Animal and Plant Health Agency
Information Rights Team Leader
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Bristol, Cardiff, Carlisle, Carmarthen, Crewe, Exeter, Leicester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Preston, Winchester, York
Job Summary
Are you ready to lead a high‑performing Information Rights service at the heart of a national organisation protecting animal and plant health?
Do you have the expertise to ensure compliance with information rights legislation while championing transparency, accountability, and best practice?
At the Animal and Plant Health Agency, this is an opportunity to take on a pivotal leadership role within our Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) Team, where you’ll shape how we manage, protect, and provide access to information across a complex organisation.
Why Join APHA?
At APHA, we are proud to be an organisation where our people feel valued, heard, and empowered to be their authentic selves.
- We put people first, with a strong focus on wellbeing, flexibility and a supportive working environment
- We recognise that diversity of thought, experience, and background strengthens our organisation — enabling us to be more innovative, make better decisions, and deliver the best outcomes for the public we serve.
- We are committed to being an inclusive and equitable employer, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We actively welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, particularly those from underrepresented groups, as we continue to build a workforce that reflects the communities we serve.
Join us and be part of a supportive, inclusive environment where your contribution matters and your voice is valued.
Job Description
As Information Rights Team Leader, you will lead APHA’s Information Rights service, taking responsibility for managing requests under:
- The Freedom of Information Act (FOI)
- The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)
- The Data Protection Act (data subject requests)
You will ensure requests are handled effectively and in line with legislative requirements, while promoting a culture of openness and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
You will:
- Lead and develop APHA’s Information Rights service, ensuring it operates effectively and delivers to a high standard
- Provide expert advice on information rights legislation, supporting colleagues and senior stakeholders
- Ensure compliance, managing requests in line with statutory deadlines and regulatory expectations
- Oversee complex casework, including internal reviews, ICO investigations, and tribunal contributions
- Maintain and develop policies and guidance, ensuring they reflect current legislation and best practice
- Manage APHA’s publication scheme, ensuring timely and accurate publication of responses
You Will Also:
- Act as lead user for the eCase system, supporting effective case management across the team
- Promote understanding of information rights, building capability across APHA
- Work collaboratively with colleagues across the Defra Group and wider profession
- Lead and support team members, fostering their development and performance
- Contribute to the wider KIM agenda, promoting strong records and information management practices
Leadership & Impact
In This Role, You Will:
- Inspire and guide a small, dedicated team
- Influence senior stakeholders, providing clear, confident advice
- Shape organisational practice, strengthening how information is managed and protected across APHA
Person specification
We are looking for a knowledgeable and adaptable professional who can lead with confidence and deliver a high‑quality Information Rights service.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Experience
Experience of working within an information rights service in a public sector organisation. Practical knowledge gained through managing requests under the relevant legislation.
Experience providing line and functional management support.
Skills And Ability
- Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build effective relationships across teams and external bodies
- Able to analyse and summarise complex information, including legal material
- Strong organisational skills, with experience prioritising workloads for self and team
Technical
Practical understanding of the application of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and the Data Protection Act (data subject requests), including the use of relevant tools, systems and guidance.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Your knowledge of the information rights legislation.
- Your use of the information rights legislation.
We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:
- Your knowledge of the information rights legislation.
Benefits
- Civil Service Pension - Defra contributes an average of 28.97% of your salary towards your pension
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities tailored to your role.
- Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts from retailers such as Highstreet coffee shops, Cinema’s, supermarkets, Highstreet retailers and many, many more.
- Staff bonuses and recognition including appreciate vouchers of up to £200 and larger in year awards of up to £1000,
- Salary sacrifice benefit options and an employee discount scheme such as bike to work, Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme, every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 a year for each child.
- Discounted gym membership with Fitness First or Pure Gym.
- Special Leave with pay, per year, for volunteering.
- Making it work for you - With so many flexible working options, most people can find a work schedule to suit their circumstances.
Application Process
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- A CV submitted through an on-line tool accessed through the Civil Service Jobsite; there is no requirement to upload your personal CV.
- A 750-word Personal Statement detailing your suitability for the role based on the 'Essential Experience' bullet points within the Person Specification section of the advertisement above.
- A 250-word statement demonstrating how you meet the technical skill – Please explain how you have used Freedom of Information Act exemption to protect commercially sensitive information.
Your CV should consist of your career history, including any key achievements and your main responsibilities in each role and be no longer than 2 pages. Your CV will be used to provide further context to your Personal Statement and will not be scored.
Further details around what this will entail can be found on the application form.
Eligibility
Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake, please contact us via: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Location
Please be aware that this role(s) will be contractually based in a Defra group workplace/office. The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location (excluding Northern Ireland) and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.
For most candidates your hours of work will be a blend of working from an APHA workplace (specific to the team location) with working at home.
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisation allocations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations. Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies.
Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee. The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.
Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD
This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.
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
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills