SmartSuite for the Policy and Governance Manager
The Policy and Governance Manager owns the policy lifecycle: drafting standards, review and approval routing, publication, employee attestation and periodic review. They keep every policy current, approved and traceable to the obligations and controls it implements.
What you own
The Policy and Governance Manager owns the policy lifecycle: drafting standards, review and approval routing, publication, employee attestation and periodic review.
- Maintain the policy framework, templates and document hierarchy
- Manage drafting, review, approval and publication of policies
- Run attestation campaigns and track acknowledgements
- Schedule periodic reviews and manage exceptions
- Map policies to obligations, frameworks and controls
- Maintain audit-ready records of versions and approvals
- Report policy status and attestation completion
At a glance
The GRC processes this role owns, touches and depends on.
Owns
accountable for the process
Touches
contributes or approves
Depends on
consumes its output
How the GRC processes connect
Three lines of defense set the frame; the chain shows where each process hands off to the next. Colors follow the role: navy is owned, blue is touched, gray is depended on.
Reporting lines
Who this role reports to, who reports to them, and the peers they work with most.
Reports to
Direct reports
Works closely with
How SmartSuite supports this role
Lead
Policy management. Manages drafting, review, approval and publication of policies with version control, automated review scheduling and attestation tracking.
Compliance management. Maps each policy to the obligations and controls it implements so framework gaps surface when a policy lapses.
Issues and actions. Tracks policy exceptions and overdue reviews as actions with owners and dates.
Reporting. Reports attestation completion and policy currency by department.
Products this role uses most
Industry reference
ISO 37301:2021 requires documented, controlled and reviewed policies (clause 7.5), and COSO's 2013 framework deploys control through policies and procedures (Principle 12). Every major control framework carries the same expectation: ISO/IEC 27001:2022 clause 5.2 and Annex A, NIST SP 800-53's policy controls in each family, and PCI DSS v4.0.1 Requirement 12.
Sector rules set retention and attestation. HIPAA requires written policies kept for six years (45 CFR 164.316); FINRA Rule 3110 requires written supervisory procedures; the OCC's heightened standards expect board-approved policies at large banks; FedRAMP and CMMC require evidence that policies are reviewed on a cycle.
Related roles
Explore Further
Guides and definitions from the GRC Knowledge Center and the What-is glossary, chosen for this role.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Policy and Governance Manager own?
The Policy and Governance Manager owns the policy lifecycle: the framework, templates and document hierarchy, drafting, review, approval and publication, attestation campaigns and acknowledgement tracking, periodic reviews and exceptions, the mapping of policies to obligations, frameworks and controls, audit-ready records of versions and approvals and the reporting of policy status and attestation completion. The outcome is that every policy is current, approved and traceable to the obligations and controls it implements.
How does SmartSuite help a Policy and Governance Manager run the policy lifecycle?
Policy Management manages drafting, review, approval and publication of policies with version control, automated review scheduling and attestation tracking. A policy is drafted from the template, reviewed and approved with each version and approval on record, published, and acknowledged by the employees who must attest, with the next review scheduled automatically. The Policy Analyst runs the workflows and the General Counsel and Ethics and Compliance Lead approve in the same place, so the record is complete without assembling it.
How are policies mapped to obligations and controls?
Each policy is mapped to the obligations and controls it implements, so a framework gap surfaces when a policy lapses rather than when an auditor finds it. Control Framework & Regulatory Libraries supplies the frameworks, from ISO 37301 and ISO 27001 to NIST SP 800-53 and PCI DSS Requirement 12, and Regulatory Change Management shows when an obligation changes so the Regulatory Change Manager and the Policy and Governance Manager can see which policies need review.
How are policy exceptions and overdue reviews handled?
Policy exceptions and overdue reviews are tracked in Issues Management as actions with owners and dates, so an exception granted against a policy has a rationale, an owner and an expiry, and an overdue review is an action against the Policy Owner rather than a note in the manager's inbox. The Control Owner sees the exceptions that affect their controls, and the record of every exception is there when an auditor treats an unmanaged one as a finding.
How does this role report attestation completion to the Compliance Director?
SmartSuite reports attestation completion and policy currency by department from the register and attestation records as they stand. The Policy and Governance Manager can show the Compliance Director or Chief Compliance Officer which departments have completed attestation, which policies are past their review date and where exceptions are open, with the HR Operations Manager seeing the same completion for the people side. The report is the record FINRA, the OCC's heightened standards and CMMC assessors ask for.
How long does it take to move a policy program into SmartSuite?
New customers can start with SmartSuite Onboarding, a guided four-week program around one or two priority workflows. For a policy program the first workflow is the register: load it with owners, versions, approval dates and review cycles, which immediately shows what is overdue, then map policies to their controls and launch the first attestation campaign. Templates and the document hierarchy are set so new policies are drafted to the standard, and the Policy Analyst takes over the workflows from the first cycle.
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