Senior Data Governance Officer

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 191 member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. IFRC uses the Triple R – response, resilience and respect – to deliver on Strategy 2030. IFRC responds to disasters and crises, ensuring timely, coordinated and locally led humanitarian action. IFRC supports its members in building community resilience in the areas of climate and environment, health and wellbeing, and migration and displacement. IFRC promotes respect for our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, including in our work on values, power and inclusion. The IFRC focuses throughout on our core mandate – our raison d’être – of strategic and operational coordination, humanitarian diplomacy, National Society development, and accountability.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General and has its Headquarters in Geneva and five regional offices in Africa (Nairobi); the Americas (Panama); Asia Pacific (Kuala Lumpur); Europe (Budapest); and MENA (Beirut) as well as representation offices, service centres and delegations across the globe.

IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.

Background to the position

In virtually all countries, people increasingly rely on and expect a diverse range of digital services (e.g., through their mobile devices) to interact with local government, companies, and community organizations and services. This disruption is already happening to humanitarian assistance. Yet, the Digital Divide remains a persistent and significant challenge at both national and local levels.

The need for a successful and large-scale digital transformation is urgent. And Digitally Transforming the IFRC and its 191 members is a complex process which requires collaborative action and support across the membership. Therefore, the IFRC recently developed a Digital Transformation Strategy which was approved by the IFRC Governing Board in May 2021.

The Digital Transformation Department (DTD) has full leadership responsibility for the implementation of the digital transformation strategy and the positive impact it will have on the 191 National Society members of the IFRC. The DTD provides strategic leadership and guides the IFRC Secretariat as well as the members network to adapt and innovate humanitarian services, drawing on digital services, data-enabled decision-making, and other opportunities for digital transformation in support of the IFRC’s Strategy 2030. In addition, the DTD is responsible for the development and implementation of business transformation, information technology and digitalization services throughout the IFRC Secretariat, thereby supporting the same transformation in 191 NSs, setting the vision, and drawing stakeholders together on this digital journey.

The incumbent reports into the AI and Data management unit (“AI & Data unit”), that is accountable to the Director of the DTD. The other units and teams reporting to the DT Director include the Enterprise Architecture, Strategy & Planning unit, the Digital development and management unit, the Infrastructure & Security Team and the Global Service Desk and Endpoint Management team. Under the leadership of the Director, these units and teams serve as members of the global DTD management team, along with the CISO and Regional DT managers.

The AI & Data unit is responsible to deliver greater value from IFRC’s data, and ensures the development and implementation of IFRCs data and AI governance and strategy, in close collaboration with the IFRC’s Data Protection Office and through indirect management of data professionals in other departments. The unit oversees all data operations, data product lifecycles and manages the organisation’s data platform, as well as the coordination and support to AI initiatives.

The Senior Data Governance Officer will also interact extensively with internal and external AI and data experts, private sector, academia, external suppliers, vendors and consultants who are sourced to deliver data-related activities.

The Senior Data Governance Officer is responsible for developing, implementing, and enforcing organizational data governance frameworks, policies, and standards that ensure data is managed securely, ethically, and in compliance with global regulations. This role serves as the primary steward of IFRC's data governance program, translating strategic governance objectives into practical policies, processes, and procedures that enable safe, ethical data utilization across the organization and protect vulnerable populations. The Data Governance Officer will establish data governance structures, manage roles and responsibilities, consider any applicable regulatory compliance, to assist with improving data quality and security, and foster a culture of data responsibility aligned with IFRC's humanitarian principles and commitment to privacy and dignity. The incumbent will support in developing the organizational approach to the distribution of data capabilities and roles.

