For go-to-market teams, data is critical to staying competitive, but not just any data. The quality of data matters greatly because bad data negatively impacts every step along the customer’s journey with your brand.
To ensure the quality of their data, some organizations hire data quality managers. Also called quality assurance or quality control managers, this person is responsible for coordinating activities to attain the organization’s standards of quality for their database. Below we define what a data quality manager is, their roles and responsibilities, and why the job is so important.
What is a Data Quality Manager?
A data quality manager ensures that an organization’s data quality standards are achieved through a series of regular data maintenance activities and enacting an overall data quality strategy. They are in charge of managing and enforcing data quality initiatives, like data acquisition, expansion, cleaning, and updating.
Data quality managers give advice on how quality systems are managed, as well as measuring and reporting performance against approved standards. They often set policy standards and may be a CRM manager, marketing operations professional, Salesforce administrator, or even an outside partner.
Roles and Responsibilities of a Data Quality Manager
The role and responsibilities of a data quality manager may vary depending on the industry in which they work. However, some common responsibilities include resolving issues in the data quality management process, maintaining company standards for data quality, and being an effective communicator about the importance of quality data.
Communication is important because data quality managers meet with other employees and managers in their organization, to ensure that the system for quality management is operating correctly. They may work closely with business development teams to ensure data growth, enrichment, and accuracy. They may also be responsible for partnering with product and engineering teams to prioritize the company’s data roadmap.
The data quality manager also provides insight into how much work can effectively be completed within one work shift. When needed, they will recommend changes and explain how things can be implemented into the system, provide necessary training, utilize ideal data quality tools, and recommend techniques to regularly manage data quality.
Where Do Data Quality Managers Typically Work?
Data quality managers work in a variety of sectors. They are in high demand in engineering, production, manufacturing, technology, finance, public service, transportation, food production, and petrochemicals. Any sales-driven sector will also have a need for data quality management; the role typically reports up to the IT department.
The popularity of CRM systems like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, and marketing automation systems (MAS) like Marketo and Pardot, has increased the need for data quality managers. They make sure that these databases are clean, standardized, and enriched so that sales and marketing departments can realize greater ROI. When CRM and MAS systems are deduped and enriched, companies see better engagement, conversion, and deliverability rates, as well as overall higher revenue and growth.
Data orchestration tools, like ZoomInfo’s OperationsOS, can make cleaning, organizing, and enriching data across any platform a simple, automated process that saves valuable time.
What are the Necessary Skills for a Data Quality Manager?
There are certain skills that an individual should possess in order to be a successful data quality manager. They should be able to:
- Negotiate well
- Write reports well
- Have a service mindset
- Plan and lead projects to completion
- Communicate effectively
- Motivate a team and stakeholders
- Analyze and interpret data
- Use tools and methods for successful quality control
Although the responsibilities may be similar to other sectors, there are some additional skills data quality managers should have for more technically-oriented industries, including the ability to:
- Inspect processes and equipment
- Maintain a data quality checklist
- Set data quality objectives
- Test and modify systems as needed
If you have an eye for detail and enjoy analytical thinking, you should consider a career as a data quality manager.