Business Analyst - Chicago

We are seeking a Senior Business Analyst – Data Governance to drive enterprise-wide data governance initiatives and support the development and execution of the organization's long-term data governance strategy. This role will partner with business stakeholders, data owners, architects, developers, and third-party vendors to improve data quality, data management processes, governance standards, and regulatory compliance. The ideal candidate will possess strong analytical skills, hands-on data governance experience, and the ability to translate business requirements into actionable governance solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of the enterprise Data Governance framework, policies, standards, and procedures.
• Analyze data governance challenges, identify root causes, and recommend effective solutions to improve data quality, integrity, consistency, and usability.
• Partner with business stakeholders, data owners, and subject matter experts to gather, document, and prioritize data governance requirements.
• Facilitate governance-related projects and initiatives, ensuring successful delivery through collaboration with business teams, IT teams, vendors, and clients.
• Utilize data management and information governance tools to assess data quality issues and uncover governance gaps.
• Create and maintain data governance baselines, supporting periodic governance reviews, audits, and compliance assessments.
• Define data governance requirements for critical data elements, including business definitions, ownership, stewardship, quality rules, and usage standards.
• Collaborate with Data Architects, Data Engineers, and ETL teams to incorporate governance controls, validations, and quality checks into data sourcing and integration processes.
• Develop business requirements, process flows, data dictionaries, governance documentation, and user stories related to data governance initiatives.
• Communicate the value and benefits of data governance programs to business users, vendors, clients, and leadership stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to enhance data management processes, governance controls, metadata management, and data quality practices.
• Support Data Governance Councils and Steering Committees through meeting coordination, reporting, action tracking, and governance communications.
• Define, monitor, and report on key governance metrics, KPIs, and data quality measures.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and third-party vendors to implement data governance solutions and best practices.
• Ensure governance processes align with regulatory, security, and organizational data management requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Analytics, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience as a Business Analyst, with at least 5+ years focused on Data Governance, Data Quality, or Data Management initiatives.
• Strong understanding of Data Governance frameworks, Data Stewardship, Metadata Management, Master Data Management (MDM), and Data Quality concepts.
• Experience gathering and documenting business requirements, functional specifications, and process documentation.
• Proficiency in data analysis, issue identification, root cause analysis, and solution recommendation.
• Experience working with data governance and data catalog tools.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to influence business and technical teams.
• Experience working in Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid project environments.
• Advanced knowledge of SQL and data analysis techniques is preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with data governance platforms such as Collibra, Informatica, Alation, Microsoft Purview, or similar tools.
• Familiarity with ETL processes, data warehousing, and cloud data platforms.
• Knowledge of industry regulations related to data privacy, security, and compliance.
• Certification in CBAP, CCBA, CDMP, or related disciplines is a plus.

Compensation, Benefits and Duration

Minimum Compensation: USD 37,000
Maximum Compensation: USD 132,000
Compensation is based on actual experience and qualifications of the candidate. The above is a reasonable and a good faith estimate for the role.
Medical, vision, and dental benefits, 401k retirement plan, variable pay/incentives, paid time off, and paid holidays are available for full-time employees.
This position is available for independent contractors
No applications will be considered if received more than 120 days after the date of this post