience described in "1" above.