Data Governance Lead

ABOUT YONDERLAND

We are convinced that outside is exciting, relaxing, and inspiring. It's versatile, for some it is a place to relax, for others it is the ultimate challenge. A place to enjoy and where big and small moments come together. It's a place to be discovered or recognized. But the outdoors can also be treacherous and unpredictable. Weather and terrain can surprise you. Our mission is to enable all people to spend inspiring and epic moments outside.

Yonderland is a European group of premium brands and retail concepts focused on outdoors. Including A.S. Adventure, Juttu, Bever, Cotswold, Snow+Rock, Runnersneed and Ayacucho. Yonderland runs over 190 shops in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Great-Britain and The Netherlands and resides in Belgium. https://www.yonderland.com/

ABOUT THE JOB OPENING

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A DATA GOVERNANCE LEAD TO JOIN OUR TEAM

Yonderland holds customer, product and operational data across seven brands and a mix of legacy and modern platforms. As our Data Governance Lead, you will own the policy set that decides how this data is obtained, used and shared, plus the documentation and controls teams need to apply it in practice. You will be the reference point the Data Protection Officers in our business units, and our data teams come to on how governance works, building the stewardship network and governance forum that keep decisions moving. You report to the Head of Data & AI and work closely with security, our architects, the business units and the data teams.

YOU WILL

• Write and maintain the policies for classification, retention, access, quality and privacy, each one specific enough for teams to apply and enforce.
• Define data ownership and accountability, including the data contracts that govern how domains share data with each other.
• Set the standard for what good metadata and documentation look like and apply it consistently across domains.
• Build and coordinate the stewardship network of data owners and stewards across the organization.
• Run the governance forum, keeping decisions moving and setting clear decision rights - who decides, who is consulted, and how issues escalate.
• Act as the reference point for the DPOs of our business units and for our data teams on data handling and governance.
• Build the playbooks, templates and reference documentation teams need to implement governance controls in practice.
• Agree data protection practices, rules and controls jointly with the security function.
• Own the definition of PII and special-category data, and the rules for handling them.
• Support GDPR and other regulatory obligations alongside the DPOs and legal, including under audit.
• Own the data observability model - lineage, freshness, quality, schema and distribution - as the shared way the organization reads the state of its data.
• Set the standard for data quality across domains and guide the data teams as they build it into the platform.
• Govern the full data lifecycle - acquisition, use and sharing - through defined, documented and compliant routes, and report progress to leadership.

YOU HAVE

• Senior experience owning data governance in a multi-entity, multi-brand or multi-country organization.
• A track record of building a governance function from the ground up, with policy that teams went on to apply in practice.
• Experience working on GDPR compliance alongside DPOs, security and legal, including under audit conditions.
• Strong knowledge of governance frameworks, and the judgement to adapt one to fit the organization.
• Deep understanding of classification, access management, retention and privacy by design.
• Knowledge of data observability - lineage, freshness, quality, schema and distribution - with data quality as a core focus.
• Enough technical depth to work with engineers on how governance is implemented in a modern data platform.
• Excellent written communication skills, comfortable turning complex governance questions into clear standards and documentation.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

BONUS QUALIFICATIONS

• Professional certification in data governance or privacy (e.g. CDMP, CIPP/E, CIPM).
• Experience running a governance forum or stewardship network across more than one country or brand.
• Familiarity with data catalogue, lineage or observability tooling.
• Retail, e-commerce or supply chain domain experience.
• Experience presenting governance topics to senior leadership or audit committees.

WE HAVE

• An international environment with headquarters in Antwerp and offices in the Netherlands, UK and Portugal.
• Our Porto office located at Lionesa Business Hub.
• Full-time job + permanent contract.
• Health insurance.
• 26 days of vacation.
• Flexible work schedule and hybrid work model - 2 days per week at our office and 3 days working remotely.
• Professional development opportunities.
• Trainings.
• Collaborative and inclusive work environment.
• Team events like summer parties, Christmas events and much more!

If this fits your career expectations apply now to [email protected] and speak to Susana - our HR Manager.