Tech & Engineering SMB (51-200 employees)

Data Governance Specialist at SMB

Defines and enforces policies, standards, and processes that ensure the quality, security, and appropriate use of organizational data.

In SMBs, communication with non-technical areas is as important as technical ability

Moderate-to-high agreeableness is key to navigating informal structures

Assess experience managing external vendors, since they're a regular part of the functional team

Generic profile Startup (1-50 employees) Enterprise (201-1000 employees) Global (1001+ employees)

Ideal OCEAN+ Profile

Openness 68 Conscientiousness 80 Extraversion 57 Agreeableness 66 Emotional Stability 73 Structure & Rhythm 78
Ideal range
Openness
60 75

At SMBs (51-200 employees), technical curiosity to explore new architectures

Conscientiousness
73 87

At SMBs (51-200 employees), discipline in code and development processes

Extraversion
48 65

At SMBs (51-200 employees), collaboration with technical teams and stakeholders

Agreeableness
58 73

At SMBs (51-200 employees), the balance between defending technical decisions and accepting feedback

Emotional Stability
65 80

At SMBs (51-200 employees), resilience in the face of production bugs and deadline pressure

Structure & Rhythm
70 85

At SMBs (51-200 employees), effective communication with the team

Strengths and Red Flags

Strengths

  • Design of clear, enforceable data policies in complex organizational contexts
  • Implementation of data catalogs and lineage systems
  • Balance between modernizing existing systems and keeping operations running without disruption
  • Ability to justify technical investments to non-technical stakeholders using business language

Red Flags

  • Governance policies so rigid they block productive analytical work
  • Lack of data quality metrics to validate the program's impact
  • Demands big-company tools and budget to operate
  • Chronic frustration over the lack of clear separation between roles and responsibilities

Interview Questions

Tell me about a data governance program you implemented. How did you achieve adoption among resistant teams?

Evaluates: Agreeableness and Structure & Rhythm in change management

Describe how you would prioritize which data to classify and protect first at a company with no established governance program.

Evaluates: Conscientiousness and Openness in framework design

How did you prioritize technical improvements when the budget was limited and delivery couldn't stop?

Evaluates: Conscientiousness applied to realistic prioritization with limited resources

How did you explain an architecture decision to a general manager without technical training?

Evaluates: Extraversion and Agreeableness in translating technical topics into business language

More about Data Governance Specialist

Career path, personality archetypes and similar roles in the full profile.

Career Path Archetypes Similar Roles Case Study

This Role in Other Contexts

Generic profile

Data Governance Specialist — base profile with no company context

View profile → Startup (1-50 employees)

In startups, this role often covers broader responsibilities than its formal description

View profile → Enterprise (201-1000 employees)

In enterprise, the ability to work within regulatory frameworks without seeing them as a personal obstacle is a differentiator

View profile → Global (1001+ employees)

In global roles, advanced written technical English is a baseline requirement

View profile →
View all profiles for SMB →
Professional Services → All solutions →

Does your next Data Governance Specialist at SMB (51-200 employees) match this profile?

Map anyone's OCEAN+ profile with the Talent Diagnostic: free, no signup, 10 minutes.

Take the free Talent Diagnostic Explore the Leadership Team Alignment Study

20 statements · 10 minutes · no card