Chief Privacy Officer

Time left to apply End Date: March 1, 2025 (30+ days left to apply)

Job Type: Employee

Duration in Months: 12

Job Family: Governance

# of Open Positions: 1

Faculty/Service - Department: Office of the Secretary General

Campus: Main Campus

Union Affiliation: N/A

Date Posted: January 22, 2025

Applications must be received BEFORE: March 01, 2025

Hours per week: 35

Salary Grade: Non-Union Grade NM4

Salary Range: $139,350.00 - $172,946.00

Position Purpose:

The Chief Privacy Officer and Legal Counsel is responsible for the University’s privacy and access to information program including but not limited to daily operations of the program, development, implementation, and maintenance of policies and procedures, monitoring program compliance, investigation and tracking of incidents and breaches. This role is the authority for making access to information and privacy-related decisions and protecting the interests of members of the University community and is responsible for providing legal advice on all matters related to access to information and privacy. The Chief Privacy Officer and Legal Counsel reports to the Secretary-General of the University. The Chief Privacy Officer and Legal Counsel operates with authority under the direct delegation from the President of the University of his/her statutory responsibilities under Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). The Chief Privacy Officer and Legal Counsel serves as a critical role in the management of both the University’s obligations and all applicable privacy and access to information legislation, including the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Specific Accountabilities:

• Builds a strategic and comprehensive privacy program that defines, develops, maintains and implements policies and processes that enable consistent and effective privacy practices which minimize risk and ensure the confidentiality of personal information across all media types (paper and/or electronic). Develops standardized protocols and policies in order to guide the University's actions and activities.
• Provides practical, timely and strategic legal advice and guidance relating to access to information and privacy issues.
• Provides leadership and support to the University's senior administration in privacy and access to information related questions, to ensure that their decisions are not only informed by expert advice and guidance but are also in compliance with Provincial and Federal and international legislation.
• Accountable for the University’s compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and other privacy and access to information legislation applicable to the University, including the University’s response to access to information requests, correction of personal information requests, privacy complaints, third party consultations, and other related inquiries from both internal and external stakeholders.
• Represents the University on all matters under review by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of Ontario. Negotiates, develops, and implements strategies for the resolution of complaints and appeals under investigation by the IPC.
• Leads the University’s Privacy Breach Response Team to investigate and respond to suspected and confirmed large, and small, scale privacy breaches. Develops and maintains a privacy breach response contingency plan for responding to large and complex privacy breaches.
• Performs privacy assessment and provides privacy-related advice for the selection, development and implementation of new technological solutions, programs, projects and related processes.

Knowledge, Experience and Skills:

• LL.B or J.D. and member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario
• Minimum of 10 years of direct experience in the management of an access to information and privacy program in a large and complex organization.
• Minimum of 10 years of management experience, specifically in operations management and planning, project management, financial and human resources management.
• Certification in the field of privacy is considered an asset, such as Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada (CIPP/C) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) or other similar credentials.
• Asset: the incumbent needs to have a working knowledge of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable privacy and access to information legislation.
• Knowledge and experience across a variety of areas of the law affecting the University
• Strong oral and written communication skills in both French and English
• Ability to handle complex legal issues with no significant professional guidance or supervision
• Superior analyst, negotiator and presenter of legal points
• Excellent judgment, clear and critical thinking, superior writing and reasoning skills, persuasiveness, the ability to command respect, and unquestioned integrity and discretion
• Experience in developing organizational performance measurement frameworks (setting objectives, targets, strategies, initiatives, performance indicators)
• Knowledge of planning concepts and experience in developing business plans.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills to interact with various partners. Ability to clearly develop and deliver information and training sessions.
• Proven experience in planning and developing privacy and access to information related policies, procedures and notices.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.

*This position may be eligible for a telework arrangement.

Key Competencies at uOttawa:

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.

Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.

Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.

Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

About us

The University of Ottawa—A crossroads of cultures and ideas

The University of Ottawa is home to a dynamic community of over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroad of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We believe in the power of representation, and that increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff supports this objective. Our goal is to provide students with the best possible learning experience, in an environment that reflects the diversity of its people, their ideas, and their identities.

We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. Our employees come together around the shared purpose of constant improvement, personal development, service excellence, teamwork and a passion for learning with a desire to make uOttawa and the world a better place. Everyone's contributions are valued, we all play a part in making uOttawa a world-class institution. Most importantly, we make it possible for you to achieve your full potential. Because at uOttawa, you belong!

The University of Ottawa is a dynamic community of students, professionals and academics pursuing great things. Our vision for the university of tomorrow is one that reflects the diversity of our people, their ideas and their lived experiences. We believe in the power of representation and in increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff to support this objective.

We’re committed to an inclusive workplace that acknowledges and celebrates all voices, fosters personal and professional development and challenges you to reach new heights.

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