Senior Manager, Master Data Management — Item Domain
Functional Title: Senior Manager, Master Data Management — Item Domain
Position Level: Senior Manager
Reports To: Senior Director of MDM
Employment Type: Full-Time
Location: Westerville, OH (On-site, 5 days/week)
Position Overview
The Senior Manager, Master Data Management — Item Domain is responsible for leading the global strategy, operations, and governance of item master data across all regions and business functions. This role will own the item domain end-to-end — from establishing a centralized item master repository and globalizing lifecycle management processes, to driving data quality, de-duplication, and cross-regional harmonization in a highly complex environment.
Today, item master data processes are largely regional, performed by different business units across geographies with limited standardization. No centralized master repository exists, and significant operational inconsistencies persist across regions. This role will lead the transformation from a fragmented, regionally-driven model to a globally governed, harmonized item data capability — while respecting regional nuances and business-specific requirements.
This role will collaborate with item domain leadership — including the domain leader (business) and MDM leader (IT) — to establish the framework and strategy around four key dimensions: data, process, application improvements, and organizational change management. The Senior Manager will then create and execute a roadmap that drives changes across all four dimensions, ensuring a holistic approach to improving the business user experience, driving efficiency, and enabling globalization. Execution will involve close collaboration with system and business SMEs to implement the use cases defined in the roadmap.
The Senior Manager will lead a team of data stewards, business analysts, and report analysts, and will collaborate closely with item domain leader and data owners across multiple business units to define business rules, data standards, and quality requirements. This role also partner with the global process owner for item lifecycle management to drive operational efficiency and consistency.
Key Responsibilities Domain Strategy & Globalization
- Define and execute the global item domain strategy, including roadmap for centralization, harmonization, and governance
- Lead the globalization of item lifecycle management processes while accommodating regional nuances
- Drive cross-regional harmonization to eliminate operational inconsistencies in item data management
- Establish the item master repository as the authoritative source for item golden records across the enterprise
- Create and execute a roadmap that drives improvements across four dimensions: data, process, applications, and organizational change management
- Collaborate with item domain leadership (domain leader: business; MDM leader: IT) to establish the framework and strategy for the item domain
- Partner with system and business SMEs to implement use cases defined in the roadmap
- Address all aspects of the business user experience to drive efficiency and globalization
Data Quality & Standards
- Collaborate with item domain data owners to define business rules, data standards, and data quality requirements
- Drive item data de-duplication and ensure consistent data quality across all systems
- Define and monitor item attribution completeness requirements across business units (engineering, sales, legal, finance, accounting, marketing)
- Establish data quality metrics and reporting to track progress and identify areas requiring remediation
- Lead data certification processes to ensure accuracy and reliability of item master data
Item Master Enhancements and Project Delivery
- Oversee item assignment to product hierarchy and ensure alignment across business functions
- Manage item lifecycle processes including creation, modification, classification, and retirement
- Perform and oversee data model changes, bulk data processing, and data migrations
- Drive BOM (Bill of Materials) data integrity and alignment with item master records
- Ensure item data supports downstream operational and analytical needs across all consuming systems
- Drive data projects within the item domain from initiation through delivery
- Lead large-scale data migrations and onboarding of new systems and organizations to the item master
- Coordinate with the MDM engineering team on platform capabilities needed for item domain initiatives
- Ensure project deliverables meet quality standards and align with the broader MDM roadmap
Team Leadership & Development
- Lead and manage a team of resources including data stewards, business analysts, and report analysts
- Set team priorities, manage workload, and ensure delivery against program milestones
- Hire, develop, and retain talent to build a high-performing global item data team
- Foster a culture of accountability, data ownership, and continuous improvement
- Scale the team's capabilities to support global operations beyond the current North America scope
- Maintain and report on operational and data quality KPIs
Stakeholder Collaboration & Governance
- Partner with item domain data owners across all regions and business functions collaborating with engineering, sales, legal, finance, accounting, marketing, and operations on domain-specific requirements
- Work with the Data Governance Council to establish governance structures for the item domain
- Engage IT and platform teams to ensure technical solutions support item domain business requirements
- Drive alignment and consensus across stakeholders with competing priorities and regional perspectives
