Senior Information Management and Governance Officer

Senior Information Management and Governance Officer

Data Protection and Information Rights lead (Grade E3)
FTC until August 2025 (Maternity cover)
Edinburgh/Hybrid
£46,392 - 54,003 per annum

Everything we do at the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) aims to create the right environment for colleges and universities to thrive.

The Scottish Funding Council is Scotland’s tertiary education and research authority. Our ambition is to make Scotland an outstanding place to learn, educate, research, and innovate - now and for the future. So, naturally, we have a clear focus on recruiting the best people and developing them throughout their career. We invest around £2 billion every year, and our funding?enables colleges and universities to provide life-changing opportunities for over half a million people.?

We’re not only looking for the best people to come and work for us, but also people who will connect with our guiding principles which include working in partnership, championing diversity, and supporting sustainability for future generations.

By fostering our guiding principles, we are very proud of the inclusive working environment that we have created. We are committed to attracting people of all backgrounds: we want our colleague base to reflect the people and communities that we serve.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Assistant Director, Information Governance you will lead on responding to information rights requests and fulfil the role of the Data Protection Officer - a key role within SFC.

As an experienced Information Rights and Data Protection practitioner, you will be skilled in dealing with sensitive, complex information at pace, building trusted relationships with colleagues across SFC, and you will exercise good judgement in responding to information rights requests. You will be expected to work flexibly across the responsibilities of the information governance team, stepping in to provide cover and support when required to ensure deadlines are met.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading the response to information rights requests, providing advice to colleagues across SFC, ensuring legal compliance with relevant legislation.
• Provide an efficient and effective senior contact point for queries in relation to information rights and data protection including complex ones.
• Ensure staff fully understand their responsibilities within data protection legislation and information rights and follow relevant processes, evidenced through reporting and auditing.
• Promote an information governance culture and an understanding of data protection compliance throughout the organisation.
• Develop and maintain effective coordination and liaison with our stakeholders and external partners.
• Identify opportunities to improve ways of working within Information Governance and implement positive change.
• Develop and maintain SFC’s Records of Processing Activities (RoPA) to ensure that it is accurate and regularly reviewed and information asset owners understand their responsibilities.
• Co-ordinating with Information Governance colleagues, assess and respond to personal data breaches, including reporting to senior management and the ICO as required.
• Identify and implement improvements to data protection and information rights compliance based on user requirements and best practice.
• Monitoring SFC’s compliance with the UK GDPR and other data protection laws and with our data protection policies, raising awareness of data protection issues, training staff and conducting audits.

Person specification

It is important through your CV / Cover Letter that you give evidence of proven experience of each of the following essential criteria:

Essential Requirements:

• Experience of leading and working within data protection and information rights and evidence of supporting an organisation in its compliance with relevant legislation.
• An excellent understanding of the legal and regulatory landscape of all aspects of information governance (freedom of information, records management, information security for example) and how they apply to this role.
• Evidence of personal commitment to continuous professional development relating to relevant legislative changes and best practice.
• Ability to demonstrate good judgement when analysing and responding to complex issues.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including experience of drafting reports, policies, procedures, communications to staff (with varying degrees of expertise), and responses to information rights requests.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to build effective relationships, work collaboratively and take account of others’ perspectives.
• Ability to work autonomously, take ownership of work, and prioritise tasks and time appropriately.
• Excellent organisational and planning skills, including the ability to work calmly and at pace and the flexibility to manage a diverse range of priorities.
• Qualified to SCQF Level 9 (Degree) or equivalent experience.

Additional information

Location
SFC offers hybrid working for its employees. This means that whilst the role is based at our Edinburgh office, there is substantial opportunity to work from home most of the time. As a rule of thumb SFC expects that a minimum of one day a month in the office will achieve the benefits of its hybrid approach, however it is for the employee and their line manager to agree the balance between home and workplace working - determined primarily by business need. Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available.

Rewards and benefits will be explained later in process.