We’re BDO, a global professional services firm connected to local markets. Our people work together to provide specialist expertise, helping businesses achieve their goals.
We inspire others, to go further. We create together, to reach higher. We build trust, to lead purposefully.
Whether you're building your future or starting your career with us, you won’t do it alone. From creating solutions for our clients to building careers for our people, we shape what matters, and that’s where you come in.
About the Role
Lead BDO’s privacy function and help strengthen how privacy is embedded across the firm. Working across risk, legal, data, IT and the broader business, you will guide privacy initiatives, advise on risk and compliance, and support practical, business-aligned decision-making. You will also lead and develop the privacy team and contribute to a strong, sustainable privacy culture.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Lead delivery of the firm’s privacy roadmap and strategic privacy initiatives.
Lead and develop the privacy team, including setting priorities, allocating work and supporting capability development.
Interpret privacy obligations and provide practical advice on privacy risk across Australian and relevant international frameworks.
Embed privacy-by-design requirements into policies, processes, systems, projects and technology delivery, including AI and data initiatives.
Partner with IT, security, architecture, data, legal, risk and business teams to design and operate effective privacy controls.
Oversee privacy impact assessments, third-party privacy risk and cross-border data considerations.
Manage privacy operations, including incident and breach response, data subject requests, compliance registers and assurance activities.
Report on privacy risk, controls, incidents and agreed metrics to senior stakeholders and governance forums.
Deliver privacy training and awareness, monitor regulatory developments and drive continuous improvement of the privacy framework.
Skill/Attribute required
Strong working knowledge of privacy laws and frameworks, including the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles, the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme and relevant international regimes such as GDPR.
Ability to translate complex privacy obligations into clear, practical and commercially balanced advice.
Experience influencing and partnering across IT, legal, risk, data and business teams.
Strong analytical, problem-solving and risk-based decision-making skills.
Confident leadership skills with the ability to set priorities and support team development.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including policy drafting and executive reporting.
Ability to manage competing priorities and deliver outcomes in a fast-paced environment.
High level of accountability, attention to detail and autonomy.
Qualifications and Experience required
Tertiary qualification in Law, Business, Information Systems or a related discipline.
Professional certification in privacy or risk management is desirable, such as CIPP/A, CIPM or equivalent.
Strong experience in privacy, data governance or compliance within a medium to large organisation.
Demonstrated experience embedding privacy-by-design into business processes, systems and technology delivery.
Experience conducting privacy impact assessments and managing privacy risk, incidents, data subject rights and compliance registers.
Familiarity with data governance and information security frameworks, such as ISO 27001 or NIST, and experience supporting audits, client questionnaires or accreditation submissions.
Why BDO?
Working for BDO you will be part of a growing and market leading professional services firm.
Our national and global footprint provides our people with opportunities to work on interesting client engagements, across diverse industry sectors and services.
Our open and collaborative culture ensures access to Partners and professional mentors, to guide and accelerate your professional career, across a wide array of career pathways.
We provide our people with various health and wellbeing, social, financial, and professional development benefits to help realise what’s possible.
Participate in fitness challenges or take advantage of exclusive discounts to corporate health insurance, gym memberships and wellness facilities via our BWell program. Access benefits such as travel perks, retail discounts, employee referral rewards, study, and professional development support.
Our leave options cater to the unique needs of our people; and include enhanced family support, cultural and religious leave, and options to purchase additional leave. You can also give back and get involved in community initiatives via our BCaring program.
With a strong focus on learning and growth, we provide on the job training and formal development programs to help you succeed in your role and develop your skills and experience.
Our culture is underpinned by our core values (One, Bold, Human, Heart and Strive).
We are proud to be recognised as an Inclusive Employer for 2025-2026 by Diversity Council of Australia and a 2024-2025 Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
BDO is committed to inclusive and accessible recruitment practices. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview process, we encourage you to contact our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected]
