Legal Compliance Officer

Berry Recruitment; Essex; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

A public sector recruitment agency is seeking a detail-oriented Legal Compliance Officer for a temporary assignment in Harlow. The role involves ensuring compliance across data protection and legal frameworks, managing FOIA and SAR requests, and maintaining accurate records. The ideal candidate will have strong knowledge of legal compliance and relevant legislation. This position requires 22.5 hours per week with a hybrid working arrangement.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable understanding of legal practice compliance and public sector governance.
• Proven experience handling FOIA, SARs, and third-party data requests.
• Strong working knowledge of relevant legislation like GDPR, FOIA 2000, and EIR 2004.

Responsibilities

• Manage FOI and EIR requests, ensuring deadlines are met.
• Lead on GDPR SARs and validate data sharing requests.
• Oversee compliance processes for LEXCEL reaccreditation.

Skills

Legal compliance understanding

Data Protection Act 2018 knowledge

FOIA and SARs experience

Job description

Berry Recruitment is seeking an experienced Legal Compliance Officer to join a well-established local authority team based in Harlow. This temporary assignment offers a unique opportunity to contribute to critical compliance and governance functions within a public sector legal environment.

The role requires on-site presence for three days per week, increasing to four days from January 2026.

This role is to work 22.5 hours per week.

Role Overview

The successful candidate will support the legal services function by ensuring statutory and organisational compliance across data protection, information governance, and legal accreditation frameworks.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and respond to Freedom of Information (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests, including hybrid cases involving multiple departments.
• Lead on Subject Access Requests (SARs) under the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR, ensuring timely and accurate responses.
• Handle internal and third-party personal data sharing requests, assessing legal bases and exemptions.
• Oversee compliance processes for LEXCEL reaccreditation, including file reviews and reporting.
• Process and track invoices using internal systems, ensuring prompt payment and accurate records.

Duties Include

• Coordinating hybrid FOIA requests and ensuring statutory deadlines are met.
• Advising departmental FOI officers on exemptions and compliance procedures.
• Drafting SAR responses and liaising with departments to validate data sharing requests.
• Conducting LEXCEL-compliant file reviews and generating reports for the Legal Services Manager.
• Maintaining invoice records and liaising with Finance to ensure timely processing.

The ideal candidate will

• Demonstrable understanding of legal practice compliance and public sector governance.
• Proven experience handling FOIA, SARs, and third-party data requests.
• Strong working knowledge of the Data Protection Act 2018, GDPR, FOIA 2000, and EIR 2004.
• Comfortable with hybrid working arrangements, with flexibility for full-time office presence if preferred.

If you are a detail-oriented legal professional with a strong grasp of data protection and compliance, Berry Recruitment would welcome your application.

Please note that no terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate on the grounds of a person\'s gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. Every candidate will be assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and ability to perform the duties of the job.