Data Governance Manager

Job summary

Do you want to work on one or the most exciting transformation projects in the public sector?

The Defence Housing Service (DHS) is being created through the Armed Forces Bill to deliver a step-change in housing for the UK’s Armed Forces and their families following the publication of the Defence Housing Strategy on 3 November 2025, which marked the most significant change to Armed Forces housing in over 50 years. DHS will bring a dedicated focus to improving the homes, communities and lived experience of Service personnel, placing families firmly at the heart of everything it does.

This is one of the most ambitious housing transformation programmes in the UK today. Backed by a £9.2 billion investment, DHS will modernise tens of thousands of homes, introduce a more proactive and customer-focused approach to maintenance, and unlock new opportunities to develop housing on Defence land. DHS will have the focus and agility to deliver change at pace, combining public service values with greater flexibility to build the skills, systems and partnerships needed for the future.

This is a rare opportunity to be part of shaping its culture, influencing how it works, and helping deliver lasting improvements for Service families across the UK.

The Defence Housing team is currently part of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), who respond to the evolving needs of our military personnel, and the ways in which they live, work, train and deploy. We are proud to be the expert partner Defence needs for all their infrastructure requirements. From large scale infrastructure projects such as runways for the F35 fighter jets to net carbon-zero accommodation for our Service families, our activities focus relentlessly on our customers, and our outputs are unique in the UK and across the globe!

DIO , What we deliver every day.

The future delivery model for this team is currently under review and may change as part of potential organisational developments. This could include the team or function transferring to a different employer or organisational structure in the future. Should activities transfer out of the Ministry of Defence existing employees transferring with those activities will maintain the same, or substantially the same, terms and conditions of employment.

Job description

As Data Governance Manager, you’ll be responsible for supporting the development, implementation and continuous improvement of Defence Housing Service data governance arrangements. You’ll help ensure that DHS data is accurate, trusted, secure, accessible and managed in accordance with MOD policy, legislation and emerging DHS governance requirements.

You’ll work across operational housing, asset management, customer services, finance, supplier management and corporate functions, to establish common definitions, improve data quality, strengthen accountability and support informed decision making.

Contributing to the development of a DHS-wide approach to data ownership, stewardship, quality management and information governance, you’ll help ensure that data is treated as a strategic business asset and can confidently support reporting, operational delivery, assurance, regulatory compliance and organisational performance.

Responsibilities

• Support the development and maintenance of the DHS Data Governance Framework, maintaining and maturing governance documentation, including data standards, definitions, dictionaries and ownership registers; monitoring compliance with agreed governance standards and supporting establishment of governance boards, forums and data stewardship networks.

• Implement and maintain data quality monitoring processes, analysing and reporting on data quality issues, trends and risks, coordinating remediation activity with business areas and suppliers; support development of data quality KPIs and performance measures.

• Maintain issue logs, action trackers and improvement plans, including ensuring consistency across systems and preventing conflicting interpretations of performance, asset, customer and operational data.

• Lead development of agreed business definitions for DHS metrics and reporting, maintaining the authoritative repository of KPI definitions and metadata; ensuring that reporting measures are consistently understood and applied.

• Work with operational teams to resolve ambiguity in business rules and calculations, providing a critical part in support of the DHS objective of creating common definitions and an agreed "single version of the truth".

• Support Data Owners and Data Stewards in fulfilling their responsibilities, providing advice and guidance on governance responsibilities, maintaining records of data ownership and accountability arrangements; coordinating reviews of critical data domains.

• Ensure governance practices align with MOD information management and data governance requirements; assisting with audit activity, assurance reviews and governance inspections, supporting risk identification, mitigation and reporting, relating to data and information management.

• Work with suppliers and internal teams to improve the quality and integrity of data supplied to DHS, ensuring robust governance arrangements are applied consistently across the enterprise.

• Support implementation of controls for data exchange and system integration, monitoring adherence to agreed data standards across internal and external systems.

• Build positive relationships across DHS directorates, delivering advice, guidance and awareness training; support development of a positive data culture where accountability for data is understood across the organisation, encouraging adoption of governance standards and best practice.

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

1. Experience supporting data governance, information governance, reporting, assurance or business intelligence functions. (personal statement)

2. Experience working with data quality issues and driving improvements. (personal statement)

3. Experience interpreting and applying policies, standards or governance frameworks.

4. Experience engaging with stakeholders across multiple business areas.

5. Experience producing management information, reports or governance documentation.

Additional information

We have a strong learning and development ethos, supporting you to fulfil your potential by providing learning and development tailored to your role, professional skills development, access to thousands of training courses through Civil Service Learning and the ability to obtain industry recognised qualifications, supported by MOD. You’ll also receive specific training on the platform selected for the future systems programme.

This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, blending a balance of attendance in the workplace (your permanent duty station, which is based on business assessment of where the work is best done) and working from home as a personal choice (if the role is suitable for this). If you are