Lead Data and Governance Engineer

The Disney Decision Science and Integration (DDSI) team leverages advanced technologies, data analytics, and scientific approaches such as optimization and statistical modeling to build innovative tools that shape business decisions across The Walt Disney Company. We support Disney Entertainment (ABC, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney+, Hulu), ESPN, Disney Experiences (Theme Parks, Cruise Line, Consumer Products, DVC), and Corporate Finance with strategic applications that enable data-driven decision-making. 

This team works in office.

What You Will Do

As the Senior Data Governance Lead for Data Unification, you will design, implement, and oversee the enterprise data governance strategy that underpins Disney’s modern federated data platform. You will work in close partnership with the Ontology/Semantic Librarian and Data Engineering teams to embed governance into semantic models, knowledge graphs, vector databases, and unified data access layers from the ground up.  This role will play a critical part in the enterprise Data Unification initiative by establishing and enforcing the governance framework that ensures our unified data assets are trusted, secure, compliant, and fully leveraged across the enterprise. 

• Lead the development and enforcement of data governance policies, standards, and best practices across the Data Unification initiative, with specific focus on semantic technologies, federated architectures, and AI-enabled data products.

• Partner with the Ontology/Semantic Librarian to ensure ontologies, semantic layers, and knowledge graphs incorporate robust governance controls, metadata standards, lineage, and quality rules.

• Collaborate with Data Engineering teams to implement governance in federated querying, GraphQL interfaces, vector databases, and RAG pipelines.

• Define and maintain enterprise data stewardship processes, including ownership, accountability, and issue resolution workflows.

• Establish governance frameworks for data security, privacy, and compliance (including RBAC/ABAC, dynamic masking, and regulatory requirements) within the semantic and federated environment.

• Design and implement data quality, metadata, and lineage strategies that support discoverability, trust, and responsible AI usage across heterogeneous data sources.

• Contribute to the internal Data Marketplace by defining governance requirements for semantic data products and ensuring compliance and business value.

• Drive data governance training, change management, and adoption across business, engineering, and AI teams.

• Monitor and report on governance metrics, risks, and compliance posture for the Data Unification program.

• Stay current with evolving data regulations, industry standards, and best practices in semantic and AI governance.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• 7+ years of experience in data roles with significant experience in data and information governance with a focus on enterprise-scale initiatives.

• Deep expertise in data governance frameworks, policies, stewardship, and metadata management.

• Background in GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) programs.

• Strong understanding of semantic technologies, ontologies, knowledge graphs, and federated data architectures.

• Hands-on experience implementing governance for cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks), vector databases, and GraphQL-based data access layers.

• Proven ability to partner effectively with technical teams (ontology, engineering, AI) and business stakeholders to embed governance into modern data platforms.

• Solid knowledge of data privacy, security (RBAC/ABAC, dynamic masking), and compliance requirements in large enterprises.

• Experience with data quality, lineage, and catalog tools in complex, heterogeneous environments.

• Excellent communication and influencing skills with the ability to bridge governance, technical, and business teams.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience leading data governance in large, complex enterprises, preferably in media, entertainment, or hospitality.

• Prior work with semantic web standards, knowledge graphs, or ontology-driven governance.

• Strong programming or query skills (Python, SQL, SPARQL, or GraphQL).

• Hands-on experience with Generative AI, LLMs, RAG architectures, and responsible AI governance.

• Familiarity with data marketplaces, data products, or federated query engines (Trino/Presto, Apache Iceberg).

Required Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Data Science, Mathematics, or a related field

Preferred Education

• Master’s degree or advanced certification in Data Governance, Information Management, or a related field.

The hiring range for this position in Lake Buena Vista, FL is $135,200 to $181,200 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.