On behalf of UKRI, we are looking for a Data Retention Specialist (Inside IR35) for an 8 month contract. This is a hybrid working role (occasional travel to Swindon required).
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the national funding agency investing in science and research in the UK.
UKRI invests £8 billion of taxpayers’ money each year into research and innovation and the people who make it happen. They work across a huge range of fields - from biodiversity conservation to quantum computing, and from space telescopes to innovative health care. They give everyone the opportunity to contribute and to benefit, bringing together people and organisations nationally and globally to create, develop and deploy new ideas and technologies.
Job Purpose:
The Information Governance Optimisation project is the first phase of a multi-workstream cluster of initiatives designed to:
- Strengthen UKRI’s information governance posture across the Group.
- Reduce risk exposure associated with poor data handling, compliance breaches, and information loss.
- Deliver a unified and consistent approach to information governance across UKRI, aligning policies, processes, and controls.
- Protect UKRI from significant financial, operational, and reputational harm arising from regulatory non-compliance or data incidents.
- Achieve compliance with UK Government standards and statutory obligations, including Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR, and Freedom of Information requirements.
The Info Gov Optimisation project comprises 4 discreet workstreams:
- Privacy and consent management
- Governance Automation
- Physical records reduction
- Electronic Documents and Records Management
As a Data Retention Specialist, your main responsibilities will be:
- Enterprise data retention schedule - a unified, compliant retention and disposal policy covering all UKRI information types across physical and digital records.
- Current-state assessment of retention practices - analysis of existing retention, triggers, storage, and disposal approaches, highlighting risks, gaps, inconsistencies and opportunities for simplification.
- Retention and disposal standards and procedures - clear, standardised processes for data classification, metadata, retention periods and triggers, legal holds, and secure destruction.
- Optimisation of M365 eDiscovery functionality to reduce duplication and enable targeted, in-place review.
- Alignment with EDRMS and automation tools - defined requirements to embed retention rules into systems, enabling automated classification, retention, and deletion.
- Physical records reduction plan - structured approach to reduce paper records through digitisation, defensible disposal, and improved storage practices.
- Compliance and audit framework - controls, monitoring, and reporting mechanisms to ensure adherence to retention policies and regulatory requirements.
Essential:
- Data retention policy expertise - strong understanding of regulatory requirements (UK GDPR, DPA 2018, FOI) and how they translate into compliant retention schedules.
- Information lifecycle management - ability to define and manage data from creation through to archival and secure disposal across physical and digital environments.
- Process design and standardisation - capability to develop clear, consistent retention and disposal processes aligned to organisational governance frameworks.
- Records management and EDRMS knowledge - understanding of classification schemes, metadata, and how retention policies are embedded and automated in systems.
- Knowledge of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery and implementation
- Risk and compliance assessment - ability to identify over-retention, under-retention, and legal risks, and implement defensible disposal practices.
- Stakeholder engagement and guidance - skills in working with business units, legal, and IT teams to embed retention practices and drive organisational adoption.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.
Disability Confident
As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, UKRI guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
Armed Forces Covenant
UKRI guarantees to interview veterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".
