POPrivacy & Data Protection Officer
PO
Career

Privacy & Data Protection Officer

By the numbers
Typical pay
$141,900 / yr
Education to start
Bachelor's degree
Future demand
+4.5% by 2034
People in this job
622K
Figures shown for ·closest of 3 O*NET occupations
The work
A day, hour by hour
08:30
Inbox triage

Scan overnight alerts — breach flags, regulator emails, data subject requests.

09:00
Data audit review

Trace how a new CRM integration collects, stores, and shares customer data.

10:00
Product privacy review

New feature launches Friday — flag two data flows that need fixing first.

11:00
Stakeholder pushback

Marketing wants broader ad targeting; explain exactly where the line is.

12:30
Breach assessment

Vendor exposed 400 user records — decide: report to regulator now or not.

14:00
Policy update

New state privacy law drops in 90 days; rewrite two internal data-handling rules.

15:30
Staff training

Run a 45-minute session turning dense GDPR rules into plain dos and don'ts.

16:30
Subject requests

Process three deletion requests; confirm data is actually gone across all systems.

17:15
Regulatory scan

Skim new EU guidance published today; flag anything that changes current policy.

Things you do
  • Audit how the company collects, stores, and shares personal data.
  • Review new products and flag privacy risks before they launch.
  • Respond to data breaches and lead the company's damage-control plan.
  • Translate dense privacy laws into plain rules employees can follow.
  • Handle requests from people who want to see or delete their data.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Does this business need actually outweigh the privacy risk to users?
  • Is this a reportable data breach, or can we handle it internally?
  • Should I push back on this product launch, or find a way to make it work?
  • Is this vendor's data handling safe enough, or do I block the deal?
  • Do I escalate this to regulators now, or give the team more time to fix it?
Education Pathways · how you get there
84 in 100 went the college route · 16 in 100 found another way in Less than 5 years, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:
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