Data Governance Framework & Strategy

Design and implement comprehensive organizational data governance framework, including policies, standards and compliance requirements, aligned with organizational strategy, humanitarian principles, and relevant requirements

Develop governance roadmaps outlining phased implementation of policies, standards, and controls with clear milestones and success metrics

Establish governance scope, identifying critical data assets, stakeholder roles, and organizational priorities requiring governance attention

Create and maintain governance policies covering data classification, ownership, stewardship, quality, security, access, and lifecycle management

Develop governance principles reflecting IFRC's humanitarian values, including principles of data protection, dignity, transparency, and accountability

Data Classification and Sensitivity Management

Develop classification standards and guidance for categorizing data based on sensitivity, criticality, and relevant requirements

Design and implement sensitivity labeling strategies using Microsoft Information Protection and related tools integrated within Microsoft Fabric and Purview

Create clear labeling guidelines that are easily understood across the organization

Data Privacy and Compliance

Support the Data Protection Office with implementation of IFRC’s Policy on the Protection of Personal Data

Support Data Protection Officer (DPO) with governance policy input, and compliance documentation

Support Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) processes for new data initiatives, ensuring privacy by design principles

Draft incident response and data breach protocols in coordination with the DPO and CISO, ensuring timely notification and mitigation in accordance with relevant requirements

Roles, Responsibilities and Accountability

Establish, assign and document organizational data governance structure with clear role definitions (Data Owners, Data Stewards, Data Custodians, Data Users) and create related RACI matrices

Support in the development of organizational approach to distribute Data, Analytics and AI capabilities and roles, across dimensions back-end, supporting and front-end as well as centralized, decentralized and emerging roles.

Provide steward training and onboarding covering governance policies, data quality management, compliance, and communication expectations

Establish governance committees and forums (e.g., Data Governance Council, domain steward groups) to facilitate coordination and decision-making

Monitor role performance and accountability, providing coaching and support to ensure effective governance execution

Data Quality Standards and Monitoring

Define organizational data quality standards and dimensions (accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, validity, uniqueness)

Establish and automate data quality metrics, rules and validation checks aligned with business use cases and decision-making requirements

Develop data quality assessment and monitoring protocols identifying critical data assets and quality requirements

Establish data quality governance processes including issue identification, escalation, resolution, and continuous improvement

Monitor data quality metrics, reporting on trends and issues to governance committees and data stewards

Asset Inventory and Cataloging

Oversee the development and maintenance of enterprise data asset inventory

Establish standards for data asset documentation including business definitions, data lineage, and usage guidance

Implement and maintain Microsoft Purview data catalog systems for centralized data asset discovery, classification, and governance

Coordinate cataloging activities across the organization, ensuring data assets are properly documented and discoverable

Monitor catalog usage and provide training to support effective data discovery and asset management

Access Management and Information Security

Develop guidelines for secure information sharing with internal teams, partners, vendors, and external stakeholders, including third-party information sharing agreements

Build and maintain tools and automation to monitor and audit access patterns, investigating and addressing potential violations of access governance policies

Support implementation of technical security and privacy controls including access controls (including row and column access controls), encryption, pseudonymization, anonymization, and masking where appropriate

Coordinate with cybersecurity teams on access controls in Microsoft Fabric and related platforms

Governance Policy Development and Maintenance

Create and implement data governance policies addressing data collection, processing, storage, access, sharing, retention, and deletion

Develop policies specific to sensitive data categories (examples: beneficiary data, health information, location data) with appropriate safeguards

Monitor policy compliance, investigating deviations and implementing corrective actions

Maintain policy library and version control, ensuring staff access current guidance

Stakeholder Communication and Training

Develop stakeholder communication strategy for data governance initiatives targeting different audiences (leadership, business units, technical teams)

Deliver data governance training to staff, data stewards, and leadership covering policies, roles, responsibilities, and compliance expectations

Provide guidance to business units and technical teams on governance policy interpretation and application

Microsoft Fabric Governance Administration

Configure governance settings in Microsoft Purview, including domains, roles, and permissions

Establish data catalog taxonomies and governance domain structures aligned with organizational data strategy

Define and enforce data quality policies within Microsoft Fabric and other data systems (such as Azure SQL, Dataverse, etc.)

Develop automated collection of data lineage and utilize data lineage for impact analysis in Microsoft Fabric and other data systems (such as Azure SQL, Power BI, Dataverse, etc.) to support governance decisions

Ensure sensitivity labels are applied consistently across Fabric workspaces, Power BI, and other data systems

Manage governance workflows including data product registration and access request approvals

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