Information Commissioner's Office
People Business Partner
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Manchester, Wilmslow
Job Summary
People Business Partner
Full time / Part time
Salary: £57,815- £65,021 per annum, with potential for further progression to £73,211 with our pay progression scheme.
Location: Hybrid
Contracted to our Wilmslow office, however, we offer flexible home and office-based working opportunities. There will be times when you will be expected to attend the office to collaborate with colleagues or travel due to business need. Please note, from Autumn 2026 our head office will relocate from Wilmslow to Manchester city centre.
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
The People Business Partner (PBP) is the strategic people lead for the ICO’s Executive Directors and their departments. Part of the extended People Leadership Team, the People Business Partner will work with key stakeholders to shape and implement effective people strategies and activities, ensuring Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Organisational Development, Workforce Planning, Talent and Reward strategies are appropriately aligned to the future needs of the directorate.
They will have a clear understanding of the ICO’s capacity and capability needs, directorate strategies, and organisational goals. They will be agents of change, championing cultural practices that empower our leaders to achieve the right outcomes for their people.
They will use data and analytics to deploy workforce solutions that ensure the business is capable of achieving its strategy. PBP’s will be responsible for delivering the People Strategy and People Business Plan, mitigating people related risk, and providing expert advice and coaching to business leaders. They will be responsible for ensuring that the most effective and appropriate People Business Plans and approaches are delivered to enable the work of the ICO. They will also be responsible for building effective relationships with relevant stakeholders on behalf of the ICO, including trade unions, public and private sector partners and suppliers.
Key Responsibilities
- Through close working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, lead the development of effective business plans, processes and strategies for their assigned executive directorate.
- Work collaboratively with ET, SLT and senior managers to provide specialist people advice and support which enhances and promotes the executive directorate’s priorities and objectives ensuring that equality, diversity and inclusion considerations are integrated into discussions at an early stage.
- Have strong business acumen and be responsible for staying current with cross government people activities and external trends.
- Ensure delivery of the executive directorate’s people strategies and plans, both within the People department and the directorates, to ensure their objectives are achieved.
- Confidently interpret data to provide insight to directorates through People Services Dashboard, using effective analysis to inform executive directorate’s people objectives and thoroughly evaluate strategies and plans to ensure the future effectiveness of people activities.
- Effectively commission services, projects or activities from people colleagues to ensure the delivery of strategies and plans.
- Manage resources effectively including the matrix management of people colleagues as required for outcome-based project teams.
- Effectively co-ordinate resources to support the delivery of Directorate strategies, plans and processes, including efficient budget management.
- Proactively identify engagement opportunities and interventions to support the executive directorate’s objectives and priorities. Empowering directorate leaders to make decisions, offering an options, risk-based approach to advice.
- Deliver effective internal and external partnership working by fostering good working relationships with all stakeholders, including managers, unions and suppliers.
- Manage trade union consultations in good faith, ensuring a proactive approach is built in to managing any conflict.
- Confidently present ideas, people strategies and plans internally and externally.
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Person specification
Essential Criteria Assessed At Application Stage:
- Substantial work experience across a broad range of HR disciplines.
- CIPD Level 5 qualification.
- Management experience in a HR environment with staff, contractors and budget.
- Broad HR experience including employee relations, resourcing and supplier engagement.
- Excellent written communications skills.
- Up to date knowledge of employment legislation and HR best practice.
Essential Criteria Assessed During Interview:
- Experience of dealing with difficult and sensitive situations in a diplomatic and professional manner.
- Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
- Excellent organisation, planning and management skills, including workstream, delegation, budget, performance and project management.
- Ability to take complex information and provide clear advice to the relevant stakeholders.
- Strong knowledge and experience of managing employee relations issues.
Alongside your salary of £57,815, Information Commissioner's Office contributes £16,749 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.
Selection process details
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.
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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 and cover letter by Sunday 9 August 2026.
Your cover letter should be no more than 1,000 words and should clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for the role.
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 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
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