Case Officer
Up to 12-month fixed term
Full time / Part time
Salary: £ 26,652- £ 29,868 with potential for further progression to £33,632 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?
1. Pay progression scheme.
2. Hybrid and flexible working options.
3. 25 days paid holiday per year, plus privilege and public holidays.
4. Flexi leave (up to 26 additional days leave per year).
5. Pension
6. Online discount scheme to save money at major supermarkets, retailers, gyms, restaurants, insurance providers and many more.
7. Health Cash Plan.
8. Fantastic development opportunities to learn and progress.
Further details can be found on the benefits section of our.
Job summary
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.
Public Advice & Data Protection Complaints Services (PADPCS) is a busy and varied department providing both our live services to members of the public and managing the data protection complaints we receive. We operate a public advice helpline together with live chat. We deal with all manner of data protection complaints and enquires that we receive from start to finish in line with the legislation we oversee. This involves telephoning and writing to those people who contact us, and organisations who have complaints made against them. Case Officers will be responsible for handling their own caseload, analysing the complaints we receive and providing outcomes, contributing to our live services and providing excellent customer service at all times.
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.
Key responsibilities:
9. Providing accurate and helpful advice about information rights legislation across a variety of channels, including phone and live chat.
10. Providing appropriate outcomes for data protection complaints received from members of the public
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Negotiating to improve information rights practices, either in a current case or in the future as appropriate.
14. Identifying and communicating matters that are suitable for further action by the ICO.
15. Proactively developing legislative expertise, keeping abreast of developments in information rights legislation.
16. Proactively developing expertise in relevant areas of the UK economy and making recommendations for action accordingly.
17. Working collaboratively to develop strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
18. Assisting in managing work queues and other administrative tasks to support the smooth running of our services.
19. Providing briefing or guidance material for more senior members of staff where necessary.
20. Very occasionally, accompanying colleagues to external meetings and events, giving or supporting presentations where necessary. This may involve travel outside office hours.
21. Comply with ICO policy and procedures
Person specification
Essential criteria assessed at application stage:
22. 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.
23. Good intellectual and analytical ability in order to develop knowledge of legislation and apply it to variety of circumstances
24. High standard of literacy and effective written communication skills
Essential criteria assessed during interview:
25. Good intellectual and analytical ability in order to develop knowledge of legislation and apply it to variety of circumstances
26. High standard of literacy and effective written communication skills
27. Effective verbal communication skills in particular the ability to provide clear advice over the telephone
28. Ability to deal with a demanding workload and prioritise accordingly
29. Ability to work on own initiative and as a member of a team
30. Effective negotiation skills
31. Ability to ensure that the highest standards of quality and customer care are achieved
32. Excellent interpersonal skills with people at all levels
33. Ability to use standard office IT packages
34. 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 k
Closing Date
Please submit your CV 23:59, 31 December 2025
We will be reviewing applications and conducting interviews on a regular basis
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.