What are the key roles in a data governance program?

A data governance program relies on specific roles to ensure data is managed consistently, securely, and in alignment with organizational goals. The core roles include data stewards, data owners, and the data governance committee, each with distinct responsibilities. Developers and technical teams often collaborate with these roles to implement governance policies in systems and workflows. Let’s break down these roles and their practical implications.

Data stewards handle the day-to-day management of data quality, metadata, and compliance. They act as liaisons between technical teams and business units, translating governance policies into actionable rules. For example, a data steward might define validation rules for a customer database (e.g., ensuring email formats are consistent) or work with developers to tag sensitive data fields (like Social Security numbers) in a schema. Stewards also resolve discrepancies, such as conflicting definitions of “active user” across departments. Their work directly impacts how developers design data pipelines, APIs, or storage systems to enforce accuracy and compliance.

Data owners are typically department leads or senior stakeholders accountable for specific datasets. They approve access requests, define retention policies, and ensure data aligns with business objectives. For instance, a marketing team owner might decide which customer attributes (e.g., purchase history) can be shared with third-party tools. Developers interact with owners to clarify requirements—like building audit trails for access logs or automating data deletion after a retention period. Ownership also involves risk management; if a system stores credit card data, the owner works with security teams to mandate encryption, which developers implement in code.

The data governance committee oversees the program’s strategy, sets standards, and resolves cross-functional issues. This group includes representatives from IT, legal, compliance, and business units. They might define organization-wide policies, such as requiring all databases to have documented data lineage. For developers, this could mean integrating metadata tools like Apache Atlas or writing scripts to track data lineage in pipelines. The committee also ensures alignment with regulations (e.g., GDPR), which translates into technical requirements like pseudonymization features or user consent management systems. Their decisions shape the tools and frameworks developers use daily.

In practice, these roles work together: stewards enforce policies, owners set boundaries, and the committee provides direction. Developers play a key role in operationalizing governance by embedding rules into systems—whether through access controls, metadata tagging, or audit features. Understanding these roles helps technical teams design systems that are compliant, scalable, and aligned with organizational needs.