Director, Privacy and Legal Office

Data. Discovery. Better Health.
ICES is a world-leading health research and analytics institute. With a wealth of data and analytic expertise, we create trusted evidence that has changed health policy and practice and helps ensure better health for all.
Ready to discover more with us? Join our outstanding, collaborative team where your skills, knowledge and curiosity are valued and can change the future of health care.

At ICES, we recognize what matters most to our employees. Some of the great benefits of working at ICES include:
Flexible remote work arrangements anywhere in Ontario
Competitive Compensation
Comprehensive Benefits Program
HOOPP Pension Plan (Defined Pension)
Employee Assistance Program and Dialogue Well Being Program
Generous vacation, float and caregiver days for all employees
Education Fund and Dedicated Education Days
Holiday Closure
Perkopolis Employee Discount Program

Introduction:
ICES is seeking a Director in its Privacy and Legal office (PLO). The ICES PLO is an inter-disciplinary team of professionals that provide a full complement of privacy, legal, compliance, and risk services across the ICES Network, primarily in relation to research, analytics, data partnerships, data quality information management, and information technology.

Under the oversight of the Chief Privacy and Legal Officer, the Director, PLO is responsible for overseeing ICES privacy, risk, and compliance regime while at the same time providing exceptional service delivery to meet the needs of the organization. Due to the mature legislative and regulatory environment in Ontario, the Director, PLO must have a solution-oriented approach and an in-depth understanding of privacy/legal issues. . The Director must lead, implement, and manage their team to implement annual operating plans for the PLO with a focus on organizational priorities, key performance indicators (KPI) and metrics, as well as related service level agreements (SLA). To meet such deliverables, the Director requires strong management skills, is accountable for maintaining well-defined processes, tools, metrics and service-level agreements, logs, and resources, and the overall efficiency and organization of the entire PLO. The Director also plays a key role in proactively ensuring good communication, coordination, cooperation and strong working relationships between PLO and other staff across ICES, including the ICES Scientists. Lastly, the ideal candidate for this role must be creative, independently motivated to lead and implement solutions, able to manage a team to optimize performance, be an effective communicator when presenting and speaking to diverse audiences, and able to oversee a busy portfolio, while in parallel, providing substantive advice when required.

Responsibilities of the position include, but may not be limited to:

Privacy/Legal

• Substantively applying privacy/legal issues to a variety of different use cases, including with respect to artificial intelligence;
• Ensuring diligence in respect of the Privacy Services portfolio, whilst striving for organizational level expectations regarding service delivery;
• Keeping current on privacy/legal and risk trends and practices;
• Keeping current on case law and IPC related decisions and guidance;
• Drafting ICES-wide privacy/legal resources and information, including policies, procedures and other related documentation;
• Advising on regulatory issues to ensure organizational-wide privacy/legal compliant practices;
  Compliance;
• Implementing any PLO-related recommendations and/or requirements issued to ICES by Ontarios Information & Privacy Commissioner (IPC);
• Ensuring mechanisms are in place to demonstrably measure ICES compliance with all required IPC policies, procedures and practices to foster accountability;
• Ensuring ICES is in compliance with contractual obligations related to ICES Data Holdings Obligations;
  
  

Risk

• Leading and incorporating a risk-based approach on key ICES strategic priorities impacting data and new technologies;
• Responsible for implementing the enterprise-risk management program across the ICES Network;
  
  

Audit

• Overseeing the operationalization of ICES Privacy and Security Audit Program;
  
  

Management

• Managing the PLO, including staff reporting to the role, relevant deliverables and all related processes according to agreed-upon timelines;
• Managing PLO staff reporting to the role, including oversight of their work, providing performance feedback, mentoring and coaching;
• Managing workload, priorities and deliverables of PLO staff;
• Directing work and initiating reporting processes with members of the PLO;
  
  

Operations

• Preparing, implementing and overseeing the operational plan for the PLO;
• Leading the development, measuring and reporting of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for PLO staff in support of ICES strategic priorities;
• Leading the development, measuring and reporting of service level agreement (SLAs) targets to improve client satisfaction;
• Leading the development, measuring and reporting of departmental-level balanced scorecards, where applicable;
• Successful achievement of KPIs and SLAs, and/or demonstrating continuous improvement.
  
  

Strategy

• Directly supporting and championing initiatives in furtherance of ICES strategic objectives and providing guidance to team;
• Consulting and liaising with internal and external parties to accomplish any of the above, including, ICES Employees and ICES Scientists; data partners; privacy and security advisors; external legal counsel; ICES service providers, auditors and consultants; and research ethics boards;
• Other duties as may be assigned within the scope of this position.
  
  

Knowledge, skills and abilities required:

• Masters and/or law degree (lawyer licensee in good standing with the Law Society), an asset;
• recognized privacy accreditation completed and/or several years of advising on privacy matters required, ;
• Minimum 8 years of relevant privacy, legal, and/or compliance work experience;
• Minimum 3-5 years of experience managing employees;
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing processes, tools, forms, logs, and other mechanisms to support operations, including the development of metrics, dashboards, and methods to track and evaluate progress;
• Demonstrated experience leading successful development and rollout of policies, procedures and practices;
• Demonstrated experience leading largescale initiatives and projects, from conception to design to implementation;
• Demonstrated experience building new programs (or substantial components thereof) from the ground up and providing strategic input;
• Demonstrated experience with mechanisms to evaluate and monitor risks and recommendations;
• Solid knowledge of risk principles;
• Superior interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to forge and maintain healthy working relationships;
• Service-oriented, with an ability to monitor quality of services and possess a continual process-improvement mindset, and skilled in mentoring, training and coaching staff;
• Able to make sound decisions, resolve issues and communicate in a timely manner;
• Must act as an integrator of solutions with stakeholder needs and ICES objectives; and
• Must foster an effective team where team members support one another with a high level of professionalism by building trust, encouraging open communication, respect for others, knowledge sharing and constructive conflict resolution.

This is a full-time opportunity at ICES Central. Successful candidate must reside within Ontario while working remotely and able to come into the office if required from time to time. There may be instances where in-person meetings are requested; however, ICES continues to support Flexible remote work arrangements anywhere in Ontario.

Security clearance may be required.

We thank all applicants for their interest in working at ICES. Due to the volume of applications received, only applicants being considered for the position will be contacted for further discussions.

ICES is committed to providing accessible employment practices, in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). Applicants are asked to make accommodation requests to ICES and we will make every effort to ensure that accommodation requests are met throughout the recruitment process.