Lead Advisor, Privacy

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Posting Reason:

New Position

Job Type:

Employee

Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments):

N/A

Job Family:

Governance and Risk

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service - Department:

Access to Information and Privacy Office

Campus:

Main Campus

Union Affiliation:

N/A

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):

2026/08/17

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD):

2026/08/31

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

Non-Union Grade NM1

Salary Range:

$107 503,00 - $134 379,00

Position Purpose:

The Lead Advisor, Privacy supports the development, implementation, and ongoing enhancement of the University’s privacy management program, and leads the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) process to identify and manage privacy considerations related to the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and protection of personal information across the University. This role works with a broad range of stakeholders to advance a consistent, coordinated approach to privacy compliance, embedding privacy requirements into university initiatives, systems, research activities and third-party relationships.

Acting as a subject matter expert in applicable privacy legislation and best practices, including 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), the Lead Advisor ensures privacy assessments, controls, and guidance are incorporated into University programs, projects, and decision‑making. The role also supports the administration and continuous improvement of privacy breach and complaint management processes, assisting in the response to incidents and complaints as needed, and provides expert advice and support to the Chief Privacy Officer and Legal Counsel in sustaining an effective and sustainable privacy program.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

• Provides expert advice to university leadership, faculties, and administrative units on the interpretation and application of privacy legislation, institutional policies, and best practices related to compliant collection, use, disclosure, retention, and safeguarding of personal information, including complex or precedent-setting matters escalated from within the Access to information and Privacy Office, to support informed, legally sound decision-making and reduce institutional privacy risk.

• Supervises the work of the Privacy Specialist, including assigning and reviewing files, providing day-to-day guidance and coaching on privacy matters, and ensuring escalation of complex or high-risk files, to support the Specialist's development and maintain consistent quality and compliance across the Office's privacy work.

• Supports University units that act as Health Information Custodians (HICs) and their agents by providing PHIPA-compliance guidance, reviewing initiatives involving personal health information, to ensure the University’s handling of personal health information meets statutory obligations under PHIPA.

• Leads and conducts complex Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and other privacy risk assessments for new or significantly modified initiatives, systems, services, or data‑sharing arrangements, including higher-risk projects and those escalated from within the Office, such as initiatives involving AI tools and other emerging technologies. Identifies privacy risks, determining and recommending mitigation strategies aligned with risk-based compliance approach, and providing final recommendations to support informed decision‑making.

• Tracks, monitors, and reports on privacy risks and mitigation measures across the Office's PIA and risk assessment portfolio, identifying trends and systemic issues requiring escalation to the Chief Privacy Officer.

• Leads the development, review, and maintenance of university privacy policies, standards, procedures, and guidance materials setting the framework within which other privacy team members contribute, to ensure the University's privacy framework remains current and aligned with legislative requirements and evolving best practices.

• Reviews and provides final privacy advice on higher-risk or complex contracts, agreements, and data‑sharing arrangements involving personal information, working collaboratively with IT, procurement, legal, members of the research community, and administrative stakeholders to ensure privacy risks are addressed before agreements are finalized and third-party relationships are established.

• Leads the management of complex high-risk privacy incidents, complaints, and internal investigations, including those escalated from other members of the privacy team. Overseeing assessment, documentation, mitigation and response, to ensure incidents are resolved effectively, limiting harm to affected individuals and the University’s liability.

• Prepares correspondence, briefing materials, and reports related to privacy matters, including submissions to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario on complex or appealed matters, to support timely, accurate, and consistent communication with internal leadership and the regulator.

• Develops and delivers training programs, materials, and presentations for university employees, setting the direction and content that the other teams members help deliver, to build employee awareness of applicable privacy legislation and institutional University policies and support consistent compliance across the University.

• Assist with special projects, including participation on special committees and support the response to access to information requests, as directed by the Chief Privacy Officer and Legal Counsel, to contribute privacy expertise to broader institutional initiatives.

What you will bring:

• University degree in law, public administration, information management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Minimum 7 years of privacy, information security, and/or risk management experience.

• Bilingualism – French and English (spoken and written).

• Privacy related certification is an asset, including Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada (CIPP/C), Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM), or other similar credentials.

• In-depth knowledge of FIPPA, PHIPA and privacy and access to information legislation related access to information and privacy regulation and procedures.

• In-depth knowledge of the University’s policies and procedures related to access to information and protection of privacy.

• Experience in conducting internal investigations

• Experience in preparing briefing material and reports

• Demonstrated experience in supervision

• Strong organizational, planning and time management skills with ability to anticipate office needs.

• Proven organizational skills and ability to prioritize time-sensitive tasks.

• Ability to work under pressure while ensuring quality control.

• Professionalism, judgment, sensorial sensitivity, tact and discretion needed to ensure that the Access to Information and Privacy Office operates efficiently.

• Experience in dealing with the public.

• Experience in dealing with senior management.

• Experience designing, developing and organizing training activities, including determining the structure, content and learning objectives.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Adobe Acrobat, with the ability to effectively use case management software and quickly learn new software applications.

• Ability to work under pressure and meet firm deadlines.

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees 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 [email protected] 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; you can click here to find out more.

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.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.