Data Governance Manager

Job description

The Opportunity: TrueCar is a leading automotive digital marketplace operating at the intersection of car shoppers, Certified Dealers, and OEMs. Our business runs on data: shopper behavior and pricing data, OEM incentive and marketing data, dealer inventory and transaction data, and increasingly, TrueCar+ end-to-end purchase and financing data. As that data footprint grows across products, partners, and platforms, we need strong governance to keep it accurate, well-understood, secure, and compliant. We're hiring a Data Governance Manager (or Senior Manager) to build and maintain TrueCar's enterprise data landscape: a living, authoritative map of what data we collect, where it comes from, where it lives, how long we keep it, and who can touch it. You'll work across Data Platform/Engineering, Legal & Privacy, Security, Dealer & OEM Product, Marketing Solutions, and Consumer Product teams to bring order and accountability to how consumer, transaction, and vehicle data move through TrueCar's systems — and you'll be a key driver of our SOC 2 compliance program. The ideal candidate will be located near Santa Monica, CA, and available to work in our headquarters office as needed. How you will contribute to TrueCar’s success: Enterprise Data Landscape & Lineage Build and maintain a full inventory of TrueCar's core data domains: consumer/shopper data (leads, profiles, contact info, on-site behavior, credit pre-qualification inputs), transaction data (TrueCar+ purchases, financing submissions, trade-in appraisals, dealer/OEM incentive redemptions), and vehicle data (VIN-level inventory, pricing, Value Report/pricing certificate data, OEM incentives). Document end-to-end data flows: consumer intake via , the mobile app, and affinity partner sites (Sam's Club, AAA, Navy Federal, American Express, etc.); dealer inventory and pricing feeds; OEM incentive and marketing data; downstream flows into the data warehouse, CRM/lead distribution systems, and analytics/ML pipelines used for personalization and lead scoring. Maintain data flow diagrams and a searchable data catalog (source, system of record, transformations, consuming teams) that stays current as TrueCar and new affinity partnerships evolve. Classify data assets by sensitivity (PII, financial/credit-related data, dealer-confidential pricing data, regulated data) and maintain consistent tagging across catalog and platform tooling. Partner with Data Engineering to instrument lineage tracking so new pipelines are captured automatically, not through manual after-the-fact documentation. Storage & Retention Maintain the system-of-record inventory: which platform stores each data domain (data warehouse, operational databases, CRM/lead management, data lake, third-party SaaS tools used by Marketing Solutions and Dealer Products). Define and document retention schedules by data type — e.g., active shopper/lead data, TrueCar+ transaction and financing records, dealer/OEM contractual data, marketing and advertising data — in partnership with Legal on requirements such as state privacy laws, FCRA-adjacent handling of credit-related information, and TCPA/CAN-SPAM considerations for consumer outreach data. Drive automated enforcement of retention and deletion policies with Data Engineering; audit for stale, duplicated, or orphaned data across environments (production, analytics sandboxes, vendor exports). Support secure decommissioning of data when partner relationships (affinity partners, dealers, data vendors) end. Access Governance Maintain a current access inventory: which roles, teams, and systems can access each data domain, and the business justification for that access. Implement least-privilege access controls in partnership with Security/IT, including role-based access for internal teams and scoped, contractually-bounded access for dealer and OEM data-sharing integrations. Own periodic access reviews and certifications; manage the access request/approval workflow for new systems, reports, and integrations touching consumer, transaction, or vehicle data. Monitor and remediate over-privileged or unused access as part of ongoing governance hygiene. SOC 2 & Broader Compliance Serve as a core contributor to TrueCar's SOC 2 Type II compliance program: maintain evidence for data governance-related controls (data classification, retention, access reviews, data flow documentation) across audit cycles. Partner with Security and Internal Audit to remediate control gaps identified during SOC 2 readiness assessments and annual audits; track corrective action items to closure. Support additional compliance and audit needs as they arise — e.g., CCPA/CPRA and other state privacy law obligations, dealer/OEM data-sharing agreement audits, and vendor security/data-handling reviews. Maintain documentation (policies, control narratives, process runbooks) in a state that's audit-ready year-round, not just during audit season. Program Ownership & Cross-Functional Enablement Own and evolve TrueCar's data governance policies