Are you looking for a data protection officer job or an indication of what a data protection officer salary would be? The Data Protection Officer job (also known as a DPO job) has got the European Union buzzing at the moment. Who is qualified for this job? What does it entail? How much will the salary be? Is it a GDPR requirement for all organisations to fill this post? While the post has been around for a while, the GDPR has created renewed interest in the position and made certain organisations take the position more seriously by requiring them to appoint someone to it.

Duties of the Data Protection Officer Job?

  1. You will need to be well-informed on the latest data protection laws that have an impact on your organisation.
  2. You will have to have key information on how your organisation is processing those data subjects’ personal information, and when they inquire about that personal information, they may come straight to your office.
  3. You will most likely be the first person that the Supervisory Authority, in terms of the GDPR, will come to for answers about the organisation’s data protection policies and practices.
  4. It will be your responsibility to facilitate the organisation’s compliance by helping conduct data protection impact assessments, audits, and the like.
  5. You will help give your organisation a competitive advantage over other organisations by ensuring that data protection receives all the focus it needs, but does not affect the organisation’s main business in a negative way.
  6. Essentially, you will help the organisation comply by formulating strategies, policies, and establishing practices, and thereby help the organisation in their attempts to avoid legal risks.

In your Data Protection Officer job, you are essentially the link between data subjects, Data Protection Authorities, and your organisation.

Actions you can take now

Who will appoint you?

Before the GDPR became law in the European Union, your prospects of getting this job would not have been as good as they are now. But because of this law, which is relatively new, organisations that are based in the European Union or process the personal information of European Union data subjects now most likely take the position more seriously then they ever did. In short, public and private bodies are the ones asking the question: who needs a DPO or Data Protection Officer? They are your potential employers.

  1. The GDPR requires public bodies to appoint Data Protection Officers.
  2. Only those private bodies that the GDPR also obliges to appoint Data Protection Officers, or those that volunteer to do so, will appoint you.

Data Protection Officer Salary?

The Data Protection Officer salary depends on various factors, including your qualifications and how much an organisation can afford to pay you. It might be worth getting certified by a recognised body. When you consider the various employers out there who are now on the look-out for a Data Protection Officer, getting such a certification becomes an even better idea. Those organisations will put together attractive packages to secure your services. It also means that once you start working for them, and show them the value of having a good Data Protection Officer, they may even be willing to re-negotiate your salary and contract.