01
Enterprise mandate
Data Governance Lead | Second interview
Governance that
changes the business.
David Hall’s case for turning ownership, critical data, quality controls, metadata, and technical delivery into trusted underwriting, clean financial feeds, and dependable data for AI.
15years across governance and data
6team members led at Evernorth
8K+metadata connections enabled
65%reported quality improvement
01
The central argument
This is not a governance job. It is a business control and transformation job.
The winning answer is not more policy, more meetings, or more catalog entries. It is a governed operating system that makes priority data easier to trust, easier to use, and easier to defend.
Why the role exists now
Read the business signals
These are informed hypotheses from public sources and the job description. Use them to ask sharper questions, not as inside knowledge.
02
Strategic focus
A sharper focus on property and casualty insurance
Westfield announced the sale of its banking business in 2025 to concentrate investment on personal, commercial, surety and Specialty insurance. Position governance as a control for growth, risk and financial integrity, not a generic compliance program.03
Growth
Specialty expansion raises the cost of inconsistent data
Westfield Specialty reported $1.4 billion in gross written premium for the first nine months of 2025 across US and international operations. That makes definitions, legal entity lineage, currency, exposure, broker, policy, claims and reinsurance data increasingly material.04
Business leadership
Underwriting and actuarial standards are getting fresh attention
Westfield appointed a new Chief Underwriting Officer and Chief Actuary in 2025. Existing underwriting and actuarial forums can become the decision points for data definitions, quality thresholds and risk acceptance, avoiding a parallel committee structure.05
Platform modernization
Governance must span reporting, data products and streaming
Published case studies point to Snowflake feeding Microsoft Fabric and Power BI, with Confluent Kafka on AWS supporting streaming and integration. Confirm the actual production stack in the interview, then explain how controls should follow data across the full path.06
AI in operations
Trust must be measurable before AI can scale
Westfield claims leaders have discussed generative AI adoption and measures such as accuracy, reliability, time saved and business outcomes. The governance lead needs to make provenance, permitted use, quality, lineage, ownership and evidence practical for delivery teams.Your interview thesis
See the 18-month plan Start with trusted underwriting data and clean financial feeds. Prove the operating model there, automate the controls that matter, then scale.
Evidence bank
Six stories. One leadership pattern.
Choose the story that proves the capability being tested. Lead with the decision and result, then explain the machinery.
Senior Technical Product Owner, through Eliassen
Unified engineering, Collibra and governance delivery
David led six team members: three data engineers, two Collibra specialists and one data governance generalist. Together they were a seven-person unit. He set one roadmap across the IBM InfoSphere to Collibra migration, metadata scanning and lineage, intake, issue management, retention, glossary content, training and delivery visibility.
Team leadershipCollibraMetadataLineageAdoption
Proof point8,000+ connections
Use the number as scale evidence. Follow it with the business outcome.
DavidProgram leadSeven-person unit including David
3Data engineers
2Collibra specialists
1Governance generalist
Question studio
Rehearse the pressure points
Each answer is written to be spoken. Keep the first response to 60 to 90 seconds, then let the interviewer pull for detail.
18 questions ready
What they are testing
Can you state your value in under 90 seconds without walking through your resume?
Your answer
I have 15 years of experience across data governance, metadata, MDM, data quality and business intelligence. My largest program was at Evernorth, where I led six team members: three data engineers, two Collibra specialists and one governance generalist. We migrated IBM InfoSphere to Collibra, built core governance operations and enabled metadata scanning and lineage across more than 8,000 connections. At IBM, I now lead governance for Pearson's Customer Data Product and MDM modernization, with a focus on ownership, stewardship, critical data and cross-business decision rights. Westfield appeals to me because the mandate connects governance to outcomes that matter: trusted underwriting data, clean financial feeds and dependable data for AI. That is the kind of governance I build.
Entry plan
The first 90 days
The finish line is not an assessment report. It is two priority data chains with ownership, baseline evidence, a working issue rhythm, and visible source correction.
Days 1 to 3001
Listen and map
Align leaders on the business outcomes and choose two data chains where better control can matter quickly.
Move
- Confirm CIO and business outcomes
- Assess governance maturity and team capability
- Inventory tools, active modernization, policies, controls and audit findings
- Map underwriting, finance, claims, actuarial, security and privacy stakeholders
- Select underwriting and premium-to-GL lighthouse flows
Proof
Sponsor alignment · Current-state map · Team capability view · Two pilot charters · Baseline measurement plan
Days 31 to 6002
Design and baseline
Give the pilots clear accountability, a focused critical data set and a working issue system.
Move
- Confirm domain owners and stewards
- Select a manageable Tier 1 critical data set
- Document definitions, authoritative sources, lineage and quality thresholds
- Stand up intake, severity, root-cause, service-level and escalation processes
- Draft the federated operating model and scorecard
Proof
Named accountability · Critical data register · Quality and lineage baselines · Issue workflow · Decision-rights design
Days 61 to 9003
Prove and launch
Turn the design into visible operating evidence and commit the next wave.
Move
- Fix one visible source issue in each pilot
- Move priority checks toward automation
- Publish the first domain scorecards
- Certify one governed analytics or AI dataset if it is ready
- Agree the Q2 and Q3 onboarding sequence
Proof
First measurable improvement · Operating cadence live · Control backlog funded · Next domains agreed · Leadership readout
Six-quarter roadmap
Build. Prove. Scale.
Targets are illustrative until the first-quarter baseline and capacity review. The sequence is the point: focus first, then expand.
Q1
Align and mobilize
Executives agree on value, scope, decision rights and the first two use cases.
Priority moves
- Assess maturity, team capability, platform work and obligations
- Select underwriting and premium-to-GL lighthouse flows
- Inventory material AI uses, inputs, owners and third parties
- Set the federated model, intake, issue taxonomy and decision cadence
- Define criticality tiers, severity and minimum AI data controls
- Baseline defects, reconciliation effort, cycle time and coverage
Visible proof
- Charter and decision rights approved
- Sponsors, owners and stewards confirmed
- Governance backlog and cadence live
- Team development actions agreed
- At least one visible source issue corrected
Say this in the room
“I would not begin with an enterprise glossary campaign or a tool rollout. I would begin with trusted underwriting data and clean financial feeds, prove the operating model there, and scale domain by domain.”
Turn the interview
Ask questions that expose the real mandate
Do not spend your time on information you can find online. Test sponsorship, decision authority, current pain, and the definition of success.
For the best five if time is short
- ?What two business outcomes does the CIO expect this role to move in its first six months?
- ?Where is the current pain greatest: underwriting, the general ledger and statutory reporting, Specialty integration, claims or AI readiness?
- ?What recurring data quality or reconciliation problem would leadership most like eliminated this year?
- ?Which platform and governance-tool choices are committed, and which are still being evaluated?
- ?What authority will this role have when a business area will not accept ownership or remediation accountability?
Final rehearsal
Walk in with command of the evidence.
Memorize the numbers. Rehearse the transitions. Be exact about what you led, what the team delivered, and what Westfield will be able to do differently.
Expect the follow-up
01
Give me the number.
02
What was your personal decision?
03
Who had final sign-off?
04
What did the business own?
05
How did you enforce accountability?
06
What did you stop doing?
07
What did the executive scorecard show?
08
What would your sponsor say you could improve?
Your close
“I can build the program and run the work. I bring technical credibility, executive discipline, and a practical plan to make governance visible in underwriting, finance, risk, and AI.”