Salary: £62,623 - £73,674 (dependent on experience)
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: Full-Time
Location: Poole, Dorset, England
Location description: Hybrid working between home and Poole, with 2 to 3 days a week working in the office
Interview date: 10th or 11th November 2026
Closing Date: 25-10-2026
Reference: 22071
About us
Our purpose is simple: to save lives at sea. 24 hours a day, every day, RNLI lifesavers are ready to launch to the rescue.
We are looking for a Data Protection Officer to join our Finance and Corporate Services team to take primary responsibility for statutory compliance with Data Protection regulations and provide strategic risk management and guidance across the RNLI and its subsidiaries.
These are exciting times at the RNLI. Through our continuous improvement programme, we are driving fast-paced, transformational change that allows us to save more lives at sea in new and creative ways. We are engaging with different audiences, developing new products and finding even more effective and streamlined ways of running our lifesaving service, and we are working in a highly regulated and changing legal environment. Agility and innovation are high on our agenda as we transform our culture and the way in which we operate.
About the role
This role will have high visibility across the organisation and is an exciting opportunity to contribute to our data transformation journey, accountable for ensuring compliance with Data Protection within RNLI and taking the lead on strategic management of all data protection matters, including risk and compliance of all core activities for the RNLI.
This is a hybrid role between home and Poole, with a minimum of 2 days per week working in the office required.
Skills, knowledge and experience
The ideal candidate will have substantial knowledge and experience of the data protection legal framework, including GDPR regulations. You will have a proven track record of translating regulation into auditable processes and demonstrate the ability to embed and promote best practice in data processing activities, especially in a digital supporter engagement context. You will need to work with the programme team to develop and implement a data protection compliance framework.
We are looking for candidates who have strong interpersonal skills, excellent communication and organisational skills with the ability to translate regulation to a variety of audiences and to take a pragmatic approach to managing programmes of work.
You will need good reporting and presentation skills relating particularly to the technology required for this role. This role is ideally suited to someone with experience of working in a large organisation.
Diversity at the RNLI
Our staff and volunteers have been saving lives at sea without prejudice for 200 years. We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams, and consider it essential to help us deliver a world-class lifesaving service. We are an inclusive organisation and welcome applications from everyone. In addition to having the skills needed for the role, we also look for applicants who share our commitment to living our RNLI values (trustworthy, courageous, selfless, and dependable) and helping us work towards Our Vision: To save Every One
Salary description
£62623.00 - £73674.00 per year