Salary: £72,146 - £81,952 with potential for further progression to £92,273 with our pay progression scheme.
Location: Hybrid
Contracted to our Wilmslow, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast 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?
* 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.
Job summary
The Head of Transformation and Change will design the ICO’s most significant transformation and lead the development and delivery of enterprise change capability. They will drive transformation initiatives by defining opportunities and problems, strategies, desired outcomes and success measures in partnership with cross‑functional teams.
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.
You will work systemically, ensuring that initiatives deliver sustainable improvements in service delivery, organisational effectiveness and efficiency. To support ongoing improvement, you will work to embed service‑led continuous improvement.
You will promote a test and learn approach, supporting the organisation to work iteratively when developing and scaling new approaches to ensure they are adding the intended value.
The role holder will provide support and challenge for enterprise change, either directly through Transformation and Change resource, or through capability uplift within teams.
The Head of Transformation and Change will lead a team with transformation, business analysis and change management capability. They will manage strategic partnerships with external providers where appropriate, including for systems thinking.
Key responsibilities:
* Identifying opportunities and leverage points for innovation, increased efficiency and effectiveness, and improved outcomes.
* Understanding organisational interdependencies, identify root‑cause barriers to change and design purposeful interventions.
* Collaborating with senior leaders, operational and enabling teams to drive holistic and sustainable transformation, and problem solving.
* Coaching and supporting the development of new mindsets, behaviours and leadership approaches.
* Promoting openness to innovation, experimentation and iterative improvement.
* Embedding feedback loops and reflective learning processes to adapt transformation plans and embed continuous improvement.
* Monitoring and evaluating the outcomes and impact of transformation initiatives.
* Building internal change management capability across the organisation through coaching, training and toolkits.
* Leading and developing a high‑performing transformation and change team, embedding a strong learning culture.
* Acting as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and key stakeholders, building commitment to transformation across the organisation.
* Participating actively in relevant corporate initiatives and undertaking a senior management role in matters such as internal investigations and recruitment panels as required.
Person specification
Essential criteria assessed at application stage:
* Substantial 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.
* Significant and diverse experience of developing and applying enterprise transformation and change capability.
* Demonstrated thought leadership in defining strategic transformation.
* Evidenced delivery of sustainable transformation in complex environments.
Essential criteria assessed during interview:
* Relentless curiosity and ability to seek out and influence opportunities for transformation and change.
* Strong analytical thinking combined with creative ability to “join the dots”.
* Deep understanding of, and ability to apply, transformation and change methodologies (e.g. systems thinking).
* Highly collaborative and able to build trusting relationships with, and influence, a wide range of stakeholders.
* Empathetic and active listener able to foster shifts in mindset.
* Personally adaptable and open to change, with ability to apply different approaches to situations as required.
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
Closing Date
Please submit your CV and cover letter by 23:59, 20 January. 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.
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.
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