Data Steward Interview Questions UK: 8 Real Questions and What Interviewers Want

Before your Data Steward interview, it helps to see the questions from the interviewer's side. We have picked eight from our set of 12 and added the reason each one gets asked.

Eight Data Steward interview questions, and what the interviewer is thinking

1. How would you create and maintain a business glossary entry for a term like "customer", and what do you do when departments define it differently?

Why they ask: Agreed definitions are a core product of a data steward.

2. Talk me through how you would manage a data quality issue from the moment it is reported to the point it is closed.

Why they ask: Issue management is the main operational work of a steward, and they want to see a disciplined process.

3. What qualities make a good data steward, and what does the role involve day to day?

Why they ask: The role is largely about influence and care, so they want to hear that you understand it.

4. How do you profile a dataset, and what are you looking for?

Why they ask: Profiling is the starting point for any quality assessment, so they test method.

5. What metadata would you record for an important dataset so that others can find it and trust it?

Why they ask: Good metadata is what makes data usable, and stewards are responsible for keeping it complete.

6. What is reference data, and how do you manage code lists such as country codes or status values across systems?

Why they ask: Reference data inconsistency causes many everyday quality problems, so stewards should know it well.

7. You have traced a recurring data quality problem to another team's system, but they say it is not a priority. What do you do?

Why they ask: Stewards rarely have authority over system owners, so they test influence and escalation.

8. Tell me about a time you resolved a disagreement over what a data item or metric meant.

Why they ask: Reaching a shared definition is a central steward skill.

A sample answer to question 1

How would you create and maintain a business glossary entry for a term like "customer", and what do you do when departments define it differently?

A good glossary entry has more than a sentence. It holds the agreed business definition in plain English, an example and a counter-example, the data owner and steward, the systems and fields where the term appears, related terms and the approval date. For something like customer, I'd start by collecting how each department uses the word. Sales might mean anyone with a signed contract, finance might mean anyone invoiced in the last twelve months, and marketing might include prospects. Rather than forcing one meaning on everyone, I'd bring the stakeholders together and ask what decisions each definition supports. Often the answer is a family of precisely named terms, such as Prospect, Active Customer and Lapsed Customer, with one governed enterprise definition for the headline figure and clearly labelled variants. The owner signs it off, I publish it in the catalogue or glossary tool, such as Collibra, Purview or Alation, and link it to the physical fields.

Common mistake to avoid: One-line definitions with no owner; Forcing a single meaning without consultation

Want the rest?

Full model answers, key points and common mistakes for all 12 questions are on the Data Steward interview questions page. The first five are free, no sign-up needed.