Data Compliance Officer

Job summary

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) is a new arm’s-length body set up, at unprecedented pace, to administer compensation to people whose lives have been impacted by the infected blood scandal.

IBCA will ensure payment is made in recognition of the wrongs experienced by those who have been infected by HIV, Hepatitis B or C, as well as those who love and care for them. They have been frustrated and distressed by the delays in achieving proper recognition, and we must help put this right.

We are committed to putting the infected and affected blood community at the centre of every decision we make and every step we take to build our organisation to deliver compensation payments.

IBCA employees will be public servants. If successful in this role you will be appointed directly into IBCA, on IBCA terms and conditions as a public servant.

Successful applicants will join the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Please note that the mission of IBCA means that it is likely to be fully operational for a period of approximately up to 5 years, after which IBCA will become a smaller residual service. When IBCA’s work begins to wind down, IBCA employees will receive support and practical guidance to find a new role, whether in the Civil Service, another Arms Length Body (ALB), or an external employer.

Job description

The IBCA Data Governance team sits within the Strategy and Governance Directorate, and is staffed by leads for Data Protection, Knowledge and Information Management (KIM), and Disclosure Operations.

The Data Protection strand will enable IBCA to process personal data while assuring compliance with data protection legislation, and is led by IBCA’s Data Protection Officer.

The KIM strand focuses on the information lifecycle within the organisation to provide effective oversight of the creation, organisation, storage, disposal and exploitation of available data, and is led by the Head of Knowledge and Information Management.

The Disclosure Operations strand leads on providing responses to FOI requests, Subject Access Requests, and related correspondence relating to data subject rights and requests for information. This is led by the Information Rights and Disclosure Lead.

The three functions, however, collaborate to provide effective data governance for IBCA, with an expectation that work will also flow between the strands as circumstances and business needs require.

As a Data Compliance Officer, you will take end-to-end ownership of rights of access requests under both Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation. You will effectively manage cases from initial receipt through to final disclosure, ensuring strict compliance with legislative timelines, regulatory guidance and internal policies. Utilising your depth of knowledge, you will independently evaluate and service standard requests without the need for management escalation, accurately applying complex legislative exemptions and provisioning clear legally sound justifications where necessary.

Person specification

Beyond casework, you will serve as a vital advisory resource, providing expert compliance guidance to colleagues at all levels of the organisation. You will collaborate closely with directors and Senior Managers across various directorates to smoothly progress applications and align practices. Additionally, you will be responsible for proactively identifying and evaluating potential data risks to the authority, partners and individuals, ensuring appropriate mitigations and exemptions are applied to keep the organisation’s information sharing practices secure and legally robust.

Alongside these, we are looking for you to:

• Maintain an exceptional level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Dynamically manage your own workload and conflicting priorities.
• Handle highly sensitive information with the utmost confidentiality, tact and discretion.
• Proactively problem solve and develop practical strategies to overcome operational issues.
  
• Balance independent working with active teamwork.

Essential Criteria

• Knowledge and experience of dealing with Data Protection or Freedom of Information requests, and related correspondence relating to requests for information.
• Outstanding ability to identify risk relating to organisational and individual impact specific to both Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislative practices.
• Ability to identify sources of information both internally and externally.
• Proficient computer skills, including Word and Excel.
• Working without direct supervision.
• Must have a flexible approach to tasking and have the ability to recognise changing priorities.

Desirable

• Experience of working successfully with Partner Agencies.
  
• Ability to assimilate bespoke databases.

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Knowledge and application of data protection and freedom of information legislation and guidance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,105, Infected Blood Compensation Authority contributes £11,039 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Premium allowance paid monthly after probation
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%
• 32.5 days of paid annual leave plus 8 bank holidays
• Family friendly policies to support you and your everyday responsibilities
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave, up to 12 months shared parental leave

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

Application information

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a Personal Statement, of no more than 750 words, that demonstrates how you meet the Essential Skills for the role and a Technical question.

At sift, you will be assessed on your Personal Statement and a Technical question. Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the