Privacy Specialist - Hybrid

vcuhealth; Richmond (VA); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

VCU Health is seeking a Privacy Specialist to support privacy investigations, risk assessments, and regulatory readiness. The role collaborates with Legal, Compliance, IS, HIM, and operational teams to ensure compliant privacy practices across the organization.

The position emphasizes developing defensible documentation, maintaining workflows, and contributing to policy updates. A hybrid work arrangement is available, with onsite requirements in Richmond, VA as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, compliance, public health, health information management, business administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience supporting healthcare privacy, compliance, health information management, or related functions within a healthcare organization or academic medical center.
• Certification in healthcare privacy or compliance (e.g., CHPC, CHPS) or ability to obtain within one year of hire.

Responsibilities

• Conduct privacy incident investigations from intake through resolution.
• Perform access reviews and analyze audit logs to evaluate potential inappropriate access or disclosure.
• Apply HIPAA breach risk assessment standards to determine impermissible use or disclosure.
• Coordinate with Legal, Compliance, Information Security, HIM, and operational teams during investigations.
• Coordinate and execute privacy operations activities, including tracking initiatives and maintaining workflows.
• Prepare and maintain reports, dashboards, and metrics for leadership visibility.

Skills

Privacy investigations

Risk assessments

HIPAA compliance

Documentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Regulatory readiness

Audits & reporting

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Privacy certifications

Project coordination

Job description

This is a hybrid opportunity - must be local Richmond, VA to come onsite as needed

The Privacy Specialist supports the organization's privacy operations by performing privacy investigations and operational activities to help ensure compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations governing patient health information. The role works across two core areas: conducting investigations, supporting risk assessments, and maintaining accurate, defensible documentation. The Privacy Specialist also coordinates workflows, supports reporting and regulatory readiness, and contributes to policy and process updates. In this role, the individual works with internal stakeholders across Legal, Compliance, Information Security, HIM, and operational teams to support consistent and compliant privacy practices. Each Privacy Specialist is assigned a primary functional alignment (Investigations or Operations) based on organizational needs and may support cross-functional activities as required.

Essential Job Statements

Privacy Investigations

• Conduct privacy incident investigations from intake through resolution, including fact gathering, interviews, and documentation
• Perform access reviews and analyze audit logs to evaluate potential inappropriate access or disclosure
• Apply HIPAA breach risk assessment standards to determine whether an impermissible use or disclosure occurred
• Develop findings, conclusions, and recommendations, and prepare clear, defensible documentation
• Coordinate with Legal, Compliance, Information Security, HIM, and operational teams during investigations
• Ensure timely case progression and closure in alignment with established timelines and documentation standards

Privacy Operations & Regulatory Support

• Coordinate and execute privacy operations activities, including tracking initiatives, maintaining workflows, and coordinating cross-functional activities
• Support development, review, and maintenance of privacy policies, procedures, and standards
• Prepare and maintain reports, dashboards, and metrics to support leadership visibility and risk monitoring
• Contributes to regulatory readiness activities, including audits, assessments, and documentation reviews
• Participate in enterprise initiatives (e.g., research privacy, vendor data use, interoperability, AI governance), supporting coordination and follow-up actions
• Identify and escalation operational gaps, risks, and opportunities for process improvement

Risk Assessment & Compliance Activities

• Conduct privacy and compliance risk assessments in collaboration with business owners
• Analyze trends from investigations, audits, and reports to identify risk areas and recommend mitigation strategies
• Contribute to policy updates and operational changes based on regulatory requirements and identified gaps
• Maintain accurate and complete documentation to support audit and regulatory review

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with stakeholders across Legal, Compliance, ISRM, HIM, IT/Epic, and operational teams
• Support training, education, and awareness activities based on identified risks and trends
• Serve as a resource for privacy-related inquiries within assigned functional areas

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve investigation workflows, reporting processes, and documentation standards
• Contribute to development of standardized templates, tools, and tracking mechanisms to improve consistency and efficiency
• Contribute to strengthening privacy operations and investigation practices across the organization

Patient Population: N/A

Employment Qualifications

Required Education: Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, compliance, public health, health information management, business administration, or a related field.

Preferred Education: Master's degree in healthcare administration, compliance, public health, health information management, business administration, or a related field.

Licensing/ Certification

Licensure/Certification Required: Certification in healthcare privacy or compliance (e.g., CHPC, CHPS) or ability to obtain within one year of hire.

Licensure/Certification Preferred: Additional certifications in privacy or compliance (e.g., CIPP, CIPM, CHC) are preferred. Familiarity with project coordination practices is preferred; PMP certification is not required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years and Type of Required Experience: Minimum of 2 years of experience supporting healthcare privacy, compliance, health information management, or related functions within a healthcare organization or academic medical center.

Other Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required: Working knowledge of HIPAA Privacy Rule and familiarity with applicable healthcare privacy laws and regulations. Experience supporting program, project, or governance activities, including tracking workplans, milestones, and action items. Experience coordinating cross-functional activities in a matrixed environment under the direction of leadership. Ability to support devel