Director, Privacy Operations R&D and CPO

Overview

In this role you will lead privacy operations to enable scientific innovation in R&D while protecting patient trust and complying with global privacy regulations. You’ll translate privacy principles into practical, scalable controls embedded in data platforms and AI/ML workflows. You will influence cross-functional teams and shape privacy-by-design across research, clinical, and digital health initiatives. This position offers the chance to drive governance in a complex, regulated environment and partner with Legal, Information Security, and Data Governance to balance innovation with ethical data use.

Pay / Benefits

• agile working culture
• equal opportunity employer
• cross-functional collaboration opportunities

Responsibilities

• Provide privacy leadership and SME guidance to cross-functional teams in clinical research, real-world evidence, digital health, AI-enabled initiatives, and patient engagement.
• Operationalise privacy requirements as a core governance product underpinning digital transformation with regulatory rigor.
• Translate policies into machine-readable controls embedded in platforms, pipelines, and data products.
• Collaborate with Tech, Data Governance, and AI/ML teams to ensure testable, auditable privacy controls adopted by default.
• Measure effectiveness with metrics on control coverage, automation, and residual risk, and translate privacy outcomes into business value.
• Advise on data governance and privacy for human biological samples and sensitive data; support cross-border transfers and global requirements.
• Coordinate data subject rights processes and support due diligence for new systems and services.
• Coach and build privacy capability across the organization through education and knowledge sharing.

Key requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in relevant field; or equivalent experience.
• Significant experience in information governance, AI governance, and privacy operations.
• Hands-on experience with genetic/genomic research and pharmacogenomics (PGx).
• Experience managing operational privacy programs including data subject requests, third party due diligence, and system monitoring.
• Experience operationalising privacy requirements as code embedded in platforms or data products.
• Working knowledge of privacy principles in highly regulated environments.
• Experience influencing stakeholders in a complex matrix organization.
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills.

• Influencing and negotiation
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Clear communication to non-specialists
• Privacy-by-design engineering
• Governance automation and policy enforcement
• GDPR (UK/EU) and HIPAA knowledge

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