Description Senior Information Governance Officer (Operations) Professional 3B Publish date: Friday 24th January Closing date: Monday 3rd February 2025 at 12pm noon Salary: £30,296 - £32,076 (Dependant on experience) Hours: 37 per week Overview West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the second largest fire and rescue service in England, serving an area of 902km square and a population of over 2.9 million people. Our vision is ‘Making the West Midlands safer, stronger and healthier’. This vision and the strategic goals outlined in ‘Our Strategy’ are what drives the people, professionalism and pride with which we serve our communities. We are excited to announce an opportunity within our Information Governance team for the role of Senior Compliance Officer (Operations). The area of Information Governance is growing, and this role presents an opportunity to join the Information Governance team supporting WMFS to provide excellence in information management and remain compliant with Data Protection, Freedom of Information and other associated legislation. As the Senior Compliance Officer (Operations), you will work closely with the Information Governance Lead to manage the day-to-day requirements of our information governance framework. Your primary focus will revolve around ensuring compliance with current information governance legislation and standards to enable the smooth running of our existing and evolving processes. Responsibilities As Senior Compliance Officer (Operations), you will: handle information governance enquiries, including logging requests, retrieving information, and working with service users to ensure accurate and timely responses in line with relevant legislation maintain and update key internal registers and repositories, including Records of Processing Activities (ROPA), Information Asset Registers (IAR), Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), data processing agreements, information sharing agreements, and publication schemes provide advice and support to stakeholders on privacy concerns when completing Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) contribute to the development and updating of organisational policies related to information governance and data protection, as well as training materials to help staff understand these important areas lead investigations into data protection breaches, including containing the issue, assisting with identifying the cause, implementing necessary remedial actions, and recording/reporting breaches as required complete regular compliance checks to ensure systems and processes meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other associated legislation support the Information Governance Lead by monitoring the performance of junior team members and identifying their training and development needs. Experience and skills Essential skills or experience a minimum foundation-level qualification in data protection or a related field prior experience in a data protection and/or information governance role, including managing Freedom of Information (FOI), Environmental Information Regulation (EIR), Subject Access Requests (SAR), and other data protection requests, as well as handling complaints professionally strong understanding of data protection and information governance legislation, with the ability to explain its principles clearly and confidently to internal and external stakeholders excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt your approach for a variety of audiences solid IT skills, particularly using Microsoft 365 tools such as Excel and Word, along with experience of working with database systems. You should also be confident in researching, analysing data, and presenting results accurately exceptional organisation and time management skills, enabling you to manage multiple tasks while maintaining high attention to detail. Desirable skills or experience experience of using Microsoft 365 e-discovery and other compliance tools to securely recover and manage documents, emails, and data knowledge of processes related to enhanced access to IT systems and an ability to follow them effectively. Benefits We offer a friendly working environment and benefits including: flexible and agile working arrangements on-site free gym facilities free parking. We also offer access to an in-house occupational health facility - including occupational health and fitness advisors, sports therapists, physiotherapists, cognitive behavioural therapy practitioners and counsellors. In addition, employees have access to: 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme wellbeing programmes ‘blue light’ discounts across many retailers through partner schemes Sports and Welfare scheme (for a small fee) – with access to discounted products and services. Diversity We welcome applications from all eligible candidates. However, as women and Black and minority ethnic employees are currently under-represented in our service, we particularly encourage applications from these groups. WMFS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect the same of every staff member. Successful candidates will be subject to necessary pre-employment checks, including - where applicable - relevant level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, qualifications, medical clearance, identity and right to work. All applicants will be required to provide two suitable references. How to apply To apply, please send your CV and answer the questions, outlining previous experience, to outline your suitability for the role. Questions If you have any questions about the role, or would like an informal discussion, please contact Victoria Hughes by email at Victoria.Hugheswmfs.net Job Summary