Senior Advisor, Health Privacy

About Us

The Department of Health and Wellness offers opportunities to grow and advance in a dynamic sector that touches the lives of all Nova Scotians.  Along with our partners, including the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK Health Centre, we’re committed to continually improving our health care system. With a focus on collaborative primary health care, urgent and emergency care, acute care, community-based supports, digital health, capital infrastructure, and more, the department is thinking differently about how to plan, fund, legislate and monitor to improve access and service delivery. To do this, we need leaders at all levels of the organization who embrace a challenge and believe in their ability to make a difference.
 

About Our Opportunity

The Senior Advisor, Health Privacy provides strategic leadership in the development, implementation, and stewardship of Nova Scotia's provincial health privacy framework. The role facilitates the advancement of a coordinated, consistent, and risk-based approach to privacy across the Department of Health and Wellness, NS Health, IWK, and health system partners.

As the department's senior health privacy expert, you provide advice and recommendations to leadership, government departments, health authorities, and system partners on complex and emerging privacy issues. The role is responsible for identifying risks, opportunities, and trends affecting the collection, use, disclosure, sharing, and protection of personal health information and for recommending innovative and practical solutions that balance privacy protection with the effective use of health information to support better health outcomes for Nova Scotians.

The position supports a broad range of provincial initiatives involving digital health, health system transformation, data governance, information sharing, artificial intelligence, electronic health records, and emerging technologies. The Senior Advisor must possess the ability to see the broader health system picture, anticipate future privacy challenges and develop practical solutions.

Working within a highly complex and fast-paced environment, the role provides leadership on the interpretation and application of legislative requirements, governance frameworks, policies, standards, and best practices, ensuring privacy considerations are embedded into programs, services, technologies, and business processes across the provincial health sector.

Primary Accountabilities

• Lead the ongoing development, enhancement, implementation, and evaluation of Nova Scotia's provincial health privacy framework.
• Serve as the department's senior subject matter expert and trusted advisor on health privacy, providing strategic advice to senior executives, departmental leadership, health system partners, and government decision-makers.
• Lead complex privacy initiatives, assessments, investigations, and policy development activities that have province-wide implications.
• Develop recommendations and solutions on evolving privacy risks, emerging technologies, digital health initiatives, information-sharing practices, and legislative requirements.
• Provide expert interpretation of the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) and other relevant privacy, information management, and health-system legislation.
• Lead the development of privacy governance structures, policies, standards, guidance documents, and risk mitigation strategies that support a modern, integrated health system.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, tools, frameworks, and decision-making approaches that strengthen privacy management, create efficiencies and organizational accountability.
• Support major health system transformation initiatives by ensuring privacy considerations are incorporated into planning, implementation, and operational decision-making.
• Foster collaborative relationships with government departments, health authorities, regulators, legal counsel, and external partners to advance privacy objectives and address complex issues.
• Lead and mentor a team of senior privacy analysts, providing coaching, direction, quality assurance, and professional development support while promoting a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Represent the Department on provincial, interdepartmental, and national committees, working groups, and strategic initiatives related to privacy, and digital health.
  
  

Qualifications and Experience

As the successful candidate, you possess:

• A university degree in a related discipline such as law, public administration, health administration, information management, policy, or a related field. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Significant progressive experience in health privacy, privacy governance, privacy risk management, information management, health policy, or a closely related field.
• Knowledge of the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA), privacy principles, privacy impact assessment methodologies, information-sharing frameworks, and related legislative and regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrated experience providing expert advice and strategic recommendations to senior leadership and executive teams on highly complex issues.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams, including the supervision, coaching, and development of professional staff.
• Strong understanding of digital health, health information systems, electronic health records, data governance, emerging technologies, and associated privacy considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities and deliver results in a high-volume, politically sensitive, and rapidly evolving environment.
• Exceptional analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess complex issues and develop practical, risk-informed recommendations.
• Superior communication, relationship-building, and influence skills, including the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments and achieve consensus across organizations.
  
  

You are recognized as a trusted leader who combines deep technical expertise with sound judgment, strategic thinking, and a strong understanding of the broader health system. You excel at navigating complexity, anticipating emerging challenges, and translating legislation and policy into practical guidance and actionable solutions. You are equally comfortable leading staff, engaging stakeholders, and driving system-wide improvements that strengthen privacy protection, public trust, and the responsible use of health information.

Equivalency

An equivalent combination of training, education and experience will be considered. Applicants relying on education and experience equivalencies must demonstrate such equivalencies in their application.

Benefits

Based on the employment status, the Government of Nova Scotia offers its employees a wide range of benefits such as a Defined Benefit Pension Plan, Health, Dental, Life Insurance, General illness, Short and Long Term Disability, Vacation and Employee and Family Assistance Programs.  For information on all our Benefit program offerings, click here: Benefits for government employees.

Additional Information

This is a Permanent status position.

What We Offer

• Career development where you have access to career guidance, tools, resources, and ongoing training for every stage of your career
• Engaging workplace: our employees feel valued, respected, connected, and tuned in, we have forward-thinking policies and strategies
• Countless career paths
• A dynamic, client-focused office environment where service excellence and teamwork are our focus.