Senior Information Governance Assistant

Job Posting Title Senior Information Governance Assistant

Grade and Salary: Grade 5 £ £26,707 - £31,236

FTE and working pattern: 1 FTE, 35 hours weekly

Organisation Name: Governance and Legal – Information Governance

Role Description

The University is seeking a Senior Information Governance Assistant with strong administrative skills and experience to join the Information Governance Division, a professional service team within the Governance and Legal Services Directorate. This is one of two Senior Information Governance Assistant roles that support the timely and efficient delivery of our service.

Working collaboratively with colleagues within the Directorate and across the University to support the University’s mission and contribute to its strategic priorities, we promote effective information governance to support University business worldwide and manage information risk to meet relevant legal, regulatory and audit requirements.

The role holder will assist the Information Governance team in managing and responding to freedom of information and data subject requests, providing advice and guidance to the University community, and supporting effective information governance across the global University.

Detailed Description              

• Provide high quality and efficient support to the Information Governance team in handling information rights requests within statutory deadlines,
• Help the team to provide information governance advice to colleagues and to meet the University's obligations under data protection law to all members of the University community and external stakeholders
• Maintain case handling records systems for data protection, freedom of information and information governance requests and enquiries
• Provide effective administrative support to the team and clerking duties to the committees we support

Key duties and responsibilities

• Provide high quality and efficient administrative support to the Information Governance team across its service functions, including responsibility for maintaining purchase order and expenditure records. 
• Maintain accurate and efficient case handling records systems for managing data protection, freedom of information and information governance requests and enquiries
• Assist the Information Governance Officer (Information Rights) and work together with the other Senior Information Governance Assistant in managing and providing an appropriate response to freedom of information and data subject requests from students, staff and external requesters within the statutory deadlines; liaising closely with colleagues in professional services and Schools as required to retrieve, collate and process relevant information
• Provide first line support by ensuring that appropriate responses are issued in a timely manner, answering queries by phone, email and face-to-face as required
• Clerk and take concise formal minutes for the Global Information Governance and Data Protection Committee and working groups
• Assist the Records Manager in managing contracted records storage and retrieval services and providing advice on record keeping
• Contribute to a productive and cooperative team ethos, building a wide network of mutually beneficial relationships across the University.

Please note that this job description is not exhaustive, and the role holder may be required to undertake other relevant duties commensurate with the grading of the post.  Activities may be subject to amendment over time as the role develops and/or priorities and requirements evolve

Education, qualifications, and experience

Essential:

• Educated to Highers/A-Level standard (or equivalent)
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, in both written and spoken English, and the ability to produce high quality written work
• Relevant experience and success in a role requiring strong customer service and administration skills
• Proven experience building, and maintaining, relationships with a wide variety of stakeholder groups and audiences
• Accurate and efficient data handling skills, with a high degree of attention to detail
• Experience and proficiency in taking formal minutes of committees or boards
• Good organisational and forward planning abilities alongside a flexible and adaptable approach and proven ability to prioritise workload to meet deadlines 
• Ability to work independently and take decisions to complete work within the scope of the role, seeking guidance when appropriate
• Problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to respond appropriately to varying scenarios and different demands from different stakeholders, maintaining a positive professional approach at all times
• Understand and adhere to information security practices particularly as they relate to personal or sensitive information, and the ability to operate with a high degree of tact and maintain appropriate confidentiality at all times
• Proven ability to work flexibly and collaboratively as part of a team
• Demonstrate the University Values at all times through performance and behaviour.
• Proficient IT skills (including experience using Microsoft 365 applications) and the ability and willingness to learn new digital skills and capabilities appropriate to the role and how it evolves 
• Maintain awareness of own digital wellbeing by being mindful of the length of time spent at a screen and the impact on mental and physical health in using digital technologies.

Desirable:

• Relevant work experience in an information governance service, preferably within a higher education or public-sector environment
• Demonstrable understanding of key principles of data protection and freedom of information as applied to the management of information

How to Apply

Please submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter explaining how you meet the criteria for the role and why it appeals to you. (2) Full CV 

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 7 December

Interviews will be held in person at our Edinburgh campus on Tuesday 16 December

This role does not meet the minimum requirements set by UKVI to enable sponsorship of non-European nationals. Therefore, we cannot progress applications from candidates who require sponsorship to work in the UK. For further information on this please visit the UK Visas and Immigration website: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team. 

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community. 

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all. 

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/. 

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options. 

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.