Vice President, Data Strategy & Governance

Company Description

Trupanion is a leading provider of medical insurance for cats and dogs in North America. Our mission is to help loving, responsible pet owners budget and care for their pets. At Trupanion, we offer a collaborative, casual, and pet-friendly environment where everyone is encouraged to be themselves.

Description

The Vice President of Data Strategy and Data Governance will be a key leader responsible for developing and executing the long-term enterprise data strategy and leading the organization's data governance initiatives. This role will drive the company's transformation by ensuring data is central to business decisions and processes. The VP will work closely with business leaders to identify critical business decisions and shape data-driven strategies that empower the organization to achieve its objectives. They will also oversee enterprise-wide data governance to ensure data quality, privacy, compliance, and alignment with business goals.

As a leader in the organization, the VP will champion the use of data and AI-machine learning to drive business transformations, working across teams to ensure that data is treated as a strategic asset. This individual will also take responsibility for establishing and maintaining robust data governance frameworks that promote data security, quality, and accessibility at scale.

This position is open to candidates in the Seattle area. You will have a hybrid remote/in-office schedule where you will work from our casual, pet-friendly office at least 3 days a week.

Responsibilities

Enterprise Data Strategy

• Develop and implement a comprehensive enterprise data strategy aligned with organizational objectives.
• Identify and prioritize opportunities where data can drive value, optimize operations, or support innovation.
• Partner with senior business leaders to define critical data-driven decisions and ensure the strategy supports these priorities.
• Drive business transformations by leveraging data and AI to optimize processes, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate innovation.
• Work closely with senior leadership to integrate the data strategy with broader organizational transformation initiatives, ensuring that data becomes a core part of the decision-making process at all levels.

• Lead efforts to integrate data science and AI across key functions including operations, finance, marketing, and product.
• Ensure alignment between business strategy and data initiatives, delivering impactful and scalable outcomes.
• Foster a culture of data-driven decision-making and promote the use of data to solve business challenges.

• Design and lead a robust data governance framework that ensures data accuracy, consistency, security, and compliance.
• Define and implement data governance policies and best practices, partnering with legal and CISO to ensure compliance with data privacy laws, security standards, and ethical AI practices.
• Oversee data quality management efforts, ensuring that the organization has the tools and processes to measure, manage, and improve data quality across all systems.
• Lead the implementation and ongoing management of Master Data Management (MDM) capabilities as a critical component of the data governance program, ensuring alignment across business units and systems.

• Act as the primary point of contact for enterprise data governance and strategy.
• Collaborate with technology, analytics, product, and business teams to align on priorities and execution plans.
• Provide thought leadership on data trends, governance, and ethical practices.
• Monitor performance and ensure continuous improvement across data quality, usage, and compliance.
• Communicate impact and progress of data initiatives to executive stakeholders.

• Build and lead a high-performing team of data governance, data science, and analytics professionals.
• Invest in team development through mentorship and skill-building to meet evolving business and data needs.
• Ensure that the data governance function is appropriately resourced and aligned with organizational growth.

• Oversee the evolution of the data architecture, including data lakes, warehouses, and cloud-based platforms.

• Establish KPIs to assess the effectiveness of data governance, strategy execution, and AI initiatives.

• 15+ years of experience in data strategy, governance, and transformation, including 7+ years in a senior leadership role.
• Demonstrated success in leading enterprise-wide data initiatives and enabling business transformation through data and AI machine learning.
• Deep understanding of data governance, privacy laws, data security practices, and ethical AI standards.
• Proven ability to develop and execute complex data strategies across large-scale organizations.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills; able to influence at all levels of the organization.
• Bachelor's degree in data science or related field required. Master's degree preferred.

• Experience with SaaS and PaaS data platforms (Databricks, Snowflake or similar), and modern data architectures.
• Expertise in building and scaling governance programs in highly regulated or data-intensive industries.
• Track record of managing cross-functional initiatives and delivering measurable business impact.

• The pay range for this position is $200,000 - $250,000, on a full-time schedule.
• Along with base salary, Trupanion employees may be eligible for monthly bonuses.
• We want all employees to be invested in Trupanion's success, so we grant Restricted Stock Units to all new team members. Our new hire grants vest over 4 years.

• Full medical, dental, and vision benefits at no cost to the employee
• Four weeks of paid time off and 9 paid float holidays (you can decide which days are most important to you!)
• Five-week sabbatical after five years of employment
• Open, casual, pet-friendly, and fun office environment
• Free medical health insurance for your pet (1 dog or cat)
• Paid time off to volunteer at nonprofit organizations
• Seattle Office Amenities: Free on-site gym, free dog walking services for office pets during business hours, free parking, and paid ORCA cards.