Information Commissioner's Office
Case Officer (Freedom of Information)
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Job Summary
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 Description
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.
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.
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
Alongside your salary of £27,785, Information Commissioner's Office contributes £8,049 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
Please visit ico.jobs for full details, including salary and benefits.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
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Selection process details
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.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Medical
Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact :
Name : recruitment@ico.org.uk Email : recruitment@ico.org.uk
Recruitment team
Email : recruitment@ico.org.uk
Further information
https://ico.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ICO/details/Case-Officer--Freedom-of-Information-_JR804-1
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