- Employment Type: Full-time, 12-month Fixed Term role.
- Remuneration: Competitive total package
- Location: Kensington, NSW (Hybrid working model)
About UNSW
At UNSW, we pride ourselves on being a workplace where the best people come to do their best work. We aspire to be Australia’s global university, improving and transforming lives through excellence in research, outstanding education and a commitment to advancing a just society.
Why your role matters
The Head of Data Quality leads the development and implementation of UNSW’s enterprise data quality framework, ensuring data is reliable, fit for purpose, and a strategic asset. The role oversees policies, standards, processes, and tools that support trusted analytics, reporting, and decision-making, translating quality principles into practices such as validation rules, monitoring, issue management, and remediation.
Partnering with faculties, divisions, and professional services, they embed quality management into daily operations, drive improvement initiatives, resolve systemic data issues, and align processes with UNSW’s strategic priorities and regulatory obligations.
The role reports to the Director of Data Management and has no direct reports.
About the Role
The successful applicant will be required to undertake and have experience in the following areas of expertise:
- Lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of UNSW’s enterprise data quality framework, policies, standards, and tools, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and sector best practice.
- Define and oversee processes for data quality monitoring, reporting, and escalation across critical data domains; provide transparent updates to governance forums.
- Establish and manage data quality metrics and dashboards to measure and communicate the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and consistency of data.
- Lead the data issue management process, including identification, prioritisation, escalation, and remediation of systemic data quality problems.
- Partner with data owners and stewards to embed accountability for data quality at source; provide practical guidance and escalation pathways for issue resolution.
- Implement and oversee controls and validation mechanisms within systems and processes to prevent and detect data quality issues.
- Work with business and academic stakeholders to identify data pain points, define quality requirements, and ensure improvement initiatives address real operational needs.
- Design and deliver training, toolkits, and awareness campaigns to build capability and foster a culture of shared responsibility for data quality.
About You
Relevant tertiary qualifications in information management, data management, or a related discipline with extensive relevant experience, or equivalent competence gained through any combination of education, training and experience.
- Proven experience in establishing and implementing enterprise data quality frameworks in a large, complex organisation, with demonstrated success in embedding them into day-to-day business operations.
- Strong track record in deploying and managing data quality tools and platforms (e.g. data quality dashboards, data profiling tools, validation engines, catalogues), with practical experience designing business rules and monitoring processes.
- Demonstrated ability to translate data quality principles into tangible outcomes including measurable improvements in accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and consistency of data.
- Experience leading data issue management and remediation processes, including root-cause analysis, escalation pathways, and long-term resolution at source.
- Strong working knowledge of data management disciplines including governance, stewardship, metadata, and master/reference data, and how they integrate with data quality practices.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the ability to partner with system owners, business users, and data stewards to drive ownership and accountability for quality.
- Advanced analytical and reporting capability, with experience developing metrics, scorecards, and dashboards to monitor and communicate the state of data quality.
- High attention to detail and strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to balance pragmatic fixes with longer-term structural improvements.
- Familiarity with regulatory obligations in higher education (e.g. TEQSA, State Records Act, Privacy Act) and sector best practices in data quality management.
For further information on the role & responsibilities, please refer to the Position Description
How to Apply: Submit your CV & cover letter detailing your interest and suitability for the job (as per the skills & experience bullet points in the Position Description) before Monday 6th October by 11:55pm.
Please note: Sponsorship is not available for this role, valid Australian working rights are required on application.
UNSW Benefits and Culture: People are at the core of everything we do. We recognise it is the contributions of our staff who make UNSW one of the best universities in Australia and the world. Our benefits include:
- Flexible Working Options (work from home, flexible hours etc)
- Additional 3 days leave during December festive period.
- Career development opportunities
- Up to 50% discount on UNSW courses
- Flexible 17% Superannuation contributions, additional leave-loading payments and salary sacrifice.
- Discounts and entitlements (retail, education, fitness passport)
UNSW is committed to equity diversity and inclusion. Applications from women, people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those living with disabilities, members of the LGBTIQ+ community; and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, are encouraged. UNSW provides workplace adjustments for people with disability, and access to flexible work options for eligible staff.
