4,041 Jobs

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced data protection professional to lead the Data Protection function for core Defra and APHA, supporting one of the most diverse and complex portfolios in government.

The role combines strategic leadership, operational delivery, professional expertise, and influence at the centre of Defra Group Corporate Services. The postholder will lead the development and delivery of Defra’s data protection capability, ensuring that privacy risk is effectively managed while enabling the lawful, and efficient use of personal data across Defra, Defra Group Corporate Services, and APHA.

These functions rely heavily on the processing of personal data relating to customers, stakeholders, and staff. Protecting that information and maintaining public trust is critical to Defra’s mission.

As Head of Data Protection, you will lead and direct core Defra’s operational data protection function, including direct line management of three Grade 7 data protection managers and wider leadership of a specialist team of seven staff. You will act as a senior subject matter expert, shaping approaches to privacy risk, and compliance across core Defra & APHA.

You will work closely with Defra group’s Data Protection Officer and senior stakeholders across policy, operations, security, digital, and corporate services, helping the department to manage risk proportionately while supporting effective delivery and innovation.

Job description

The successful candidate will:

• Lead core Defra’s operational data protection function, setting strategic direction and ensuring the effective delivery of high-quality privacy services.
• Prioritise and direct the work of the Data Protection Team to systematically identify, manage, and reduce privacy and information handling risks.
• Act as the senior escalation point and decision-maker for the most sensitive or complex data protection issues - providing authoritative specialist advice on high-risk data protection matters, including law enforcement processing, large-scale data sharing, artificial intelligence, and other novel technologies.
• Be accountable for the department’s operational data protection compliance framework, including oversight of impact assessments, data sharing arrangements, casework, and assurance activity.
• Support the department’s wider governance, risk and assurance arrangements through reporting, analysis and strategic advice to senior leaders and governance boards.
• Work in close partnership with the Defra group Data Protection Officer, ensuring appropriate support to statutory monitoring and assurance responsibilities while respecting the independence of the DPO role.
• Lead engagement with cross-government data protection, security, and information governance communities to ensure Defra remains aligned with evolving legislation, standards, and best practice.
• Draft, review and implement data protection policies, standards, processes, and guidance, ensuring these remain legally compliant, proportionate, and operationally effective.

Build organisational capability by improving awareness and understanding of data protection obligations across core Defra, Group Corporate Services, and APHA

Team leadership

• Directly manage three Grade 7 managers and provide clear leadership, direction, and professional oversight to the Data Protection Team.
• Ensure the team is appropriately resourced, organised, and resilient to meet changing business demands.
• Promote a positive, inclusive, and collaborative team culture focused on high-performance, continuous improvement and professional excellence.
• Support staff development through coaching, performance management, learning, and career development activities.

Service Delivery

• Ensure the reliable and effective delivery of operational data protection services across core Defra, Group Corporate Services, and APHA.
• Establish delivery priorities, service standards, and performance expectations.
• Monitor performance, risks, and demand pressures, taking timely action to maintain service quality and resilience.
• Balance organisational delivery with legal and regulatory obligations through pragmatic and proportionate decision-making.

Service Development

• Drive continuous improvement in efficiency, consistency, quality, and user experience, identifying opportunities for innovation, service modernisation, and capability development.
• Support and enable innovation across the organisation while ensuring appropriate privacy safeguards and governance controls are maintained.
• Lead and implement change initiatives to improve organisational capability and compliance maturity.

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong and productive relationships with senior stakeholders across Digital, Security, Legal, HR, Finance, Commercial and operational delivery functions.
• Work collaboratively with Security, Knowledge and Information Management (KIM), Legal and Digital colleagues on cross-cutting governance issues.
• Influence strategic decision-making through clear, practical risk-based advice.
• Support the effective management of regulatory, reputational, and operational risks relating to personal data
• Manage the expectations of recipients of the data protection service, pragmatically balancing operational demand with your available resources

Person specification

The Head of Data Protection is expected to demonstrate:

• Significant experience leading operational data protection or information governance services within a large and complex organisation.
• Strong working knowledge of UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and wider information governance principles.
• Experience advising senior stakeholders on complex, high-risk, or sensitive data protection matters.
• Experience leading teams through change, developing capability and delivering high-quality services through others.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage competing demands and operational pressures.
• Experience developing or implementing data protection policies, frameworks, standards, or governance processes.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, including the ability to explain complex legal or technical issues to non-specialists.
• Experience managing complex stakeholder relationships and balancing compliance requirements with organisational delivery objectives.
• Sound judgement and the ability to make effective, risk-based decisions in ambiguous or high-pressure situations.

