Data Privacy Operations & Governance Lead

FirstRand Limited; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

FirstRand Limited is seeking a seasoned Data Privacy Specialist (SME) to join the Data Privacy and Protection Centre of Excellence. You will advance privacy governance, risk assessments, DPIAs, RoPA, and PAIA/POPIA compliance across the group, partnering with legal, IT, and product teams.

You will draft and harmonise privacy policies, support privacy incident management, and help scale privacy operations with automated platforms and controls, ensuring global alignment with best practices and

Qualifications

• Minimum 4–5 years in Data Privacy Programme Management.
• Solid knowledge of PAIA and POPIA with practical application to access requests.
• Experience with data privacy laws, compliance frameworks and IT risk governance.
• Exposure to AI, data analytics, or emerging technologies is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Represent CoE in privacy for governance and risk frameworks across FirstRand.
• Draft, review and harmonise privacy documentation and guidance.
• Lead privacy risk assessments for AI and innovative use cases.
• Coordinate privacy training, RoPA management, DPIAs, vendor reviews and incident management.

Skills

Privacy governance

Risk assessment

Policy drafting

Stakeholder engagement

Data protection laws

Education

LLB / B.Com LLB

Tools

OneTrust

TrustArc

Securiti

Job description

FirstRand Limited is seeking a seasoned Data Privacy Specialist (SME) to join the Data Privacy and Protection Centre of Excellence. You will advance privacy governance, risk assessments, DPIAs, RoPA, and PAIA/POPIA compliance across the group, partnering with legal, IT, and product teams.

You will draft and harmonise privacy policies, support privacy incident management, and help scale privacy operations with automated platforms and controls, ensuring global alignment with best practices and