and standards: classification, retention, access, data quality, and data-sharing agreements with dealers, OEMs, and affinity partners. Embed governance requirements into the design phase of new products and pipelines (e.g., TrueCar+ feature launches, new affinity partner integrations) by partnering early with Engineering and Product. Support consumer data subject requests (access, deletion, opt-out) with accurate lineage and retention data. Track data quality issues at their source and drive resolution with data-owning teams. Report on data governance maturity, open risks, and remediation roadmaps to Data & Analytics leadership and relevant governance/risk committees. Develop and deliver training so teams across TrueCar understand governance policies and their own data responsibilities. Your Expertise: 5+ years in data governance, data management, data privacy, or a related discipline — marketplace, fintech, or automotive experience is a strong plus. Hands-on experience with data catalog/governance tooling (e.g., Collibra, Alation, Atlan, Purview) and cloud data warehouse platforms (e.g., Redshift). Direct experience supporting SOC 2 (or similar frameworks like ISO 27001) audits — building control evidence, working with auditors, and closing remediation items. Working knowledge of consumer privacy and data-handling regulations relevant to a consumer marketplace (CCPA/CPRA, TCPA/CAN-SPAM, FCRA-adjacent handling of credit data). Strong SQL skills for data discovery and validation, and comfort working directly in warehouse/data platform environments. Ability to translate complex, cross-system data flows into clear documentation for both engineers and business stakeholders. Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills — this role partners daily with Engineering, Legal, Security, Marketing Solutions, and Dealer/OEM Product teams. Experience building or maturing a governance program from an early stage is a strong plus. Bonus points for: Experience with dealer, OEM, or affinity-partner data-sharing ecosystems. Familiarity with consent management and data subject request (DSAR) tooling. Exposure to AI/ML data pipelines and the governance considerations around model training data and personalization. TrueCar does not accept unsolicited agency submissions. If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents linked here . Who We Are TrueCar is a leading digital automotive platform that uses technology to help car buyers save time and money through a nationwide network of Certified Dealers. Founded in 2005 by Scott Painter, TrueCar was built on the belief that serving membership and affinity organizations central to the car-buying process, including lenders, insurers, and dealers, enables a more valuable auto-buying experience for new and used vehicles. As part of its platform, TrueCar powers auto-buying programs for over 250 leading brands, including Sam's Club, AAA, and more than 100 credit unions. We are seeking talented individuals who are energized by our commitment to save consumers time and money. We’ve stripped away typical corporate "bloat" to build a culture rooted in high performance and accountability for results. As a member of the TrueCar Crew, you can have a real & direct impact on our success as we continue to evolve the car buying experience. If this energizes you, apply today! Your TrueCar Experience At TrueCar, we offer our Crew members the flexibility to split their work time between home and the office. While many days are remote, we expect our Crew to show up for the moments that matter—gathering in person when a project needs that extra collaborative spark because nothing replaces the energy of solving big problems in the same room. We provide you with comfortable shared workspaces in our Santa Monica headquarters office and other regional locations and equip you with a professional home office setup along with monthly reimbursements for your essentials, like phone and internet. As a TrueCar Crew member, you will receive excellent benefits and perks that include, but are not limited to, 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental premiums; a 401(k) plan with company contributions; a wellness reimbursement account; and learning & development reimbursement opportunities. We also understand the importance of recharging, so we offer flexible PTO for exempt TrueCar Crew Members and a generous PTO accrual policy for non-exempt TrueCar Crew Members, in addition to 14 company-paid holidays and 2 floating holidays. In short, we care deeply about our Crew Members and have designed employee-centric programs that reflect this. At TrueCar, we believe in the power of diversity to create a deeper understanding of our consumers and partners, driving innovation in our products. We welcome a workforce that reflects the diversity of car-buying consumers and encourage everyone interested in our mission to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with applicable law. Additionally, TrueCar will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.