Head of Data Protection & Information Management in Newcastle upon Tyne

466045 Head of Data Protection & Information Management

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 6th July 2026

Location: Swansea, Bristol, Birmingham (Garretts Green), Nottingham, Yeading (Hayes), Oldham (Chadderton), Leeds, Newcastle (This role is suitable for hybrid working)

Salary: £57,515 (Candidates based in Yeading will receive the London Weighting allowance of £4,000) – A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

The Head of Data Protection and Information Management role forms part of a Department wide Data Protection Unit led by the DfT Departmental Data Protection Officer and locally reports into the DVSA Chief Data & Security Officer. The role is responsible for carrying out the delegated statutory tasks of the Departmental Data Protection Officer in accordance with the DfT DPO Governance Framework. They also act as the principal point of contact for the ICO and for Data Subjects for the DVSA within the DfT controllership.

The role manages the information and records management function as part of the Government Knowledge and Information (KIM) Profession and ensures that management of both electronic and physical records is compliant with GDPR and other regulations. The team also works with the DVSA Corporate Reputation team to help DVSA meet statutory obligations originating from GDPR and Freedom of Information legislation assuring processes and also leading Internal Reviews or information rights requests under data protection legislation.

Responsibilities

• Act as the Data Protection Manager for the DVSA, carrying out the statutory tasks delegated by the Department’s DPO.
• Lead the records management function ensuring alignment with DfT and wider Government.
• Provide assurance to the Digital & Technology Leadership Team that the organisation’s systems are designed in accordance with data protection policies and regulations.
• Lead FOI internal reviews, ensuring our response is fair and robust, and when necessary challenging senior managers on decisions to disclose or withhold.

Benefits

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here.
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service up to a maximum of 30 days.
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• 24‑hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.

About you

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• A history of being involved in incident management and forming part of a wider incident management team.
• A history of working collaboratively and inclusively with external organisations and other stakeholders, sharing information and knowledge to achieve common aims.
• Experience of information and records management function and be able to advise on Freedom of Information legislation and supporting the business with any training.
• Experience in assessing and improving compliance and reporting on this to all levels.
• Experience of risk management and working with cyber security colleagues.
• You must have an industry-recognised practitioner-level qualification in data protection.
• You will either have a qualification in FOI or a security qualification such as CISMP or ISO27001. For these areas where no qualification is held, you should be willing to acquire them within 9 months of joining us.

How to apply

To apply, read the full description and apply here: https://bit.ly/4aNDftm

This vacancy closes at 23:55 on Monday 6th July 2026