Investigations Officer – Civil
Up to 12-month fixed term
Full time / Part time
Salary: £33,273 - £37,692, with potential for further progression to £42,439 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.
Job summary
We are recruiting for three Investigation Officers for up to 12 months fixed term. Investigation Officers are responsible for leading investigations referred under the legislation the ICO regulates. They will deliver the ICO’s Better Regulatory Interventions by working with flexibility and choosing the right regulatory interventions to have the greatest impact in order to address compliance failures.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (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
As an Investigation Officer you are responsible for investigating serious and complex breaches of data protection legislation by identifying the appropriate scope and developing lines of enquiry, as well as gathering relevant evidence and recommending the most appropriate outcome from a range of regulatory tools.
You will work collaboratively and lead multi-disciplinary teams as part of your case work, engaging with stakeholders across the ICO to ensure that we provide the most appropriate and proportionate regulatory outcome.
You will manage and maintain positive and professional relationships with external stakeholders, including other regulatory bodies and the organisations we regulate.
You will lead enquiries and investigations into complex cases relating to the ICO’s strategic causes and regulatory objectives, cases arising from mandatory breach reports and intelligence led proactive inquiries.
Key responsibilities:
1. Handle cases in line with the ICO’s Better Regulatory Interventions, the strategic causes and regulatory priorities.
2. Ensure cases are progressed in a timely manner utilising a project management methodology.
3. To make sound, evidence-based recommendations about the most appropriate course of action through the lifecycle of a case to managers and senior leaders.
4. To prioritise and manage time effectively while handling complex workloads.
5. Negotiate with organisations to achieve compliance with the relevant legislation.
6. Provide good customer service to all parties, managing expectations sensitively and communicating clearly, regularly and at an appropriate level, both verbally and in writing.
7. Proactively develop legislative expertise, keeping abreast of developments in the legislation and regulations that the ICO oversees.
8. Develop and maintain relationships with any relevant internal/external stakeholders as appropriate.
9. Attend internal meetings and external meetings and events, giving presentations where necessary.
10. Provide briefing or guidance material for more senior members of staff and present case overviews to colleagues where necessary.
Person specification
Essential criteria assessed at application stage:
11. Experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification, and accumulated through any combination of academic or vocational qualifications or experience.
12. Ability to work on own initiative and as a member of a team (also measured at interview)
13. Ability to lead meetings and make presentations to small groups (also measured at interview)
14. Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels (also measured at interview).
Essential criteria assessed during interview:
15. Good intellectual and analytical ability in order to apply complex legislation to a variety of circumstances.
16. Excellent standard of literacy and effective written communication skills for writing letters, reports and meeting notes.
17. Ability to deal with a demanding workload which may include considerable correspondence and to prioritise accordingly.
18. Effective negotiation skills
19. Ability to use standard office IT packages
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 k
Closing Date
Please submit your CV by 23:59, 19 November.
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 .
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.