Share via


Data Governance Job Descriptions - Data Steward

In metadata, a data steward is a person that is responsible for maintaining a data element in a metadata registry. A data steward is a broad job role that incorporates processes, policies, guidelines and responsibilities for administering organizations' entire data in compliance with business and/or regulatory obligations. A data steward’s responsibility stems from an understanding of the business domain and the interaction of business processes with data entities/elements. A data steward ensures that there are documented procedures and guidelines for data access and use.

 

A data steward may share some responsibilities with a data custodian, and work with database/warehouse administrators and other related staff to plan and execute an enterprise-wide data governance, control and compliance policy.

Data stewardship roles are common when organizations are attempting to exchange data precisely and consistently between computer systems and reuse data-related resources. Master Data Management often makes references to the need for data stewardship for its implementation to succeed.

Data Steward Responsibilities

A data steward ensures that each assigned data element:

  1. Has clear and unambiguous data element definition
  2. Does not conflict with other data elements in the metadata registry (removes duplicates, overlap etc)
  3. Has clear enumerated value definitions if it is of type Code
  4. Is still being used (remove unused data elements)
  5. Is being used consistently in various computer systems
  6. Has adequate documentation on appropriate usage and notes
  7. Documents the origin and sources of authority on each metadata element
  8. Is protected against unauthorized access or change