Senior Information Rights Officer

Allen Lane are proud to be supporting the London Borough of Newham in their search to appoint a Senior Information Rights Officer on a permanent basis. This is a vital opportunity to join a forward-thinking DDaT (Digital, Data & Technology) function where data transparency, compliance, and service excellence go hand in hand. If you’re an expert in information rights legislation and want to make a real impact in how residents’ access and understand their data, this is the role for you.

This role sits in the Delivery and Oversight tower that ensures the effective integration of delivery, risk management and strategic governance across the whole DDaT Function. If the ‘A’ in DDaT could be its own definition it would be ‘Assurance’. Delivery and Oversight is crucial to help create and drive a culture in DDaT of performance, innovation and continuous improvement and inspire new ways of working for the rest of the Council.

The role

As the Senior Information Rights Officer, you will:

• Take lead responsibility for responding to FOI, EIR, Subject Access and other information rights requests, ensuring legal compliance and excellent service
• Provide specialist advice and guidance to council officers at all levels on legislation, exemptions and best practice
• Work with services across the council to identify, retrieve and review complex data in response to requests
• Promote a culture of openness, transparency and rights-based data handling across the organisation
• Support internal reviews, policy development and assurance reporting to strengthen information governance
• Proactively identify data quality and compliance issues, and escalate potential risks to key stakeholders

Key skills required

As a Senior Information Rights Officer, you will have:

• Extensive knowledge of the Data Protection Act 2018, GDPR, FOI Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills with the confidence to advise senior leaders
• A methodical and resilient approach to managing high volumes of work under tight deadlines
• A passion for public service, transparency and upholding residents' rights
• Proven experience managing complex information rights requests, including in sensitive areas such as social care (desirable)

What you get in return

A salary of £44,331 - £47,532 plus benefits, including the local government pension scheme, up to 31 days annual leave, hybrid working, training opportunities and much more.

How to apply

Please submit your CV and a supporting statement of no more than 1250 words to [email protected] by 9am on Monday the 21st of July.

Please note that this date is subject to change and we may close the advert early should we receive suitable applications.