Specialist, Data Custodian

Ready to build a rewarding career in an industry that is growing? Who We Are We are a global mining company dedicated to safely delivering nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum group metals essential for the world's energy transition. Our mission is to improve lives and shape a better future together. From utensils to cellphones to satellites, our operations simplify daily life and enhance connectivity. Our metals are integral to life-saving medical equipment and the electric vehicles driving the fight against climate change – our work truly matters. Join our diverse team of 15,000 talented individuals committed to transforming critical minerals into prosperity and sustainable development in countries like Canada, Brazil, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and Japan. We invite you to use your skills with us and contribute to something meaningful and enduring. The Opportunity The Specialist, Data Custodian plays a critical role in ensuring that enterprise data is trusted, well-governed, and easily discoverable across the organization. This role combines deep expertise in data governance, stewardship, enterprise data cataloging, and implementation to drive improvements in data quality, metadata accuracy, governance maturity, and adoption of enterprise data standards. You will work closely with business stakeholders, data owners, governance teams, and technical partners to define and operationalize data policies, standards, stewardship workflows, data quality controls, and metadata solutions that enable enterprise-wide data discoverability for analytics, reporting, and AI initiatives. The position is based in Toronto, ON, Canada and reports to the Manager, Data Management and Governance.
About You You are a detail-oriented data professional with strong expertise in data governance, stewardship, metadata management, and governance implementation.
You thrive in complex environments and are passionate about making data accessible, reliable, and actionable. You bring strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to translate business needs and governance requirements into policies, standards, workflows, tool configurations, and practical implementation outcomes.
You enjoy working cross-functionally and are motivated to establish stewardship accountability, improve governance operating models, and drive adoption of governance best practices across the organization. In This Role, You Will: Data Stewardship

• Serve as the primary data steward for assigned domains, ensuring consistent data definitions, standards, and quality
• Maintain data dictionaries, business glossaries, metadata, and domain standards
• Lead stewardship workflows including issue management, approvals, escalation, decision governance, and lifecycle oversight
• Define and monitor data quality rules, controls, and KPIs; identify root causes and coordinate remediation workflows with business and technical teams
• Promote data ownership and accountability across the business
• Implement and operationalize data governance frameworks, standards, stewardship models, and critical data element controls across assigned domains

Data Catalog & Metadata Management

• Implement, configure, and manage enterprise data catalog platforms (e.g., Purview, Collibra, Informatica EDC)
• Build and maintain business, technical, and operational metadata, business glossaries, metadata models, and stewardship workflows
• Enable data lineage, classification, and discoverability across systems
• Automate metadata ingestion, classification, tagging, and governance workflow enablement where appropriate
• Ensure catalog accuracy, completeness, and usability

Governance, Compliance & Monitoring

• Operationalize data governance, privacy, classification, retention, and regulatory requirements through standards, controls, and stewardship processes
• Maintain audit trails, lineage, and governance documentation
• Support governance councils, stewardship forums, issue triage, and escalation processes to sustain the governance operating model
• Monitor metadata completeness, catalog adoption, and data quality metrics

Data Integration & Architecture

• Integrate catalog and stewardship tools with enterprise platforms, source systems, data lakes, data warehouses, and APIs
• Support cloud-based environments such as Azure
• Support master data management (MDM), reference data governance, and critical data element management across priority domains
• Ensure secure and governed data movement across platforms

Reporting & Analytics Support

• Enable trusted, well-documented data for analytics, reporting, and AI use cases
• Ensure datasets include lineage, quality indicators, and business context
• Guide teams on best practices for using governed data

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Partner with data governance teams, architects, and business SMEs
• Translate business and governance requirements into policies, standards, metadata models, stewardship workflows, controls, and tool configurations
• Communicate insights, gaps, and recommendations clearly

Change Management & Training

• Create documentation, training materials, and knowledge-sharing sessions
• Support enterprise adoption of data governance processes, stewardship practices, and catalog tools
• Promote data literacy and best practices across the organization

Education & Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Data Science, Software Engineering, or a related field
• Certification in Data Management (e.g., DAMA) – preferred
• Cloud or data governance certifications (e.g., Azure, catalog tools) – preferred

Experience:

• 8+ years of experience in data governance, data stewardship, or metadata management
• Experience implementing data governance frameworks, data catalog solutions, stewardship workflows, and metadata management capabilities
• Experience working with enterprise platforms, cloud environments, data quality controls, MDM/reference data governance, and governance operating models
• Experience translating data policies, standards, and business rules into practical processes, controls, and tool-enabled implementation outcomes
• Strong cross-functional collaboration experience

Skills:

• Strong expertise in data governance, stewardship, and metadata management
• Experience with tools such as Azure Purview, Informatica EDC, Collibra, or similar
• Proficiency in SQL and Python for data profiling and automation
• Knowledge of ETL/ELT tools and Azure data services
• Must-have: strong data modeling skills, including conceptual, logical, and physical data modelling
• Knowledge of enterprise and cloud data architecture patterns, including data lakes, warehouses, integration pipelines, and API-based data exchange
• Experience implementing and operationalizing data governance frameworks, policies, standards, controls, and stewardship operating models
• Hands-on experience defining data quality rules, controls, validation checks, issue management, and remediation workflows
• Strong knowledge of master data management (MDM), reference data governance, and critical data element management
• Ability to translate governance requirements into metadata models, business glossaries, stewardship workflows, classifications, lineage onboarding, and tool configuration
• Understanding of data lineage, classification, and cataloging practices
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment

What We Offer You

• Competitive compensation including a variable annual incentive plan
• Participation in a competitive Defined Contribution Pension package
• Comprehensive benefits package (company paid core coverage, health and dental coverage, flex accounts, disability plans, and optional insurances)
• Leave for all of life's reasons (vacation, personal, sick, parental)
• Work culture dedicated to safety, diversity & inclusion, and career growth
• Employee Family Assistance Program
• Virtual Healthcare online
• Online training and career development opportunities

Why TorontoToronto, Canada's largest city and financial hub, is a center of innovation, commerce, and culture. Known for its diverse economy and vibrant urban environment, Toronto offers unparalleled access to talent, technology, and global connectivity. Our Toronto office serves as a strategic hub for corporate functions, technology development, and business operations. Here, we drive initiatives that support Vale Base Metals' global operations, leveraging advanced analytics, digital transformation, and strategic planning to ensure operational excellence across all regions. Toronto's dynamic ecosystem enables collaboration with leading technology partners, universities, and research institutions, fostering innovation in mining and metals processing. This location is integral to shaping the future of sustainable mining and advancing our commitment to responsible resource development. Include to TransformAt Vale Base Metals, we are committed to ensuring an inclusive work environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. Vale encourages everyone to express their ideas and opinions and values the plurality of individual profiles. We want our people to feel that all. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are critical to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, or any other personal consideration that makes us different.Vale is an equal opportunity employer seeking to increase diversity across our operations and improve equal opportunity at Vale and in the mining industry. Accommodation is available throughout our recruitment process for applicants with disabilities. Vale uses artificial intelligence to screen, assess, and/or select applicants for this position. Pay Grade: F3TMinimum Starting Salary: CAD $112,000Apply by: Friday, Jun 12, 2026#ValeBaseMetals