Title: Data Governance Lead

Location: Austin, TX / Dallas, TX (Flexible / Hybrid)

Reporting to: Head of Data Foundations & Governance

About This Role:

We are a growing insurance company building a data governance program from the ground up. This is a leadership opportunity to shape how data is trusted, protected, and used across the business - establishing the practices, standards, and platform capabilities that make reliable data the default, not the exception.

You will be our first dedicated governance hire, working closely with a team of data engineers and reporting to the Head of Data Foundations & Governance. The role balances rigorous governance fundamentals with a forward-looking approach: embedding controls directly into the platform, enabling self-serve analytics, and building the trustworthy data foundation our AI ambitions require. You will have budget for tooling and a clear mandate to build this program from the ground up.

About You:

You believe that good governance enables rather than restricts, and you can make that case convincingly to stakeholders who need persuading. You're practical and builder-minded - more focused on durable systems and real adoption than on policy documentation. You're comfortable operating in ambiguity, making sound decisions even where precedent and playbooks don't yet exist. You're curious about how modern data and AI capabilities can make governance smarter, more automated, and less burdensome. And you communicate clearly with any audience - equally effective with a Chief Risk Officer, a legal team, and a data engineer.

What You'll Do:

Strategy and Program Leadership

• Define and lead a data governance strategy that protects customers, mitigates risk, and enables the business to use data with confidence.
• Build the foundational program including ownership models, data standards, classification, quality, and retention, in a pragmatic, scalable way.
• Serve as the primary governance voice for risk, legal, and compliance leadership; translate complex data issues into clear business context.

Platform-embedded Governance

• Champion governance-as-code: embedding policies, quality rules, and data controls directly into pipelines.
• Work alongside data engineers to operationalize governance through our catalog, observability, and transformation tools.
• Think creatively about how governance standards can be enforced automatically in code, through schema contracts, quality rules in pipelines, and metadata requirements.
• Build toward an environment where governed data is the natural output of how we build - not a separate oversight layer - including how governance will need to evolve as we introduce AI-driven access to data.

Data Trust and Usability

• Drive data quality and reliability so that teams across the business can find, understand, and use data without friction.
• Create a data product model that packages critical datasets as well-governed, well-documented assets accessible to all.
• Lay the groundwork for responsible use of AI and analytics, ensuring data is traceable, well-understood, and fit for purpose.

Must Haves:

• 6-10 years in data governance, data management, or a closely adjacent discipline, with experience leading or building a program - not just contributing to one.
• Strong command of core governance domains: data quality, metadata management, lineage, classification, access control, and data lifecycle.
• Ability to express and enforce governance standards in code - schema contracts, pipeline quality rules, metadata requirements - not just policy documents. Technical fluency to work credibly alongside data engineers is essential.
• Hands-on experience with modern data platforms and catalog or observability tooling (e.g. Secoda, Monte Carlo, Alation, Ataccama, or similar).
• Insurance or regulated industry experience a plus; familiarity with CCPA, state DOI requirements, or similar compliance frameworks is valued.

Benefits and Perks:

Hippo treats its team members with the same level of dedication and care as we do our customers, which is why we're fortunate to provide all of our Hippos with:

• Relocation Assistance - Support available for qualified candidates relocating to one of our hub locations
• Healthy Hippos Benefits - Multiple medical plans to choose from and 100% employer covered dental & vision plans for our team members and their families. We also offer a 401(k)-retirement plan, short & long-term disability, employer-paid life insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for health and dependent care, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Equity -This position is eligible for equity compensation
• Training and Career Growth - Training and internal career growth opportunities
• Flexible Time Off - You know when and how you should recharge
• Little Hippos Program - We offer 12 weeks of parental leave for primary and secondary caregivers
• Hippo Habitat - Snacks and drinks available and catered lunches for onsite employees