EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

In a world where cybersecurity talent is in high demand, where CISOs have their hands full, and where the GDPR data privacy law and other regulations are kicking into gear, a new role is emerging to help steer organizations from danger: the Data Protection Officer (DPO).

Salvador Rodriguez from Reuters reports, “More than 28,000 will be needed in Europe and U.S. and as many as 75,000 around the globe as a result of GDPR, the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) estimates.”

As evidence, Britain’s Indeed job search site has seen a sharp increase in DPO listings. According to Reuters, DPO jobs on the site “have increased by more than 700 percent over the past 18 months, from 12.7 listings per every 1 million in April 2016 to 102.7 listings per 1 million in December.”

For some, this new development is a nice jump-start to an otherwise slow-to-launch career.

Quoting one security professional, Reuters’ Rodriguez writes, “‘I got into security before anyone cared about it, and I had a hard time finding a job,’ said the 46-year-old, who is the data protection officer (DPO) of analytics start-up Sumo Logic in Redwood City near San Francisco.

‘Suddenly, people are sitting up and taking notice.’”

Read the full story at Reuters.