Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Case Officer (Freedom of Information)
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Case Officer (Freedom of Information)
Fixed term until 31 March 2027
Multiple roles available
Full time / Part time
Salary: £27,785 with potential for further progression to £35,061 with our pay progression scheme.
Location: Hybrid
Contracted to our Manchester office. Through hybrid working we offer flexible home and office-based working opportunities and there will be times when you will be expected to attend the office to collaborate with colleagues or travel due to business need.
Why work for the ICO?
- Pay progression scheme.
- Hybrid and flexible working options.
- 25 days paid holiday per year, plus privilege and public holidays.
- Flexi leave (up to 26 additional days leave per year).
- Pension (employer contribution around 28.9%).
- Online discount scheme to save money at major supermarkets, retailers, gyms, restaurants, insurance providers and many more.
- Health Cash Plan.
- Fantastic development opportunities to learn and progress.
Further details can be found on the benefits section of our website.
Job summary
Join the ICO's Freedom of Information team and help protect one of the cornerstones of an open and accountable society. As a Case Officer, you'll investigate complaints, apply legislation to real-world situations, and work with organisations to improve information rights practices. Every case is different, offering the opportunity to develop specialist knowledge, influence positive change, and make a meaningful impact for the public.
The Information Commission (ICO) is the independent regulator of information rights. In a data-driven world, we provide advice, guidance, and support to organisations enabling compliance with their obligations, as well as protecting individuals and their personal data.
As an employer, we are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives and careers of our people, and we empower you to be curious, impactful, collaborative and respectful.
Job description
Case Officers in Freedom of Information are responsible for the front-end case handling process. This includes creating new cases and handling cases in their early stages. This involves communicating with the case parties to ensure we have all the required documents and identifying and working on cases that can be resolved at an early stage, including cases where the requester has not received a response.
Key responsibilities:
- Providing accurate and helpful advice about information rights legislation across a variety of channels, including phone and live chat.
- Providing appropriate outcomes for data protection complaints received from members of the public.
- Handling written work in line with established policies and procedures, managing a workload autonomously and making broadly independent decisions about priorities and opportunities to improve compliance.
- Providing excellent customer service, developing a clear understanding of the customer’s needs, including identifying other ICO services that could help, and keeping them up to date about ongoing activities.
- Negotiating to improve information rights practices, either in a current case or in the future as appropriate.
- Identifying and communicating matters that are suitable for further action by the ICO.
- Proactively developing legislative expertise, keeping abreast of developments in information rights legislation.
- Proactively developing expertise in relevant areas of the UK economy and making recommendations for action accordingly.
- Working collaboratively to develop strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Contributing to the growth of the public register and raising awareness of the requirement to pay a fee through working towards the wider aims of Business Services.
- Processing and handling payments made to the ICO and contacting organisations whose data protection fee is outstanding, where necessary.
- Assisting in managing work queues and other administrative tasks to support the smooth running of our services.
- Providing briefing or guidance material for more senior members of staff where necessary.
- Very occasionally, accompanying colleagues to external meetings and events, giving or supporting presentations where necessary. This may involve travel outside office hours.
- Comply with ICO policy and procedures.
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Person specification
Essential criteria assessed at application stage:
- Good intellectual and analytical ability to develop knowledge of legislation and apply it to variety of circumstances (also measured at interview).
- Ability to deal with a demanding workload and prioritise accordingly (also measured at interview).
- Ability to ensure that the highest standards of quality and customer care are achieved (also measured at interview).
- Ability to work on own initiative and as a member of a team.
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Essential criteria assessed during interview:
- High standard of literacy and effective written communication skills.
- Effective verbal communication skills in particular the ability to provide clear advice over the telephone.
- Effective negotiation skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with people at all levels.
- Ability to use standard office IT packages.
- Ability to make presentations.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion
The ICO is committed to promoting and enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion. We are focused on developing a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve and together we are building an inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference. We are championing this through our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board together with a number of staff networks. Read more about our commitment on our website.
Candidates with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy will be invited to interview as part of the ICO’s commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme.
As part of the ICO’s commitment to our EDI objectives and creating a workplace that represents the communities and societies we serve, we guarantee an interview to candidates who declare they identify as belonging from an ethnic minority background and who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy.
If you are disabled or have an impairment and require an alternative application method, please email the HR team at recruitment@ico.org.uk.
Closing Date
Please submit your CV by 23:59, 12 October.
We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. To ensure your application is considered, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact us at recruitment@ico.org.uk.
In the event of a high volume of applications, we may not be able to invite all candidates who meet the minimum criteria to interview. However, we encourage you stay in touch and apply for future roles that match your interests.
All candidates who meet the minimum criteria and apply in-line with our guaranteed interview scheme for disabled and ethnic minority applicants will be interviewed.
Clearance Required for this role:
Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)
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