Overview
Data Protection Officer – Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
About us:
Kings has over 34,000 students from over 150 countries studying in person and online, and has over 12,000 employees. King’s academics are members of 9 Faculties, based on 5 campuses in central and SE London. Together the King’s community delivers a comprehensive portfolio of outstanding and impactful research and education in close partnership with the vibrant arts and culture ecosystem across London along with other universities and partners across the globe. We are ranked 31st in the world (QS World University Rankings 2026) and 36th in the world (Times Higher Education World Rankings 2025). King’s College London offers an intellectually stimulating environment in which to work, where staff are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and learning in the service of society.
We are a multi-Faculty institution, providing high-quality education, research and innovation across the humanities, sciences, medicine, law, dentistry, and social sciences. King’s vision is to make the world a better place through world-leading education, research and service to society. King’s provides world-class education which enables students to become rounded critical thinkers, set up for success and with the character and wisdom to strive for social change. Through enquiry-driven research, King’s delivers transformative insights and solutions that have the power to advance and accelerate global progress.
Working closely with the Chair of Council, Lord Stevens of Birmingham, and the Vice-Chancellor & President, Professor Shitij Kapur, the University Secretary & Director of Assurance, Dr Sinéad Critchley, leads the Office of the Chairman and College Secretariat (OCCS). The Office comprises three key teams: Governance, Legal Services, and Audit and Assurance, each with a senior management lead.
Collectively, OCCS is responsible for the effective running of governance across King’s, serving Council and its committees, supporting the Chair and Vice-Chancellor & President as a trusted advisor and a link between the non-executive and executive functions of the University, building assurance and compliance networks across King’s, supporting and contributing to strategic direction and ensuring compliance across a wide range of statutory, regulatory and policy requirements. Through the legal services team, OCCS oversees relevant activities governed by European/international legislation and contracts as well as specific agreements with partner establishments.
The Information Compliance team and the Corporate Records Management team are led by the DPO, as part of the wider Audit and Assurance team.
The IC team handle enquiries received by the university under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation, and the Environmental Information Regulations, and provide expert information, advice and training on a comprehensive range of information compliance issues.
The Corporate Records Management team supports the efficient management of university records in accordance with legal and business record keeping requirements.
About the role:
The post holder leads on the university’s information governance strategy, including the development of university policy and strategy relating to freedom of information, data protection, records management, data governance and information security. In discharging these responsibilities, the DPO will manage and develop a team of specialists and provide oversight of Data Protection, Records Management, Freedom of Information and e-privacy regulation arrangements. They will shape the strategy, planning, policies, processes and improvement initiatives of the University in respect to these areas.
The DPO will lead across departmental boundaries to provide assurance over compliance with the university’s legal, regulatory and compliance obligations, and will provide specialist advice and support to senior committees and officers of the university, as well as managing key external relationships.
The primary focus of this role is to ensure the University’s compliance with relevant data protection legislation and regulations, and to provide advice and guidance on all matters relating to data protection. The Data Protection Officer will evaluate and address risk relating to privacy and data protection across the organisation and work collaboratively with colleagues, particularly those working on data governance, information security and Freedom of Information, to embed risk mitigation in our policies and procedures. The Data Protection Officer will also lead investigations into potential or actual data breaches, serving as the key contact with the ICO.
This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.
About you:
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
- Educated to degree level in a relevant field or equivalent qualification or experience
- A postgraduate or professional qualification in a relevant area, for example, Data Protection practitioner, legal qualification
- Extensive knowledge and application of the relevant data protection legislation, information security standards and ICO guidance, data sharing agreements, privacy, consent and data management including trans- border data flows
- Experience in leading and managing major incidents involving multiple systems and departments including the co-ordination of reporting to senior stakeholders and external regulators
- Demonstrable evidence of negotiation, influencing and communication skills, giving the post-holder the ability to deal confidently and diplomatically with a range of people at all levels both internally and externally
- Excellent organisational and administrative skills; the ability to use initiative and effectively organise own workload and that of the team, to balance competing priorities, remain calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines. Systematic in approach to tasks, with attention to detail
- Experience of successfully managing staff, with well-developed leadership skills and a clear passion for developing motivated staff and strong teams
Desirable criteria
- Significant experience of working in a Data Protection leadership role in the HE or wider public sector
- Cognisant of the challenges and strategic issues facing higher education
Downloading a copy of our Job Description
Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.
