Assistant Director (Information Governance)

UCL is a world-leading research-intensive university, often ranked in the top ten in the world, with an annual turnover of well over £1 billion. Our research and innovation continues to grow in scale and complexity, with record levels of research income and impact achieved last year. UCL has more than 50,000 students and 18,000 staff from over 150 countries and our progressive approach to teaching and research, our world leading academics, curious students and outstanding staff continually pursue excellence, break boundaries, and make an impact on real world problems.

Research and Innovation Services (RIS) provides expert support to academics across the research and innovation lifecycle from securing funding to delivering impactful outcomes. The directorate comprises four interdependent teams: Award Services, Contract Services, Planning, Insight and Improvement, and Compliance and Assurance. Together, we ensure that UCL’s extensive and diverse externally funded research portfolio is managed effectively, compliantly, and strategically. The Compliance and Assurance team, established in 2023, plays a key role in enabling UCL’s research ambitions while protecting the university from legal, reputational, and financial risks. The team leads on research integrity, ethics, governance, and risk management, and provides specialist guidance and services to ensure compliance with a complex landscape of regulatory and funding requirements. We work collaboratively with colleagues across RIS, the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement) and various teams across UCL to promote a culture of integrity, good governance and best practice in research and innovation.

As Assistant Director (Information Governance), you will play a key role in promoting and embedding the highest standards of information governance across UCL’s research and innovation activities. Working within the Compliance and Assurance team in Research and Innovation Services (RIS), you will support a culture of best practice through expert guidance, clear frameworks, and collaborative engagement with the UCL research community. You will lead on the development and delivery of practical resources, training and advice to ensure researchers and professional services colleagues understand and meet their responsibilities under relevant regulatory, legal, and funding frameworks. You will proactively engage with a broad network of stakeholders to support compliance and build institutional capability, championing a consistent and proportionate approach to information governance. This role requires a deep understanding of information governance in a research context, combined with the ability to engage and influence a diverse group of non-specialists. You will build and convene communities of practice, encouraging knowledge sharing and continuous improvement. You will also contribute to the development of enhanced processes to provide assurance and mitigate risk, supporting UCL’s ambitions as a world-leading research institution. This is a hybrid role based at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, with the expectation of regular on-site presence. We welcome applications from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements wherever possible.

You will bring deep expertise in information governance, particularly in the context of research and innovation. With a strong understanding of information security, risk management, and data protection, you will have experience working with digital research infrastructure and implementing structured information governance frameworks. You will have a proven track record of supporting compliance and assurance in complex organisations, ideally within a research-intensive environment. Your ability to interpret and apply data management practices including anonymisation, de-identification and the handling of sensitive research data, will be key to your success in this role. You are a confident and collaborative senior professional, capable of influencing business change and delivering practical, user-centred solutions. You will be comfortable working with senior academic and professional service colleagues and will have excellent communication skills, including the ability to present complex information clearly and persuasively. Your approach will be proactive and highly organised, with strong project planning and operational management skills. Experience in developing and delivering training and engagement strategies is essential, as is a commitment to advancing equality, diversity and inclusion in your work. A strong understanding of the research landscape and a focus on service excellence will underpin your ability to support UCL’s ambitious research agenda.

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents we also offer some great benefits:

• 41 Days holiday (including 27 days annual leave, 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.