Role: Knowledge and Information Liaison Officer (KILO)

Business: Office of Public Guardian (OPG)

Location: Embankment House, Nottingham or Victoria Square House, Birmingham. Some travel between either site may be required.

Grade: EO

Salary: £29,303 - £31,061

Contract Type: Permanent

Minimum Hours: 30 hours (4 days per week)

Type of contract: Permanent

Organisational Overview

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) protects people in England and Wales who may not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves, such as about their health and finance. We are an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), set up in 2007 following the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act of 2005.

OPG is responsible for registering lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and enduring powers of attorney (EPA) and supervising deputies who are appointed by the Court of Protection.

OPG is a fantastic place to work offering a range of development opportunities. The OPG is a disability confident employer and is committed to developing a supportive and inclusive environment that reflects the diverse community we serve.

OPG is currently delivering an ambitious transformation programme. This will change the way we provide services and help us meet the growing needs of our users, partners and our stakeholders. It will make sure our users experience a better level of support and will help us to respond to the changing needs of society. Transformation will ensure we can better support adults at risk and create high-quality services that are accessible and affordable.

Team Overview

The Information Assurance (IA) team is responsible for supporting OPG on all aspects of information management, ensuring that the organisation complies with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and other associated legislation. The team maintain close relationships with colleagues in MoJ HQ to ensure OPG is adhering to departmental requirements.

The activities of the Information Assurance Team include the provision of technical advice in relation to information access legislation, information risk management, and records management advice.

The Information Assurance Team Compliance function is responsible for acting as subject matter experts for all aspects of UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018. This includes managing data incidents across OPG, providing support to business units to identify ways of reducing the risk of future incidents, supporting projects and other change activity in managing information risk, including the completion of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), and supporting the business by developing and maintaining Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs).

The Information Assurance Team has responsibility for all casework related tasks for the business which require Information Assurance oversight, in areas of BAU (Business as usual), Freedom of Information (FOI) and Subject Access Requests (SAR) related responses or other disclosure decisions on behalf of the Public Guardian, to the public, outside agencies, internal departments and third parties.

The team is also responsible for supporting the wider requirement to conduct records management compliance reviews throughout OPG and promoting best practice for information management including the review, storage, and retention of information assets within OPG.

This role will provide support, (as decided by business need), to a Knowledge & Information Manager (KIM) in relation to all activities undertaken by the Information Assurance Team.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Recording and monitoring of data incidents reported by OPG staff, including ensuring that all required information is recorded in a thorough and timely manner on the relevant systems in use. Also supporting the investigation into incidents and identification of mitigating actions where appropriate.

• Handling of statutory information requests (such as Freedom of Information requests and Subject Access Requests) and other non-statutory requests, ensuring that cases are handled and completed within targeted timescales.

• Assist the wider team with records management activities, including planning and support for internal audit work, work relating to OPG’s offsite records storage archive, maintenance of OPG’s Information Asset Registers (working with Information Asset Owners) and other tasks as required related to records management.

• Assist in the handling of complaints, ICO requests and Data Subject Rights requests.

• Support KIMs where required in the production of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and any other associated risk assessment documents, including data sharing agreements.

• Support the production of statistics where required to track team activity and/or support wider business reporting requirements.

• Supporting and helping to deliver on projects to improve the efficiency of the Information Assurance team.

• Taking part in the development and delivery of training materials to all staff to support information assurance awareness across the business.

• Participating in a culture of safeguarding awareness.

• Contributing to a culture of continuous improvement and excellent service delivery.

• Keeping up to date with legislation as part of the team’s continuous improvement and taking an active role in your own development.

• Any other duties commensurate with the role

Agreed Expectations

The successful candidate will be expected to work from their base location on a weekly basis in line with current Civil Service requirements, outside of any reasonable adjustments.

OPG offers flexible working arrangements with potential opportunities to work from home. Flexible working arrangements are decided on a case-by-case basis and are dependent on business needs.

Occasional travel to OPG offices (e.g. Birmingham or Nottingham) may be required.

Team members are expected to take part in a rota to ensure we provide our customers a 9am to 5pm service.

Skills & Qualifications

Essential

• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office computer packages i.e., Word, Excel, Outlook, MS Teams, OneNote, Presentations and PowerPoint with Excellent written and oral communication skills.

• Knowledge of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and Freedom of Information Act 2000, with relevant information management qualifications (e.g. data protection practitioner) or willingness to work towards achieving these.

• Ability to independently plan and manage a caseload, and analyse data using your own judgment, whilst working to tight deadlines.

• Flexible approach to dealing with the changing nature of the work.

• Experience of working in a legal and/or information management environment and in information disclosure decisions.

• Ability to collaborate across all grades and areas of OPG, MoJ and other government departments and to work to deliver competing priorities.

Desirable

• Knowledge of MCA (Mental Capacity Act 2005), Code of Practice, LPA (Lasting Power of Attorney) & EPA Regulations.

Application process

This campaign will follow the Civil Service Success Profiles framework. As part of your application, you will need to provide: 

• A Statement of Suitability (up to 750 words) to demonstrate your experience against the essential criteria. 

• A Behavioural Example (up to 250 words) against the following behaviour: Making effective decisions

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted on the lead Behaviour: Making effective decisions

Assessment

If you are successful at sift, you will be invited for a practical assessment which will test your ability in line with the success profiles.

The assessment will be held remotely, and a set time will be given to complete it.

During the assessment, candidates will be provided with written information on a screen to read. Candidates will then be expected to answer questions on this information during the set time. This will take place following the application sift and before the interview. You will be required to pass the assessment to be able to continue to the next stage.

Interview Process

If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview which will use the Civil Service Success Profiles. At interview, candidates should expect questions on:

• Strengths relevant to the role

• The following Behaviours at Level 2:

  • Making effective decisions

  • Delivering at Pace

  • Leadership

All interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Reasonable Adjustments

At OPG we consider all applications on the basis of merit and want you to feel able to demonstrate your full potential whatever type of assessment is used. If you require any reasonable adjustments for any aspect of the selection process, do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. If you are applying for a role within OPG and would like to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the selection process.

For further information on benefits of working for OPG, such as our Flexible Working Policy and a FAQ, please check the candidate information pack attached to this advert.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, we may offer you an alternative role at the same or lower grade should one be available.