Principal Privacy & Data Governance

About the Role

Elm Company is seeking a Principal Privacy & Data Governance professional to join their team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role provides advanced expertise in privacy and data governance, supporting the development and implementation of governance frameworks, privacy requirements, and data management controls across the organization. The position addresses complex privacy and data governance matters, offers expert guidance to business and technology stakeholders, and supports regulatory compliance, governance maturity, and effective data management throughout its lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide advanced expertise in developing and enhancing privacy and data governance frameworks, policies, standards, and procedures.
• Assess complex governance requirements and recommend appropriate controls and implementation approaches.
• Contribute to the development and continuous enhancement of the Data Management and Personal Data Privacy Strategy, implementation roadmap, and annual operating plan.
• Provide expert guidance on privacy requirements, including consent management, privacy notices, Records of Processing Activities (RoPA), and data subject requests.
• Conduct and review Data Protection and Privacy Impact Assessments (DPIA/PIA), third-party privacy assessments, and Transfer Impact Assessments (TIA).
• Collaborate with Data Owners, Business Data Stewards, and Technology stakeholders to implement data governance requirements.
• Conduct and support privacy and data governance compliance assessments against applicable regulations and internal policies.
• Provide governance guidance across data storage, retention, disposal, documentation, and content management activities.
• Review privacy and governance implications associated with data models, architecture changes, data sharing, and integration activities.
• Serve as a senior subject matter expert for complex privacy and data governance matters across business and technology functions.
• Identify opportunities to improve governance maturity, awareness, processes, controls, and overall privacy and data governance effectiveness.

Data Governance and Compliance

This role involves ensuring robust data governance and compliance across Elm. Responsibilities include advising stakeholders on complex privacy risks and mitigation measures, providing guidance on governance roles and accountabilities, and supporting the effective implementation of governance requirements across metadata, data catalog, and data quality domains. The Principal will also analyze compliance gaps, recommend corrective actions, and support audit activities with expert input on observations and remediation plans.

Data Lifecycle and Architecture Governance

The Principal Privacy & Data Governance will provide essential guidance throughout the data lifecycle, reviewing policies, controls, and requirements to ensure alignment with privacy and data governance principles. This includes monitoring significant governance issues and recommending enhancements to strengthen data lifecycle controls. The role also extends to reviewing privacy and governance implications of data models, architecture changes, data sharing, and integration, offering expert guidance on open data, freedom of information, and data classification.

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in privacy and data governance.
• Demonstrated expertise in developing and implementing governance frameworks, policies, and procedures.
• Strong analytical skills to assess complex governance requirements and recommend appropriate controls.
• Ability to provide expert guidance to business and technology stakeholders on privacy and data governance matters.

Work Environment and Standards

The successful candidate will operate in a full-time capacity within Elm Company in Riyadh. Adherence to all relevant departmental policies, processes, standard operating procedures, and instructions is required to ensure work is carried out in a controlled and consistent manner. Compliance with safety, quality, environmental management policies, and information security practices and standards is essential to maintain a healthy, safe, and secure work environment, ensuring data integrity and confidentiality.