Privacy and Commercial Counsel & DPO (Maternity cover)

An innovative and fast-growing technology-led healthcare business is seeking a Privacy & Commercial Counsel / Data Protection Officer to join its legal team on a maternity cover contract. The maternity cover contract is for 9 months initially starting end of August but will likely run for 12 months.

Reporting into the Head of Legal, this role offers a broad mix of privacy, commercial and regulatory work within a highly collaborative and fast-paced environment.

This is an exciting opportunity for a commercially minded lawyer who enjoys partnering with stakeholders across the business while taking ownership of privacy compliance matters. The client is ideally seeking someone 5 days per week in the office, but would be happy to consider a hybrid working model of 3 days in the office, and 2 days from home.

The Role

Key responsibilities will include:

• Acting as the organisation's Data Protection Officer and liaising with relevant regulatory authorities.
• Leading UK privacy compliance activities and collaborating with international colleagues on cross-border privacy matters.
• Advising on privacy initiatives including:
• Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)
• International data transfer arrangements
• Privacy by design
• Incident management
• Governance frameworks, policies and procedures

• Monitoring legal and regulatory developments and providing practical advice on emerging privacy and legal risks.
• Advising on a range of commercial legal matters across the business.
• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial agreements, including privacy and data protection provisions.
• Developing and maintaining legal templates, playbooks and internal guidance.
• Delivering privacy training and awareness programmes to business teams.
• Managing and supporting a Data Privacy Manager.
• Working closely with stakeholders across technology, security, operations and other business functions to deliver pragmatic legal solutions.
• Building strong relationships with senior leaders and acting as a trusted legal adviser.
• Supporting contract management and broader legal team initiatives.

About You

You will be:

• A qualified lawyer in England & Wales.
• Experienced working in-house and/or within a leading private practice environment.
• Likely to have a minimum of 2-3 years' post-qualification experience.
• Comfortable managing privacy and data protection matters with limited supervision.
• Commercially minded, pragmatic and solutions focused.
• Able to balance technical legal advice with the practical needs of a growing business.
• An excellent communicator with strong drafting and negotiation skills.
• Confident influencing stakeholders at all levels and building trusted relationships across the organisation.
• Capable of managing multiple priorities in a fast-moving environment.

Desirable Experience

• Experience within the healthcare, life sciences, digital health or technology sectors.
• Exposure to health regulatory matters.
• Broader commercial contracts experience and willingness to support a wide range of legal work.

Due to the urgent nature of the role, the successful candidate will be required to start at the end of August or beginning of September.