Head of Data and Information Policy

This role will lead, nurture and manage relationships with key strategic stakeholders on behalf of the Chief Executive and will support the Deputy Chief Executive in influencing the legislative and data policy landscape across government, so that the interests of The National Archives and the wider archive sector are protected, championed and, where possible, advanced.

This role will lead the work to realise The National Archives ministerially-endorsed strategic ambition to develop proposals for legislative change to the Public Records Act 1958, and the wider regime for access to the historical public record, in order to unlock the value of archival holdings in the digital age.

This role will be a senior member of the Government and Archives Leadership Directorate, supporting the Deputy Chief Executive to collectively drive delivery of the Directorates business. This role will also provide corporate leadership of The National Archives as a key member of its wider Senior Leadership Team, with collective accountability for organisational culture and successful delivery of The National Archives strategy.

This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department. A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.

We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Essential criteria:

• Sophisticated understanding of the interfaces between at least two of the following areas of law and how they impact access to data and information: the Public Records Act 1958, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, GDPR and associated Data Protection legislation.
• Proven track record as a credible and trusted policy adviser to a Chief Executive, and/or Board-level equivalent(s).
• Demonstrable knowledge of how to employ domain knowledge and technical policy expertise with legal professionals, in order to protect and promote organisational rights and responsibilities.
• Excellent communication and analytical skills. In particular, this role will often have to communicate highly nuanced, dense or specialised policy concepts and positions so you will need to have experience in translating such complexity to non-specialists, in both oral and written briefings.
• Dynamic self-starter who can proactively build and nurture relationships with senior stakeholders and expert policy, legal, governmental, archive sector, data professional and political networks, both domestically and abroad.
• Deep strategic thinker, with sound judgement, confident political awareness and commercial acumen.
• Commitment to self-development and a flair for motivating, inspiring and enabling the development and impact of others.
• Aptitude for ensuring appropriate governance including sound budget management through effective communication and reporting on progress, issues, opportunities, and risks to the Executive Team, the Board and ministers (where appropriate).

Application Process

• Interview: Interviews will be held on-siteand will include a peer panel session. This is an informal discussion with a small number of TNA staff which will give you the chance to find out more about the organisation and share any relevant information about yourself. We anticipate running a one-stage interview process. However, depending on the volume and quality of applications received, we may introduce a second interview stage if required.
• Personal Statement: We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement, not exceeding 1200 words

Selection for interview will be based on the essential requirements as listed above so please ensure that your application demonstrates in detail how you meet these requirements.