Senior Advisor

The Senior Data Protection Advisor serves as the strategic lead for safeguarding sensitive healthcare data within Health Shared Services’ Snowflake Research Environment, enabling secure collaboration with external researchers and internal teams. The role is responsible for designing, implementing, and enforcing governance, access control, auditing, and data‑tagging strategies to ensure compliance with TCPS 2, the Health Information Act (HIA), the Personal Information Protection Act (POPA), the Access to Information Act (ATIA), the Public Health Act of Alberta, and other applicable regulations. Beyond Snowflake governance, the advisor develops and oversees frameworks for AI/ML governance, ensuring responsible use of large‑scale healthcare datasets. The role leads the creation and management of synthetic and de‑identified datasets to support research and innovation while protecting patient privacy. Key responsibilities include administering Snowflake governance policies; managing onboarding and access for external researchers; monitoring platform performance and security; developing AI/ML governance standards; ensuring training data is de‑identified and ethically compliant; implementing audit and explainability requirements; governing ingestion and processing of large datasets; embedding privacy‑by‑design into data pipelines; maintaining metadata and lineage; and leading the design, validation, and quality assurance of synthetic and de‑identified datasets. The advisor ensures adherence to privacy legislation, conducts periodic audits, identifies and mitigates risks, and provides expert guidance to internal teams and external partners. The role also delivers training to promote responsible data use and collaborates with legal, compliance, and security teams to align governance practices with evolving requirements.

The job exists to address the critical need for safeguarding sensitive information while maintaining the utility of data for research and secondary use purposes. As Health Shared Services handle vast amounts of data, the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches is significant. The Alberta Health Shared Services Enterprise Data Governance Senior Analyst plays a crucial role in protecting individual privacy, meeting regulatory and legislative requirements, and reducing the risk of unauthorized data exposure. The importance of the role extends to maintaining trust with co-workers, clients, and stakeholders, ensuring compliance with data protection laws, and supporting secure and responsible data practices within the organization. By implementing effective strategies, the analyst contributes to the organization's overall data security posture and facilitates responsible data utilization across various business functions.

A bachelor's degree in a relevant field is usually required. Preferred fields include Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, Data Science, or a related discipline. Equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience may be considered. 7+ years of progressive experience in data governance, privacy, or information security, with at least 3 years in a senior or advisory role. Training in data governance principles and data privacy regulations is important. Understanding the legal and regulatory landscape around data protection is crucial for implementing effective data auditing and masking strategies. Proficiency in programming languages (e.g., SQL) and scripting languages. Demonstrated experience with healthcare data environments and/or regulatory compliance (e.g., HIA, POPA, TCPS 2). Hands‑on experience with cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Azure, AWS, or GCP) including role‑based access control, tagging, and auditing.

Proven track record in data de‑identification, anonymization, or synthetic data generation. Multiple years of hands-on experience working directly with large provincial health care data sets. Understanding of AI/ML governance frameworks, including bias mitigation, explainability, and model monitoring.

Strong knowledge of privacy‑enhancing technologies (masking, tokenization, k‑anonymity, l‑diversity, differential privacy). Familiarity with international standards such as ISO/IEC 27559 (Privacy Enhancing Data De‑identification Framework).