Northern Ireland Water Ltd, (NI Water) including Northern Ireland Water Alpha Ltd (NIWA), is the sole provider of public water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland. We are a non-departmental public body (NDPB) and a Government-Owned Company (GoCo), established in April 2007 and for the purposes of data protection, we are the ‘data controller’ for any personal data you give us in the job application process.

Processing personal information from job applicants allows NI Water to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm an applicant’s suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. It may also need to process data from job applicants to respond to and defend against legal claims.

If you apply for this job, you will be providing your personal information to NI Water, or third-party suppliers working for NI Water e.g. Hallmark and our lawful basis for processing will vary, dependent upon why we need this. For example much of what we require in the recruitment process is required for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority i.e. in our employment role as the sole provider of public water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland. In some cases NI Water will also need to process job application data to ensure we are complying with our legal obligations, for our or your own legitimate interests, or, for Special Category (sensitive) personal information, on the basis of Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law).

NI Water will collect a range of information about you, including:

• your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number.
• details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history.
• information about your current level of remuneration, which may include benefit entitlements.
• whether or not you have a disability, so that we can make reasonable adjustments, as required, during the recruitment process; and
• information about your entitlement to work in the UK etc.

NI Water will collect this information in a variety of ways for example, by application forms, through forms of assessment, from interview or from your identity documents. It may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references, but it will only seek this data if you have been recommended for appointment to the post and it will inform you that it is doing this.

Your personal data will be stored in the UK and will be shared internally within NI Water with staff who are involved in the recruitment process and, where necessary, between internal departments for the purpose of ensuring a fair, systematic and objective recruitment and selection process is in place.

It may also be shared with external consultants for the purposes of candidate attraction and selection, where appropriate. Your personal data will not be shared or disclosed to any other organisation without your consent unless the law permits or places an obligation on NI Water to do so. Your data will be stored in a range of different places including the recruitment file, the HR information management system and other IT systems such as email. It will be held and stored by NI Water in a safe and secure manner in compliance with Data Protection legislation and in line with NI Water’s Records Retention and Disposal Schedule.

As a data subject, you have several individual rights. These include, but are not exclusive to your right to:

• access and obtain a copy of your personal data on request;
• where your consent is the lawful basis for processing, the right to withdraw your consent;
• prevent any wholly automated decisions involving your data. This right exists, but NI Water does not use any wholly automated decision-making techniques;
• require NI Water to change incorrect or incomplete personal job applicant data; and
• require NI Water to delete or restrict processing your data (where we do not have a legal or contractual obligation to process).

If you have any concerns about NI Water’s handling of your personal data, you can raise these with NI Water’s Data Protection Officer, John Collins directly via imu[AT]niwater[DOT]com.

You also have a right to make a complaint directly to the Information Commissioner.

See their website: www.ico.org.uk