Data Protection Officer

Job Description

Who are we?

Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 18,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

The Role

As part of Howden Group Holdings, an international insurance intermediary, this role is central to ensuring robust data protection across Howden’s UK Broking and Reinsurance Divisions. The role holder will support the Data Protection Function in establishing, implementing, and maintaining a data protection control and oversight framework to safeguard compliance with applicable data protection laws. This role involves providing practical, risk-based mentorship to assist Howden entities in fulfilling their data protection responsibilities. Additionally, the role will contribute to delivering data protection plans and projects that enhance compliance, improve risk management, and maintain up-to-date and effective privacy practices across the organisation.

This is a hybrid role based in our London office, with occasional travel to our Milton Keynes office.

Key Responsibilities:

• Supply to delivering key aspects of the annual Data Protection Plan and Risk & Control Framework.
• Identify improvement opportunities within the Data Protection Framework, focusing on early risk identification and efficient implementation of remedial actions.
• Lead assigned projects, including integration of new business acquisitions and new policy administration systems.
• Maintain data protection registrations and meet proficiency requirements through ongoing training and alignment to internal policies.
• Advise on data protection matters such as Data Subject Requests, Personal Data Breaches, Data Protection Impact Assessments, vendor due diligence, and data retention.
• Document and maintain Records of Processing Activities (RoPAs) for each in-scope entity, ensuring privacy notices reflect current practices.
• Complete annual Data Protection risk assessments for internal governance reporting and support enterprise risk assessments.
• Supervise data protection compliance, performing gap analyses, and coordinating remediation and training as vital.
• Act as a referral point for data protection queries and advance issues to the Head of Data Protection as needed.

Skills & Attributes

• Deep knowledge of UK and EU data protection laws and ePrivacy regulations, including PECR.
• Experience with data protection compliance in sophisticated, multi-company environments.
• Skilled in assessing and advising on personal data breaches, subject access requests, and contractual reviews with controllers and processors.
• Solid understanding of information technologies and data security best practices.
• Experience within Financial Services (preferably insurance) is desirable.
• Effective interpersonal and negotiation skills to work with diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal, time management, and planning abilities.
• Clear communicator, able to simplify sophisticated concepts and balance regulatory needs with business goals.

Qualifications

• CIPP/E, CIPM, or Certified Data Protection Practitioner (PC.dp) qualifications are preferred but not essential.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. Our business succeeds by allowing our people to make a mark in the areas they care about most: personal development, volunteering, and fundraising for charity, or creating new insurance products that address society’s greatest challenges. And we know that separate home and work lives don't really exist. If you're happy and healthy at home, you're more likely to be happy and fulfilled at work – and vice versa. That's why we do our best to support our people in every aspect of their lives.

Diversity and Inclusion

At Howden we value diversity - there is no one Howden ‘personality type’. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new.
• We support each other, in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges.
• We are determined to make a positive difference, at work and beyond.

We consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness, and respect – regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or family circumstances.

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours or hybrid working. If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

Our sustainability promise

We’re on a life-long journey to become an ever-more sustainable group. It's a commitment to taking care of our people and the world we live in, to doing good business, and to making a positive impact wherever we can. Our governance processes, company policies, and review systems are all geared towards our goal of making a positive impact in the world. You can read more about our sustainability work here.