Data Protection Specialist

Applied Materials’ IT organization has a long reputation of being a great place to work. The IT team has been recognized as one of Computerworld's 100 Best Places to Work in IT nine times. In addition, numerous Applied IT leaders have been honored as a CIO Magazine's Ones to Watch or Computerworld Premier 100 IT leaders.

Data Protection Specialist

The Data Protection Specialist is responsible for guiding and coordinating data discovery, classification, and tagging activities across business units. This role acts as a liaison between IT teams, Business Data Officers, and Legal stakeholders to ensure sensitive data is properly identified, classified, and protected throughout its lifecycle. The analyst will work closely with information security professionals to develop and implement data protection policies, procedures, and controls that align with business processes and regulatory requirements. This role requires a deep understanding of business processes, information security, and risk management. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Security Strategy: Help develop, implement, and coordinate data protection & data management strategies and plans that align with business objectives.

• Lead and coordinate data discovery efforts across business units.

• Collaborate with Business Data Officers to identify sensitive data and define classification criteria.

• Ensure consistent application of classification and tagging standards across data repositories.

• Work with Legal, Compliance, and Risk teams to define and refine data classification and tagging policies.

• Translate legal and regulatory requirements into actionable data protection controls.

• Maintain documentation of classification criteria and ensure alignment with privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).

• Act as a central point of contact between IT, Security, and Business Data Officers.

• Facilitate workshops and training sessions to promote awareness of data protection practices.

• Provide guidance and support to business units on data governance and protection initiatives.

• Collaborate with Information Security teams to integrate classification and tagging into broader security controls.

• Participate in risk assessments and audits related to data governance and protection.

• Identify and mitigate risks associated with data handling and storage.

• Provide regular reports on the status of BDO data protection metrics. 

Skills:  

• Strong understanding of Data classification frameworks, metadata management and Unstructured data management.

• Strong understanding of Data Discovery, Classification & Tagging solutions (e.g., BigID, Congruity 360, Microsoft Purview etc.).

• Familiarity with data protection tools and platforms (e.g., Microsoft Purview, DLP etc.).

• Knowledge of privacy regulations and compliance standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA).

• Experience with data lifecycle management and secure data handling practices.

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

• Ability to bridge technical and business perspectives effectively.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.

• Experience in cross-functional collaboration and project coordination.

• Strong understanding of information security principles and practices. 

• Excellent risk management, problem-solving, and metrics management skills 

Qualifications: 

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in information security, Computer Science, or a related field. (Master’s degree preferred) 

• 7+ years of experience in information security, with at least 3 years in a leadership role. 

• Certifications such as CIPP, CIPM, CDMP, or DCAM are highly desirable.

Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor's Degree (Required)

Skills

Data Protection, Data Security, Information Security Management

Certifications:

Languages:

Years of Experience:

7 - 10 Years

Work Experience:

Additional Information

Shift:

Day (Canada)

Travel:

Yes, 10% of the Time

Relocation Eligible:

No

Applied Materials is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law.