Manager, Data Management and Governance

Sharp Services is seeking a hands-on Manager of Master Data Management and Governance to lead the current Data Control operation and build a stronger enterprise master-data capability. The immediate operating scope includes QAD material and item masters, finished-goods structures, routings, supplier-item references and related records supporting U.S. Commercial Packaging operations. The manager will protect service continuity, lead the existing team, participate in new-product onboarding and ensure that accurate, approved data is created and maintained on time. The role also carries a forward-looking mandate. This leader will establish clear business ownership and stewardship, improve data quality and controls, introduce measurable service levels and replace fragmented email, spreadsheet and manual work with governed intake, workflow and automation. The manager must be willing to understand and perform the work while building a scalable model that can extend across priority data domains, enterprise platforms and Sharp business units. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Current Operations and Service Continuity • Lead the daily Data Control service, maintain clear priorities and ensure that critical master-data requests continue without disruption. • Manage, coach and support the existing team; establish backup coverage, documented procedures, cross-training and practical escalation paths. • Participate in internal new-product onboarding and ensure that the project charter, product intake form and estimate are complete, reconciled and ready for controlled execution. • Oversee the creation and maintenance of in-scope QAD item and material masters, components, finished-goods structures, routings, supplier-item references and applicable ship-to or serialization records. • Maintain the inactive, active and discontinued lifecycle, final-estimated and approval controls, effective dating, source evidence and traceability required to support Operations, Finance, Quality and customers. • Own intake triage, backlog management, urgent issue resolution and service recovery when incomplete or conflicting information affects production or onboarding commitments. Data Governance and Stewardship • Define a practical operating model for business data owners, stewards, contributors, approved owners, and exception owners, beginning with material master data and expanding to other priority domains through approved sequencing. • Establish business definitions, allowed values, data-quality rules, authoritative-source decisions and cross-reference standards across QAD, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics and other relevant systems. • Create governed processes for request, enrichment, validation, approval, effective dating, versioning, exception management and controlled publication to systems of record. • Strengthen role-based access, segregation of duties, change evidence, periodic access review and quarterly master-data audit practices. • Make business and functional leaders accountable for data meaning and approval while D&T owns the governance framework, enabling platforms and integration controls. Process Technology and Automation • Document the current end-to-end process, decision rules, handoffs, controls and failure points across onboarding, estimating, Data Control, approval and downstream use. • Design a structured intake model that captures required data once, validates it at entry and routes incomplete or conflicting requests to the right owner before QAD entry. • Reduce dependence on disconnected email, Smartsheet, spreadsheets and tribal knowledge through approved workflow, automation, system integration and accessible operating documentation.• Introduce automated validation, duplicate and anomaly checks, controlled number allocation, approval routing, effective-date management, notifications and complete audit history where practical. • Partner with Enterprise Applications, Architecture, Integration, Cybersecurity and Quality to evaluate and implement fit-for-purpose MDM, PIM, workflow or data-governance capabilities. • Use controlled API, Boomi or other approved integration patterns for publishing approved records to QAD and other systems of record; do not rely on direct analytical platform writes into operational systems. • Ensure that automation supports accountable human approval, exception handling, reconciliation, rollback and support rather than obscuring business responsibility. Business Partnership and Adoption • Work closely with Estimating, Account Executives, Project Management, Finance, Procurement, Receiving, Scheduling, Operations, Quality and D&T teams to resolve data issues at their source. • Clarify where Data Control executes a transaction, where a business owner makes a decision and where another function owns the authoritative source data. • Lead training, communication and adoption for revised processes, data standards, workflow tools and stewardship responsibilities. • Build trust with site and functional teams by combining responsive service with clear standards and evidence-based challenge. Quality Risk and Compliance • Partner with Quality and CSV to determine intended use, GxP relevance, validation requirements and controlled-document expectations for master-data processes and enabling technology. • Maintain audit-ready evidence for creation, change, approval, access, exception and effective-date decisions. • Apply Sharp security, privacy, retention and records-management requirements to master and reference data. • Identify continuity, keyperson, access and control risks early and drive timely mitigation. Service Visibility KPIs and SLAs • Establish a visible request queue and service catalog with defined priorities, owners, due dates, dependencies and escalation rules. • Baseline and report request volumes, backlog and aging, cycle time, first-time-right rate, approval duration, rejection and rework, data-quality exceptions and overdue actions. • Define service levels with business stakeholders and conduct regular service reviews focused on performance, root causes, capacity constraints and corrective action. • Use workload and process evidence to recommend team capacity, role design and automation priorities, including whether additional transactional support is required. • Provide the CDTO and business leaders with concise visibility into operational performance, control health, material risks and improvement progress. The ideal candidate is: • A hands-on master-data leader who is willing to learn the detailed work, support the team and intervene when service continuity is at risk. • Able to balance immediate operational delivery with disciplined process, governance and technology improvement. • Structured and calm when priorities conflict or incomplete data threatens production, onboarding or customer commitments. • Credible with business users, data stewards, technology teams, Quality and senior leaders. • Practical about automation and able to distinguish a technology limitation from a process, ownership, control, data or adoption problem. • A clear coach who develops capability, creates redundancy and does not allow critical knowledge to remain with one person. QUALIFICATIONS: • Eight or more years of progressive experience in master data, data governance, ERP data operations, business process management or a closely related field, including team or workstream leadership. • Hands-on experience creating or governing material, item, product, customer, supplier or reference data in an enterprise ERP environment. • Experience with material-master attributes, bills of material or product structures, routings, lifecycle status, effective dating and controlled change. • Demonstrated experience defining business ownership, stewardship roles, approval workflows, data-quality rules and exception handling. • Experience improving an operational service through structured intake, workflow, automation, reporting and service-level management. • Working knowledge of data integration, APIs, identity and access controls, audit trails and system-of-record synchronization. • Strong analytical, facilitation, communication and change-leadership skills across business and technical teams. • Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in information systems, data management, engineering, supply chain, business or a related discipline. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: • Directly manage and develop a small Data Control team, initially expected to include one or two employees. • Set priorities, balance daily operational work with process improvement, and monitor workload, service levels, quality, and coverage. • Ensure appropriate training, cross-training, succession coverage, and consistent adherence to master-data controls and procedures. • Lead cross-functional work with Project Management, Digital Product Development, Applications, Quality, Finance, Operations, and other business teams to improve data governance, workflows, automation, and stewardship. PREFERRED / REQUIRED EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE: • QAD material-master, product-structure and routing experience; candidates without QAD experience must be willing and able to become operationally effective in the platform. • Experience in pharmaceutical services, CDMO, life sciences, healthcare manufacturing or another regulated manufacturing environment. • Experience governing master data across multiple ERP platforms, particularly QAD, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business One or Microsoft Dynamics. • Experience with one or more MDM, PIM, data-governance or workflow platforms and the judgment to select capabilities from requirements rather than vendor preference. • Experience with Boomi, enterprise APIs, Power Platform, Smartsheet replacement or comparable workflow and integration patterns. • Familiarity with data catalog, glossary, lineage, profiling, data-quality monitoring and enterprise analytics platforms. • Experience leading process standardization, cross-functional stewardship councils, quarterly data audits or comparable governance routines.