Legal Officer / Information Governance Officer – Basildon Borough Council

Basildon, Essex

Full-Time, Temporary

36.25 Hours per Week

£27.29 PAYE / £35.00 Umbrella

Closing Date: Monday 9^th November 2026

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Basildon Council to recruit a Legal Officer on an initial 2month contract.

Due to the nature of this role, the successful candidate will be required to be onsite a minimum of 3 days per week.

GENERAL INFORMATION

We handle a wide range of information requests, such as subject Access Requests under the data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), Freedom of Information requests, and more. We provide advice, and support based on legislative requirements, and we deal with personal data breaches.

We are seeking an experienced Information Governance professional with up-to-date knowledge of and practical experience in the application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), including the UK GDPR. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of managing complex information rights requests, with a particular expertise in handling Subject Access Requests (SARs), assessing exemptions and redactions, and ensuring compliance with statutory timescales. They will be able to provide clear and authoritative advice to colleagues, interpret relevant legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), and support the organisation in maintaining high standards of transparency, accountability and data protection compliance.

The role involves handling of personal data sensitive and information on a daily basis. It will require paying close attention to details, redacting documentation prior to sharing. The ideal candidate will need to be flexible and able to deal with queries on time. You will be required to provide spontaneous, clear, concise and effective advice to colleagues as and when required. You will work closely with colleagues in legal, customer resolution centre assisting with the complaint’s procedure and co-ordinating responses to members of the public;

• Assisting the Information and Compliance Manager and the Data Protection Officer in managing and maintaining the compliance with data Protection and Freedom of information legislation.
• Advising on matters related to data privacy legislation and having due regard for risk relating processing operations, nature, scope, context and purpose of processing.
• Assisting in the review of procedure, policies, privacy notices, and contracts relating to processing of personal information.
• Assisting in the monitoring of compliance with data protection of related audits
• Assisting in the maintenance of a register of processing activities and data life cycles, ensuring that each is compliant with legislation
• Assisting in the establishment, testing, and monitoring of the data breach response process.
• Maintaining a log of any data privacy related incidents together with tracking resulting actions.
• Maintain a log of complaints received, and action taken.
• Assisting in the development and delivery of training as required to ensure that staff are adequately informed of policies and their obligations

ESSENTIAL

• Relevant qualification and knowledge of Data Protection Act and UK GDPR
• Understanding of local and national government legislation
• Excellent IT skills, including SharePoint, Outlook Word and Excel

DESIREABLE

• Degree in relevant fields
• Self-motivated and able to organise own and others’ workload to meet deadlines.
• Experience with interacting with the data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR and Freedom of Information (FOI).

EXPERIENCE

• Experience working in a local authority environment, or experience of data protection functions in a relevant public or private organisations
• Experience of handling public enquiries to provide a high level of customer service
• Experience of working in a dynamic and complex environment

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with ability to communicate to different audiences including elected members, officers of a public sector organisation and the public.
• A good team player with enthusiastic and collaborative approach to problem solving to ensure high performance across the team.
• Able to build and maintain relationships with colleagues in partner organisations.
• Focus on excellent customer service
• Ability to deal appropriately

Why choose Basildon Council?

Basildon Borough Council is one of the largest local authorities in the East of England region and serves a population of approximately 172,000 people. The town of Basildon is regarded as a key economic hub with the main areas of employment being engineering, research and development, distribution and financial services. Basildon is also the second biggest economy in the Thames Gateway, outside of Canary Wharf.

Working for Basildon Borough Council means making a practical and positive difference to the lives of people living and working in the Borough and provides a fulfilling career.

Each of our employees - whatever job role they are undertaking - can feel motivated by having a unique opportunity to use their skills to make Basildon a better place to live. Whether it is conserving our countryside, by regenerating our Borough, by housing our residents or by collecting the refuse on time.

Note: ECC are advertising this role on behalf of Basildon Council.

Basildon Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults, and expects all employees, contractors and volunteers to share its commitment to prevent abuse, harm or exploitation.

The Council applies a robust recruitment vetting process. If you are successful you will need to undergo a Pre-employment Vetting Procedure.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via Working for Essex website.

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email Ashleigh.Drake@essex.gov.uk