Leadership role
Chief Data Officer
Directs how an organization collects, governs, analyzes and uses its data.
Reporting and scope
Reports to the Executive Director / CEO, COO or CIO / CTO. Authority covers data standards and analytics across the organization, while IT infrastructure usually stays with the technology lead.
Core responsibilities
- Sets data governance rules, definitions and ownership
- Builds reporting on program outcomes for the board and funders
- Oversees analytics and evaluation staff
- Protects client, patient or donor data and manages consent and privacy
- Manages data sharing agreements with government agencies and partners
- Supports impact measurement required by grants
How it differs
The CIO / CTO owns systems and infrastructure; the Chief Data Officer owns the data and what is done with it. The Director of Research runs studies or evaluation projects rather than enterprise data governance.
By organization size
The title is rare outside large health systems, universities and national nonprofits with heavy data work. In smaller organizations the duties sit with an evaluation or IT director.
Filings from the last five years mapped to this role commonly report titles such as: Chief Data Officer