Senior Data Protection & Information Officer in Manchester

The Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) is a fast-paced delivery and operational team that is responsible for holding departments and arms-length bodies to account for their handling of fraud in the public sector. The Authority will write the standards for counter fraud work across government and hold public bodies to account against these.

Working in the PSFA offers access to a wide range of stakeholders across government and the opportunity to work with various sectors in a high-profile policy area with high media, parliamentary and ministerial interest.

The Team: As well as being part of the PSFA, a new authority established in 2022, you will also be part of the Government Counter Fraud Function (GCFF). The PSFA is at the centre of this function but a role in this team will make you part of a Counter Fraud Function that spans government and has members in all departments, at all levels, in all sectors. The PSFA is outcome and performance driven, offers a depth and breadth of expertise and works jointly with HMT to tackle fraud in the public sector. The PSFA, whilst sitting within the Cabinet Office, reports jointly to the Cabinet Office and Treasury Ministers. Maintaining close working relationships with HMT colleagues is key to ensure the PSFA can deliver its mandate effectively. The PSFA is a team of approximately 130 staff members with locations across the country including Manchester, York, Glasgow and London. As a result, hybrid working is fully embraced and teams are encouraged to collaborate in the various Cabinet Office Hubs around the country.

The Data Governance team is a function within the PSFA that will design and deliver modernisation of data governance within the PSFA and provide a model and frameworks that progress its strategic agenda. In addition, the team will ensure corporate readiness for disclosure to the C-19 Inquiry and deliver mechanisms that effectively identify and manage strategic and operational risk, taking into account evolving AI and Investigatory models being developed within PSFA. This is a high responsibility role in terms of legal, operational and data protection risks.

The post holder will lead the PSFA’s compliance with data governance requirements. This will require the use of discretion and deep subject matter expertise. You will lead on key data protection and information management activity to oversee creating and implementing the delivery plan for the data governance framework. This supports PSFA's strategic direction and mandate in alignment with the National Data Strategy (NDS), which sets the mandatory overall data management requirements for HMG, setting the direction of travel as it seeks to improve data connectivity and create a more informed policy development and decision-making process.

This role is essential to ensuring that PSFA can provide a cohesive data strategy and framework in adherence with UK data protection regime and regulatory frameworks. The post holder will need to exercise professional and confident judgement in interpreting regulatory requirements for the PSFA’s operational environment. The post requires a developed capability to apply data rules that both comply with the legislative framework and ensure delivery of defined PSFA services that are directly impacted by data governance issues, and also coordinate across the organisation to ensure compliance of both operational and policy teams.

Counter fraud is one of the areas where the “unlocking of data” to realise its full potential and getting it to where it is needed has the potential to realise enormous benefits. As such, this will be a cross-HMG role engaging with senior stakeholders across the counter-fraud function while ensuring full compliance with data governance requirements, a specialised role requiring a data SME. In addition, this role will allow the PSFA to further expand and deepen its world-leading data service offerings, allowing us to fully understand the fraud landscape and increase the value of preventative savings to HMG. These have already increased from £28m to £653m over the last seven years with the potential to run to billions.

Responsibilities:

• Providing data protection and information management guidance, compliance assessments, collating and analysing quarterly reporting metrics on compliance of Data Asset Management and GDPR statutory obligations.
• Reviewing assurances and compliance measures across underpinning operational and policy activity delivered through PSFA's services, making clear analyses and informed assessments and recommendations to assure organisational compliance.
• Identification of risks and appropriate mitigations in adherence to CO data protection policies which are informed by the UK data protection regime, Cabinet Office personal data risk management policies and relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.
• Drafting necessary agreements, letters and briefings following specified templates and guidelines to exacting and often time pressured deadlines.
• Critically analyse contracts, identify solutions to risks identified and make recommendations on mitigations/action to take.
• File, manage and audit data sharing and data access requests, data assets and related documents in accordance with the organisation’s data protection and records management policy.
• Liaise and coordinate activities with colleagues within the BU and other relevant stakeholders.
• Acting as a main point of contact within BU for enquiries and requests for information related to data governance and preparing draft correspondence on behalf of the Head of DG as required.
• Monitor compliance within risk management frameworks.
• Perform such other duties consistent with the post holder’s skills and experience as delegated by line manager or senior staff.
• Presenting MI and dashboards monthly for ExCo governance boards, answering questions, providing updates in relation to assurance/mitigations towards compliance and supporting in the development of next steps in conjunction with data leads.
• Key stakeholder engagement with CO and wider HMG Data leads to maintain and understand the reporting/performance position.
• Managing stakeholders, communicating well and identifying and resolving conflict.

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