Data Steward Lead - People (Platforms)

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. We have been building the world’s most valuable brands for 50 years and have global reach across 100+ markets, with deep local expertise. Our people are the key to our success. We’re committed to fostering a culture of creativity, belonging and continuous learning, attracting and developing the brightest talent, and providing exciting career opportunities that help our people grow.

Why We're Hiring

As a Data Steward in WPP’s Enterprise Technology Data team, you will be responsible for the hands-on administration and maintenance of master data across one or more enterprise data domains. Reporting to the Global Programme Director - Data, you will be the first line of stewardship, ensuring that golden records are accurate, source system mappings are maintained, and data governance standards are consistently applied. You will execute matching and mapping activities, triage stewardship exceptions, and support the onboarding of new source systems into the MDM framework. Your work will directly impact the trustworthiness and completeness of master data flowing through WPP’s enterprise platforms.

What You’ll Be Doing

Master Data Stewardship and Golden Record Maintenance

• Execute day-to-day stewardship activities including reviewing, approving, and correcting master data records in line with governance standards.
• Maintain and curate golden records, ensuring survivorship rules are correctly applied and master entities remain accurate and complete.
• Investigate and resolve match conflicts, potential duplicates, and merge exceptions, escalating complex cases with supporting analysis.
• Process new entity creation requests, validating source data against matching rules before golden record creation.

Source System Mapping and Onboarding Support

• Manage and maintain mappings between source system entities and golden master records, ensuring traceability and accuracy.
• Support the onboarding of new agencies and source systems by executing mapping activities and validating initial data loads against MDM standards.
• Maintain reference data configurations, ensuring code sets and lookup values remain aligned across source systems.

Data Governance and Classification

• Apply data classification standards to master data entities as defined by the governance framework, covering sensitivity, confidentiality, and regulatory categorisation.
• Review and correct AI-generated data classifications, providing feedback to improve automated tagging accuracy over time.
• Follow and enforce stewardship workflows including exception handling, approval processes, and escalation procedures.
• Maintain accurate documentation of entity mappings, transformation rules, hierarchy structures, and stewardship decisions.

AI-Assisted Stewardship Operations

• Act as the human-in-the-loop for AI-assisted matching and entity resolution, reviewing model-suggested matches, adjudicating low-confidence merge candidates, and approving or rejecting proposed golden record updates.
• Review and validate AI-generated mapping recommendations during source system onboarding, ensuring accuracy before mappings are committed.
• Provide feedback on AI model outputs to support continuous improvement of match accuracy, classification quality, and enrichment relevance.
• Work with AI-driven anomaly detection alerts, investigating flagged records and determining appropriate stewardship actions.

Data Quality Monitoring and Remediation

• Monitor data quality dashboards and alerts, investigating exceptions and applying remediation actions in a timely manner.
• Execute data quality checks across master data entities, documenting findings and tracking resolution through to completion.
• Maintain and update data quality rules as business requirements and source systems evolve.

Operational Reporting and Team Support

• Provide first-line support for master data issues raised by downstream consumers and business users.
• Contribute to operational reporting on stewardship volumes, exception trends, match rates, and resolution times.
• Support data migration and reconciliation activities during source system onboarding and platform changes.

What You’ll Need

• Experience in a data stewardship, data administration, or master data management role.
• Practical understanding of MDM concepts including golden records, matching, survivorship, and entity resolution.
• Familiarity with enterprise master data management and data governance solutions (e.g. Informatica MDM, Informatica Data Governance) or equivalent platforms is desirable.
• Proficiency in SQL for data investigation, validation, and reporting.
• Understanding of data governance principles including data classification, ownership, and stewardship workflows.
• Willingness to work with AI and machine learning tools as part of day-to-day stewardship operations, including reviewing AI-suggested matches, classifications, and enrichments.
• Experience working with ERP or HCM data (Workday, SAP, Dynamics, or similar) is an advantage.
• Attention to detail with the ability to identify and resolve data discrepancies methodically.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent stewardship tasks and priorities.
• Good communication skills with the ability to document and explain findings clearly to both technical and business audiences.
• Self-motivated with a proactive approach to identifying and resolving data problems.
• Enthusiasm for developing expertise in master data management, data governance, and AI-assisted data operations.

Who You Are

• Open: Inclusive and collaborative, encouraging the free exchange of ideas and respecting diverse views. Open-minded to new ideas, partnerships, and ways of working.
• Optimistic: Believing in the power of creativity, technology, and talent to create brighter futures. Approaching all endeavors with conviction to try the new and seek the unexpected.
• Extraordinary: Stronger together through collaboration, achieving amazing results. Creative leaders and pioneers providing extraordinary every day.

What We’ll Give You

• Passionate, inspired people: A culture in which people can do extraordinary work.
• Scale and opportunity: The chance to create, influence, and complete projects at an unparalleled scale.
• Challenging and stimulating work: Unique projects and the opportunity to join a group of creative problem solvers.

Work Style

• Hybrid: This role follows a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. Accommodations or flexibility can be discussed with the hiring team.

Equal Opportunity

WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

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