Overview
Data Governance Specialist Jobs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at Albawani | البواني
Title: Data Governance Specialist
Company: Albawani | البواني
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Who we are:
Albawani is one of the leading construction and contracting companies in Saudi Arabia. Established in 1991, the company has grown from a small civil works contractor into a major diversified group with operations across construction, infrastructure, engineering, water and power, and industrial services. Headquartered in Riyadh, Albawani is recognized for delivering large-scale commercial, healthcare, educational, and government projects throughout the Kingdom. Albawani is known for its strong commitment to quality, safety, and innovation, holding several international ISO certifications and a Class-1 contractor ranking in Saudi Arabia.
Job Title: Data Governance Specialist
Department: Information Security
Role Purpose: We are seeking a Data Governance & Compliance Specialist to support the implementation and day-to-day operation of our enterprise data governance framework. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of data management, regulatory compliance, and risk — helping to ensure our data assets are accurate, protected, and handled in accordance with Saudi Arabian regulations. You will collaborate with data engineering, legal, cybersecurity, and business teams to embed governance practices into our data lifecycle, with a particular focus on compliance with frameworks mandated by the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) and the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA).
Key Duties & Responsibilities:
- Support the development and maintenance of the enterprise data governance framework, including policies, standards, and procedures covering data quality, data lineage, metadata management, and data classification.
- Assist in defining and enforcing data ownership and stewardship models across business domains.
- Contribute to Data Governance Council meetings and help coordinate cross-functional working groups.
- Maintain the business glossary and support the upkeep of the enterprise data catalogue.
- Support compliance with the Saudi Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) as overseen by SDAIA, including data subject rights management, consent frameworks, and cross-border data transfer controls.
- Assist in implementing controls aligned to the NCA's Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECC) and Data Cybersecurity Controls (DCC) as they relate to data governance obligations.
- Conduct periodic gap analyses against SDAIA and NCA requirements and supports the development of remediation plans.
- Monitor updates to Saudi data and cybersecurity regulations and translate new requirements into actionable governance tasks.
- Partner with Legal, Privacy, and Cybersecurity teams to ensure governance controls are embedded across the data lifecycle.
- Assist in third-party data sharing assessments and vendor due diligence from a data governance perspective.
- Support the definition and monitoring of data quality dimensions (completeness, accuracy, timeliness, consistency) and associated KPIs.
- Assist with master data management (MDM) activities to promote consistency of critical data entities.
- Prepare regular reporting on governance activities, compliance status, and data quality metrics for senior management.
Job Requirements:
- 2+ years of experience in data governance, data management, GRC, compliance, or a closely related discipline.
- Working knowledge of Saudi Arabian data regulations, in particular the PDPL and SDAIA guidelines.
- Awareness of the NCA's cybersecurity frameworks (ECC, DCC) and their intersection with data governance.
- Understanding of core data governance concepts including data quality, data classification, metadata management, and data lineage.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret regulatory requirements and translate them into practical controls.
- Effective written and verbal communication skills in English; Arabic language skills are a strong advantage.
