Transaction Data Governance Lead

Summary

We’re the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services, headquartered in Belgium. We are the way the world moves value – across borders, through cities and overseas. No other organization can address the scale, precision, pace and trust that this demands, and we’re proud to support the global economy. We’re unique too. We were established to find a better way for the global financial community to move value – a reliable, safe and secure approach that the community can trust, completely. We’re always striving to be better and are constantly evolving in an ever-changing landscape, without undermining that trust. Five decades on, our vibrant community reflects the complexity and diversity of the financial ecosystem. We innovate diligently, test exhaustively, then implement fast. In a connected and exciting era, our mission has never been more relevant. Swift now has a presence in 200+ countries and legal territories to serve a community of more than 12,000 banks and financial institutions. As AI becomes embedded in our services and operations, Swift is preparing for a new regulatory era and evolving global supervisory expectations. This role is a key part of how we operationalise that shift.

The role

Transaction data is one of Swift’s most valuable assets. In this role, you ensure it is used effectively, safely, and in line with supervisory and regulatory expectations. You support Swift’s use of transaction data by operating and continuously improving pragmatic governance, insight, and tooling. Through this role, you play an important transversal role across Swift’s business initiatives, and help unlock the value of our data of transaction data for customers and the wider community.

Transaction data governance exists to maintain the customer community’s trust by ensuring Swift consistently applies Board‑approved decisions, governance principles, external regulation (eg. GDPR) and internal policies to safeguard the confidentiality, security, and permitted use of transaction data.  

In today’s landscape with Swift becoming a regulated entity, Transaction Data Governance is more critical than ever to ensure consistent, robust, and defensible use of transaction data. Our team is strengthening Transaction Data Governance and is seeking an ambitious, dynamic, and proactive individual. Reporting to the Head of the AI and Transaction Data Governance Squad, you will work closely day to day with the Data Guardian, supporting their role as arbiter of transaction data use and ensuring requests and decisions are handled consistently and with sound judgement.

You also partner closely with the Collibra workstream within the squad, embedding governance requirements directly into processes and Collibra workflows. This ensures that controls are applied systematically rather and at scale, than through fragmented documentation or manual intervention, reducing operational risk and error.

Through this role, you enable senior leaders, governance bodies, and business stakeholders to use transaction data safely, confidently, and responsibly, with clear assurance that governance expectations are understood, applied, and sustained. This includes the Products delivery teams who build highly valuable commercial data products and services for our customers.

Key Responsibilities

Enable Governance Committee

You will support the Data Guardian by:

• Work in lockstep with BD, Consulting and Data Office colleagues by first-line review and triage of transaction data requests, ensuring business justification is clear and decisions align with the transaction data governance framework and principles.
• Collaborate closely with Product to work early on new data usage or new features in existing products to enhance our product suite.
• Providing key execution and operational support on the Transaction Committee, attended by senior management.
• Manage complex internal data initiatives with the contribution of our supporting functions such as Legal, Compliance, Risk, Architecture or Global Security (e.g. Data Classification, Risk Assessments, Personal Data Questionnaires)
• Review the backlog of transaction governance topics with the Data Guardian and prioritize, working towards taking on work streams independently.
• Be open to the new regulation and be able to anticipate change to our way of working and adapt.
• Drive a Data Governance culture across Swift through continuous education and engagement.
• Be the sounding board together with the data guardian to propose enhancements or highlight areas of inconsistencies in how the data governance is applied.

Operate Transaction Data Governance

• Play a decisive role in the operations of Transaction Data Governance ensuring its success in rolling-out processes, policies and solutions, such as the embedding of the Collibra platform at Swift in close collaboration with business teams, and ensuring the quality of access management
• Enhance data governance by making sure information is kept accurate, consistent, and usable at scale. Support work to map data lineage into Collibra to further automate data governance and reduce errors.

Drive Data Governance Literacy

• Own the refresh and rollout of transaction data governance and BI training and certification.
• Build and maintain a clear, accessible Transaction Data Governance knowledge hub that connects policy, tooling, and learning, enabling our internal customers to understand and apply governance requirements confidently in day‑to‑day work.

Transform the way we work, enabled by AI

• Turn governance knowledge and processes into reusable, scalable assets.
• Reduce manual effort and friction by stabilising BAU workflows and progressively introducing AI‑enabled automation, knowledge support, and triage to improve consistency, resilience, and speed without compromising control.

Education

University degree or equivalent experience.

Experience

• 3 to 5 years of experience in financial services or another regulated environment.
• Exposure to data, governance, regulatory or business transformation topics is helpful but not essential.
• Data Governance Tooling - familiarity with data governance tooling such as Collibra, or strong willingness and capability to learn quickly
• Learning delivery - experience supporting learning or communications skillset is an advantage, especially where governance needs to be understood and adopted
• AI fluency - a working understanding of AI concepts, tools, and responsible AI principles, applied pragmatically in day-to-day work

Competency Profile

• Solution oriented and pragmatic thinker who enables the responsible use of transaction data. Clearly articulates and defends governance positions while listening constructively to build understanding and buy‑in.
• Confidently challenges proposals that do not align with agreed data governance principles or standards, influencing outcomes through clear reasoning and credibility.
• Strong stakeholder management. Builds effective working relationships across business, data, risk and legal functions, with a sound understanding of organisational dynamics.
• Strong business acumen. Understands how governance activities create business value and applies abstract concepts pragmatically in real business contexts, adapting to change while upholding standards.
• Outcome focused and dependable under pressure. Uses sound judgement to operate effectively in ambiguity, follows through to delivery and closure, and escalates appropriately where required.
• Excellent communication and quality focus. Communicates complex topics clearly and practically, adapts style to audience and context, and maintains high standards of clarity, consistency and accuracy in documentation.

What we offer

We give you the freedom to be yourself. We are creating an environment of unique individuals – like you – with different perspectives on the financial industry and the world. A diverse and inclusive environment in which everyone’s voice counts and where you can reach your full potential.

We are committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation related to accessibility during your application or interview, please contact accessibility-Sysgroup@swift.com or indicate this in your application.

Please note that this mailbox is not monitored for general recruitment enquiries and should only be used for accessibility or accommodation-related requests (for example related to vision, hearing or neurodiversity).

All requests are confidential and will not affect your candidacy.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Swift, we are dedicated to building a workplace where people can bring their full selves and ideas to the team, so if you are excited about this role, we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every single qualification.