Metadata Management Lead

Metadata Management Lead — Contract

Day Rate: Up to £600/day (Inside IR35)

Location: London (Hybrid)

Start Date: Mid-May 2026

Az-Tec Talent is partnered with a leading global enterprise on a high-impact contract opportunity for a Principal Metadata Management Lead. This is a senior individual contributor role shaping enterprise metadata, cataloguing, and data governance capabilities at scale — directly underpinning data, analytics, and AI readiness across the organisation.

About the Role

You'll act as the principal SME and thought leader for metadata management, with a strong focus on Collibra Enterprise Data Catalogue (EDC), Databricks Unity Catalog, and the evolution of enterprise cataloguing, access, and metadata analytics. The role is pivotal in defining the strategy and roadmap for the enterprise data catalogue (referred to internally as "CAT"), enabling discoverable, trusted, and reusable data and AI assets.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to enterprise metadata management strategy, standards, and operating model
• Define and maintain governance frameworks for data, analytics, and AI assets
• Lead the evolution of the Enterprise Data Catalogue as the primary enterprise entry point for discovering, understanding, and accessing data and reporting
• Act as delegate Product Owner for CAT, owning the roadmap, evergreen backlog, and adoption strategy
• Expand catalogue capabilities for access standardisation/automation, frictionless stewardship, unstructured data cataloguing, and AI-ready semantic models
• Partner with Collibra on roadmap shaping, capability evaluation, and pilots
• Champion data products, AI use cases, models, and agents into a single trusted inventory; lay the groundwork for a future data and AI marketplace
• Embed governance, risk, and compliance by design rather than as post-hoc controls
• Lead workshops, demos, and enablement sessions; act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders
• Define KPIs for metadata coverage, quality, and adoption; author playbooks and standards

Essential Experience

• Extensive experience in enterprise data governance and metadata management
• Deep hands-on expertise with Collibra Enterprise Data Catalogue (EDC)
• Strong understanding of data platforms, APIs, and metadata integration patterns
• Strong facilitation, communication, and storytelling skills — able to translate complex concepts to a general audience
• Experience working in varied multi-disciplinary "natural" teams
• Proven ability to operate as a senior individual contributor influencing at scale

Desirable

• Experience with Databricks and Unity Catalog
• Knowledge of AI governance, model registries, and emerging AI regulation
• Experience in complex, global enterprise environments
• Track record implementing or facilitating data governance within or across lines of business
• Experience with successful data access initiatives
• Knowledge of data quality management and data observability
• Agile / ART ways of working and product ownership experience

Why Apply

A rare opportunity to shape enterprise metadata strategy and AI-readiness at one of the world's largest organisations, working with best-in-class tooling (Collibra EDC, Databricks Unity Catalog) and at the forefront of data product and AI marketplace thinking.