Data Governance / Data Catalog Consultant - Contract

Our client, a higher education institution, is seeking an experienced Data Governance / Data Catalog Consultant to support a data portfolio inventory project within its Institutional Research, Effectiveness & Strategic division.

This consultant will help catalog existing data assets, evaluate current storage and naming structures, recommend a sustainable taxonomy, and develop a standardized data dictionary to improve governance, transparency, and maintainability across the organization’s data environment.

This is a project-based opportunity suited for someone with strong experience in data governance, metadata management, data warehousing, taxonomy design, data dictionaries, and stakeholder-facing documentation., * Conduct a comprehensive inventory of existing data assets within the organization’s data warehouse and associated storage environments.

• Identify and document file types, tables, datasets, ETL outputs, reports, extracts, and related data artifacts.
• Map key metadata including data ownership, source systems, update frequency, business purpose, and current usage.
• Review existing metadata, documentation, naming conventions, folder structures, and ETL logs where available.
• Identify gaps in current metadata practices and recommend improvements.
• Analyze reporting, analytics, compliance, KPI, dashboard, and ad-hoc data workflows.
• Develop a logical, scalable, and sustainable taxonomy for organizing files, datasets, and data assets.
• Recommend naming conventions, folder hierarchy, classification rules, and governance guidelines.
• Build or refine a standardized data dictionary with field-level, table-level, and file-level metadata.
• Document data definitions, refresh cycles, data owners, lineage descriptions, and maintenance guidance.
• Partner with institutional stakeholders and SMEs to gather requirements, validate findings, and ensure the final structure supports business needs.
• Produce project deliverables that can support future metadata management and ongoing data governance efforts.

Expected Deliverables

• Data inventory report/catalog of existing data assets.
• Recommended file and dataset taxonomy.
• Governance guidelines, including naming standards, folder structures, and metadata classification rules.
• Standardized data dictionary documenting future-state taxonomy, definitions, structures, metadata standards, and lineage where feasible.
• User guidance for ongoing maintenance of the data dictionary and taxonomy.

Do you have experience in Technical documentation?, * Strong experience with data governance, metadata management, data cataloging, or data stewardship.

• Experience working with data warehouses, databases, structured datasets, reporting environments, and file-based data storage.
• Ability to inventory and document tables, files, ETL outputs, datasets, reports, extracts, and related artifacts.
• Experience creating or maintaining data dictionaries, metadata standards, taxonomy structures, or governance documentation.
• Strong understanding of data lineage, data ownership, refresh cycles, source systems, and data quality considerations.
• Ability to translate complex data environments into clear, organized, and business-friendly documentation.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Comfortable conducting stakeholder interviews and working with SMEs to validate data definitions and usage.
• Ability to work independently and drive a defined project from discovery through final deliverables., * Experience in higher education, institutional research, compliance reporting, analytics, or public-sector data environments.
• Familiarity with metadata management platforms, data catalog tools, or governance frameworks.
• Experience with SQL, ETL documentation, reporting tools, dashboards, KPIs, or analytics workflows.
• Prior consulting experience on data governance, data warehouse documentation, or taxonomy design projects.
• Experience developing documentation suitable for long-term governance and maintenance., The ideal candidate is a practical data governance professional who can quickly understand a complex data environment, organize messy or inconsistent data structures, and create clear documentation that stakeholders can maintain after the project ends. This person should be comfortable working across technical and business teams, asking good questions, and turning discovery findings into usable governance artifacts.

4.94.9 out of 5 stars San Antonio, TX 78215 $58 - $65 an hour - Contract