Data Protection Manager in Bristol

Unite Students is seeking to use data more to drive the organisation, and our ability to manage data protection risks and demonstrate compliance is vital to our continued success. The Data Protection Manager is responsible for managing data protection activities, leading the Data Protection team and fostering a culture of privacy within Unite as well as compliance with data protection and privacy laws, policies, and good practice.

In this role you will be part of a team where its success will depend on building trust and being a 'critical friend' to the wider business, collaborating with teams to ensure Unite meets its data protection obligations when collecting and processing personal data. This is a senior, wide-ranging role and it includes collaborating with all internal stakeholders. You will work across all initiatives to deliver the data protection strategy and improve Unite’s data protection maturity.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Relationship building with colleagues across Unite, including senior management and external stakeholders, is key to this role and you will have the experience, confidence and credibility to do this.
• Stakeholder management: Working with multiple teams across Unite to ensure data protection and privacy is at the heart of our systems and processes, including delivering suitable training and awareness.
• Data protection strategy: Leading on and developing our response to challenges in the data protection landscape, collaborating with Data Governance and InfoSec teams to ensure we have a consistent approach.
• Data Protection Compliance: Ensure that Unite complies with relevant data protection laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 in the UK; have sufficient knowledge of overseas jurisdictions laws to ensure Unite manages its risk exposure.
• Privacy Policy development: Develop, implement, and maintain Unite’s data protection and privacy policies and procedures to align with changing legal requirements and industry standards.
• Privacy notices: Develop, implement, and maintain Unite’s data privacy notices to align with changing legal requirements and industry standards associated with our data processing activities.
• Data sharing: Work with key stakeholders (internal and external) to ensure we have adequate data sharing agreements in place where there is a need to share personal data.
• Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs): Conduct or oversee DPIAs to assess and mitigate the data protection risks associated with new projects, systems, or data processing activities.
• Data Breach Management: Ensure our data breach response plan is optimised, including notifying relevant authorities and affected individuals in compliance with legal requirements.

What We’re Looking for in You

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills for educating and influencing stakeholders.
• Excellent project management skills to oversee privacy initiatives and compliance activities.
• Proactive attitude, with a willingness to support all data protection initiatives.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills and the ability to influence decisions at executive management level.
• CIPP/E and/or CIP/M certification.
• Strong understanding of the UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018; sufficient knowledge of PIPL to maintain compliance and/or understand the risks associated with overseas jurisdictions.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills to assess risks and develop mitigation strategies.
• Team orientated and able to collaborate with other colleagues to deliver results.
• Excellent people management skills with experience of managing a team as well as self-sufficient and able to prioritise own tasks.
• Management of a complex and diverse workload and the ability to deal with conflicting and changing demands.
• Continuous learning and staying up to date with evolving privacy laws and best practices.

What You’ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company’s success.
• 25 days paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service.
• A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save.
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends.
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents.
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is the UK’s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 23 leading university towns and cities, with 70,000 students calling us home! We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas.

Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn’t just what we do but who we are.

People make Unite Students. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive.

Room for Everyone. We’re proud to be an employer that embraces individuality, and we’re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong.

We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what’s right, keeping us safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for students that live with us.