Allison Ambrose

Accomplished Data Management, Governance and Data Quality Leader with over 20 years of experience, shaping enterprise strategies and operating models across complex, multi-region, regulated organisations, including Universities, Utilities, Goods & Services and most recently, Financial Services. Trusted partner and advisor to Senior Leadership, bridging high-level data strategy with operational execution. Proven track record in transforming data foundations, establishing data governance committees, forums and roadmaps, to provision good quality, monitored, tracked, defined, understood, accessible and trusted data - optimising consumption, AI and analytics.

A people person, relationship builder and data story-teller, known for mobilising data champions and steward networks, influencing and engaging stakeholders at all levels, leading engaged and high performing teams and bringing the wider business on board with exciting and challenging data and digital transformation journeys.

Head of Data Management at Capital One (2026-04 – Present)

Appointed to define the data management and governance roadmap in a highly data-driven culture.

• Within the first 90 days, restructured 17-person team to align roles with organisational priorities, establishing a high-performing foundation to drive and land a technically complex Data Transformation programme.
• Established a domain ownership model with accountable executives.
• Influenced the UK CIO to support a federated performing data steward delivery model to empower accountable executives in their role as domain owners.
• Established Data Governance, Data Quality and Data Enablement functions, securing 5 key specialist roles to unify the UK business within a standardised Enterprise architecture.
• Built a data quality roadmap to measure and improve operational and analytical data, both for data movement and source data quality.

Global Food Data Governance Manager at Sodexo (2024-06 – 2026-04)

Embedded enterprise data governance and data quality expectations across Food & Supply domains for three large-scale, multi-region ERP implementations.

• Embedded enterprise data governance and data quality expectations across Food & Supply domains for three large-scale, multi-region ERP implementations (APAC D365, North America D365, UK/EU/Brazil SAP S/4HANA).
• Partnered with external consultancies (Capgemini/Accenture) and influenced senior stakeholder strategy and ERP roadmap development, balancing operational outcomes, cost and timelines.
• Designed and validated 9 core domain data models, prioritising critical data elements to accelerate AI-driven solutions for menu/recipe optimisation and retail pricing, and ensuring future-ready capabilities for CSR/Sustainability KPIs.
• Introduced global GDSN standards into the enterprise data quality framework driving consistency across all regions, and enabling Global Strategic Accounts Team to accelerate the provision of data for corporate clients.
• Partnered with Enterprise Architecture to leverage Microsoft Azure platforms and reusable, governed and stable data model-aligned APIs, cutting development costs and delivery times.

Global Supply Data Governance Manager at Sodexo (2020-09 – 2024-06)

Orchestrated global data governance across multiple regions and domains.

• Orchestrated global data governance by establishing and chairing cross-domain and multi-region data governance committees across 9 countries, standardising approaches and policies, sharing best practice and mitigating data risks.
• Developed a data quality roadmap and modernised data quality infrastructure by deploying Informatica solutions (IDQ & CDQ) and driving Power BI dashboard adoption, streamlining remediation and enrichment workflows across 9 countries, which resulted in a 95%+ accuracy rate for the most critical data.
• Published certified self-service datasets for 9 countries, and a business glossary, via Informatica's Axon Marketplace.
• Authored global data access & retention policies, operationalised GDPR/CCPA compliance, and automated purging.
• Launched an online Data Training Academy with L&D to uplift data literacy and promote data centricity, adopting a role-based curricula in 5 languages for 250 colleagues.

Data Quality Manager (Data & Insight) at British Gas Business (BGB) (2017-04 – 2020-09)

Spearheaded the foundational implementation of data governance in partnership with BCG and EXL.

• Spearheaded the foundational implementation of data governance in partnership with BCG and EXL; defined domains, critical data elements, and established a formal ownership model, securing senior leadership buy-in.
• Delivered one-page Power BI DQ Scorecards within 3 months of starting in role, monetising 10 data points visualising data quality through a commercial lens.
• Achieved a £2.5m reduction in failure demand (target £1.8m) caused by poor quality data, and renegotiated data enrichment contracts with Experian and LexisNexis saving £100k+ annually.
• Overcame organisational resistance to automation, by successfully enriching over one million customer records establishing a scalable framework for data fixes and eliminating reliance on manual processes.
• Future-proofed front end solutions by embedding real time data quality checks to enable people to 'get it right first time'.
• Achieved a 95% engagement score across three functions in 2018 Staff Voice Survey.
• Established Data Access Requests and DPIA processes to track, measure, and comply at scale.

Placements Governance Manager at Loughborough University (2012-06 – 2017-04)

• Directed a team of 5 analysts to overhaul placement data management.
• Implemented a standardised fee, generating over £2M in annual revenue, navigating complex stakeholder requirements to achieve enterprise wide adoption.

Senior Database Analyst at De Montfort University (1999-12 – 2006-12)

• Managed a wide-scale network of Microsoft servers across two campuses, overseeing multiple critical systems.

Graduate Analyst/Programmer at Kerry Ingredients Plc (1998-09 – 1999-12)

• Developed operational reporting tools using 4GL programming, providing critical insights across 5 global regions.

MSc in Computing – De Montfort University (1998)

BA (Hons) in English Literature – University of Leicester (1996)