Required Qualifications Experience
- Minimum 10 years of experience in master data management, data governance, or data operations
- Proven track record of leading data domain teams and managing cross-functional stakeholders
- Experience creating and executing roadmaps that span data, process, application, and organizational change management dimensions
- Demonstrated ability to drive holistic business transformation beyond just data — including process redesign, application improvements, and change management
- Demonstrated ability to build and scale teams in complex, multi-country environments
- Experience with large-scale data migrations, bulk data processing, and data model changes
- Proven ability to drive cross-regional harmonization and standardization initiatives
Domain & Technical Skills
- Deep understanding of item master data including item lifecycle, BOMs, item classification, and product hierarchy
- Experience defining business rules, data standards, and data quality requirements with business stakeholders
- Proficiency in data quality management — profiling, monitoring, remediation, and reporting
- Working knowledge of SQL and ability to understand data flows across systems
- Experience with at least one MDM platform or data management tool
- Understanding of data governance frameworks and stewardship operating models
Leadership & Communication
- Proven ability to lead and develop teams of data stewards, analysts, and specialists
- Strong stakeholder management skills across diverse business functions and regions
- Ability to influence without direct authority and drive consensus among competing priorities
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills for both technical and business audiences
- Experience operating as a domain process owner with accountability for end-to-end outcomes
Preferred Qualifications
- Multi-domain MDM experience (customer, supplier, contact, item)
- Manufacturing industry experience across multiple countries and regions
- Experience establishing a master data repository where none previously existed
- Familiarity with product lifecycle management (PLM) and ERP integration with item master
- Experience with data governance council participation and domain governance setup
- Knowledge of global data privacy regulations and compliance requirements
- Experience working with offshore vendor partners on large-scale data initiatives
- Certification in data management or governance (e.g., CDMP, DGSP)
Core Competencies
- Global mindset: Designs processes that scale globally while respecting regional realities
- Domain ownership: Takes full accountability for the health, quality, and usability of item master data
- Stakeholder influence: Aligns diverse business functions around common data standards and practices
- Operational transformation: Converts fragmented, regional processes into governed, scalable operations
- Team building: Develops high-performing teams capable of supporting enterprise-scale data operations
- Execution discipline: Delivers measurable improvements in data quality, consistency, and completeness
- Holistic transformation: Drives change across data, process, applications, and organizational change management to deliver end-to-end business improvement
The successful candidate will embrace Vertiv’s Core Principles & Behaviors to help execute our Strategic Priorities.
OUR CORE PRINCIPLES: Safety. Integrity. Respect. Teamwork. Inclusion.
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
- High-Performance Culture
- Customer Focus
- Operational Excellence
- Innovation
- Financial Strength
VERTIV BEHAVIORS
- Own it
- Act with urgency
- Foster a customer-first mindset
- Think big and execute
- Lead by example
- Drive continuous improvement
- Learn and seek out development
- Promote transparent & open communication
About Vertiv
Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) brings together hardware, software, analytics and ongoing services to enable its customers’ vital applications to run continuously, perform optimally and grow with their business needs. Vertiv solves the most important challenges facing today’s data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities with a portfolio of power, cooling and IT infrastructure solutions and services that extend from the cloud to the edge of the network. Headquartered in Westerville, Ohio, USA, Vertiv employs around 34,000 people and does business in more than 130 countries. Visit Vertiv.com to learn more.
Work Authorization
No calls or agencies please. Vertiv will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. This is not a position for which sponsorship will be provided. Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J, or TN or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible for hire.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Vertiv is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. We promote equal opportunities for all with respect to hiring, terms of employment, mobility, training, compensation, and occupational health, without discrimination as to age, race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy status (including childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity / expression (including transgender status or sexual stereotypes), genetic information, citizenship status, national origin, protected veteran status, political affiliation, or disability. If you have a disability and are having difficulty accessing or using this website to apply for a position, you can request help by sending an email to [email protected].
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