Head of Legal and Group DPO

ROLE SUMMARY:

This is a rare opportunity to combine deep data protection expertise with broad legal leadership in a fast-growing, international education business. You will serve as the Group's Global Data Protection Officer while also acting as Head of Legal, working side by side with the Group General Counsel to manage and develop the legal function across the organisation. This is not a siloed DPO role. You will be the GC's right hand across the full range of legal matters the group faces, from commercial contracts to regulatory questions to strategic projects. If you thrive on breadth, autonomy, and building things, this role was designed for you.

Why Join Us

• Work at the centre of a global business. You will sit alongside the Group GC in a compact, senior legal team supporting operations across 30 countries and more than 125 schools. There is no bureaucracy between you and the decisions that matter.
• Engage with senior leadership daily. Your stakeholders are the CEO, CFO, and the leaders running schools and regions around the world. You will have direct access to the highest levels of the organisation from day one.
• Build something. This role offers genuine autonomy to design and improve legal and data protection structures and processes across the group. If you like to create, not just maintain, this is your platform.
• Develop an exceptional skill set. Working across the full scope of legal matters in a multi-jurisdictional, acquisitive group will stretch you in ways a pure DPO or single-practice role never could.
• Travel. With schools across 30 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East, the role offers meaningful international exposure and the opportunity to engage with teams on the ground worldwide.
• Join a high-growth organisation. Inspired continues to expand its global footprint through acquisitions and new school launches, meaning the legal function is growing with it and so will your career.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Data Protection

• Act as the Group's registered Data Protection Officer in the UK and oversee outsourced DPO and data protection service providers across other jurisdictions
• Own and evolve a scalable, multi-jurisdictional data protection framework that delivers standardised baseline compliance while accommodating local requirements
• Lead on DSARs, breach management, DPIAs, records of processing, and data protection training across the group
• Advise the business on data protection matters relating to students, parents, and staff, including the handling of children's data and other special or higher-risk categories of personal data
• Monitor regulatory developments (including emerging AI regulation) and translate them into practical guidance for the business

Wider Legal Function

• Partner with the Group General Counsel to manage, shape, and develop the legal function as it matures
• Review, draft, and negotiate commercial contracts across a range of subject matter
• Advise on general commercial legal matters including intellectual property, procurement, and supplier relationships
• Support the GC on strategic and ad hoc legal projects as the business requires

Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a trusted legal adviser to C-suite executives, Heads of School, and Regional CEOs and CFOs
• Communicate legal and data protection risk clearly and practically to non-legal stakeholders at all levels
• Build strong relationships across the business to ensure legal and data protection are seen as enablers, not blockers

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL HAVE:

Essential

• Qualified lawyer (UK or equivalent) with significant post-qualification experience in data protection
• Proven track record of managing data protection compliance across multiple jurisdictions, including building scalable systems, processes, and governance frameworks
• Experience with DSARs, breach management, DPIAs, and data protection training programmes
• Strong commercial instinct and a healthy risk appetite: you give practical, proportionate advice that helps the business move forward
• Comfortable reviewing and drafting commercial contracts and advising on general commercial legal questions
• Excellent communicator who can translate complex legal and regulatory concepts for business stakeholders at all levels
• Proactive, self-starting, and energised by creating and improving processes, structures, and ways of working
• Genuinely excited about working across the full breadth of a legal function, not just data protection

Desirable

• Experience handling children's data or other higher-risk categories of personal data (e.g., health, education records)
• Familiarity with emerging AI regulation and its practical implications
• Experience in the education sector or other regulated, people-focused industries
• CIPP/E, CIPM, or equivalent data protection certification

SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT:

Inspired Education Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers and other third parties to share this commitment. Safer recruitment practices and pre-employment background checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.

APPLICATION FORM:

Please download and complete our Inspired Application Form and submit alongside your CV.

Inspired Non-Teaching Application Form