Qualifications

A recognised privacy qualification, for example IAPP CIPP/E, CIPM, BCS Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection, or equivalent professional accreditation

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Data Protection by Design and Default
• Data sharing and privacy risk management

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £67,730, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £19,621 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Flexi Time Policy. Our Flexi-time policy allows you to vary your hours from day to day, within the requirements of your role, to suit your needs and to offer a better work/life balance.

Leave. If you work full time at Defra you are entitled to 25 days’ leave (rising, over 5 years, to 30 days’). If you work part time it will be pro-rated.

Privilege day. You are also entitled to a privilege day off in May to mark the King’s birthday (date varies), plus time off for the 8 public holidays a year.

Career breaks. We recognise that your work-life balance can extend beyond the short-term to the longer-term, and to support this you are able to apply for career breaks. These are unpaid extended breaks from work, granted at the discretion of the department.

Volunteering leave - 3 days paid volunteering leave every year (pro-rata). Once you have passed probation.

Season ticket loan – for an interest free season ticket loan, if you have worked within the Defra for more than three months. This can be used to purchase train and bus season tickets, as well as station car parking.

Tenancy deposit loan – for an interest free loan, to assist you in meeting the deposit costs for your privately rented home.

Salary advances and loans for other circumstances – for salary advances and loans in the following circumstances: for new entrants, for the purchase of bicycles, holidays and religious holidays.

Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme – Since the closure to new entrants of the employer childcare voucher scheme, the government introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. In this scheme, working parents open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 a year for each child or £4,000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare.

Support to buy a bicycle – we run two schemes that can help you buy a bicycle for your commute:

1. The Cycle to Work Scheme –you can apply for a bicycle for your commute, up to the value of £6,000, which is recovered from you through salary sacrifice, as a tax-free benefit. At the end of the repayment period, you have the option to buy the bike if you wish, saving around 30% of the original cost.
2. Bike loan – if you are not eligible to apply for the Cycle to Work Scheme, you can apply for a loan of up to £1,000 towards the cost of a bike using the Bike loan scheme. This however is not a salary sacrifice scheme.

High-street and online discounts. Offers through SmartSpending™ which is accessed through the StaR platform. Accessible 24/7, you can save at hundreds of top retailers.

Maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave. We offer generous maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave – a total of 52 weeks leave to look after your new baby, regardless of your length of service. Most mothers are entitled to 39 weeks of paid leave, and a further 13 weeks of unpaid leave. Most partners are entitled to 15 days of paid paternity leave. Shared parental leave arrangements are in place, allowing parents to divide their leave with each other.

Professional Membership. Defra group will fund one professional membership for each permanent employee which is relevant to their role.

Eye care scheme. If you use a computer screen in connection with your job, we will pay for a regular eyesight test, and you may also be entitled to help towards purchasing new glasses, if they are needed for computer use.

The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a free 24/7 confidential telephone advice service, available to all of our staff throughout the year.

Civil Service Sports Council. The opportunity to join the Civil Services Sports Council.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Application Process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sifting will take place w/c 17th August 2026

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on behaviours and technical skills

Interviews are currently scheduled to take place w/c 31st August but may be subject to change.

A 10 minute presentation will be required at Interview on the subject 'What does a modern, enabling data protection function look like in your experience? and how would you approach implementing this at Defra’.

Face to face interviews

Please note that Defra does not pay travel expenses for applicants from Other Government Departments (OGD) or external candidates.

Near miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Defra which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Location & Travel

As part of the pre-employment process, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is 'National' the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to perform all their duties from a UK location and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

You will need to agree your working arrangements with your new manager. Some travel may be required and occasional overnight stays.

To work from 2 Marsham Street you will require the higher level of CTC clearance. Therefore, confirmation of appointment to the advertised post will be dependent upon successful CTC clearance being confirmed as part of pre-employment checks.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Security

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Paul Sinclair
• Email : paul.sinclair@defra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here