Paralegal – Data Privacy Advice team

Information Commissioner's Office

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in 6 days

Full time

£34,604 - £44,137 per year

Job summary

Paralegal – Data Privacy Advice team – Fixed term contract up to 12 months.

Full time / Part time

Salary: £34,604 - £39,200, with potential for further progression to £44,137 with our pay progression scheme.

Location: Hybrid

Contracted to our Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast office. Through hybrid working we offer flexible home and office-based working opportunities and there will be times when you will be expected to attend the office to collaborate with colleagues or travel due to business need.

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

This is an exciting opportunity to join the ICO Legal Service. As a Paralegal, you will provide a comprehensive and professional paralegal and administrative service to support lawyers in the ICO Legal Service.

The Information Commission (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

The Legal Service works with teams across the ICO to provide legal advice on key policy, enforcement, advisory and compliance issues. It supports the Commission to determine the appropriate legal lines to take on a variety of matters and makes recommendations to manage the ICO’s legal risks.

Key responsibilities:

Using initiative and judgement assist lawyers at all levels with on-going legal matters, cases and/or projects, ensuring that they are dealt with in line with ICO standards, policy and regulatory priorities.
Use initiative to undertake legal research on specified legal points, when required to do so by a lawyer or when a given case demands it.
To provide input into the mentoring, oversight and training of administrative staff in the department, if required.
As required, to monitor the external legal spend for the team and to develop and capture statistics to identify trends and patterns within the team’s work areas.
Assess incoming correspondence (e.g. requests for advice) using judgement, intellectual ability and initiative, and assist other team members in flagging any potential issues before it is allocated.
Administration of the team records and databases including, when required, ensuring that MS Excel spreadsheets and other reporting mechanisms are accurately maintained across the team to provide statistics for management reports and annual reports.
To attend, or arrange attendance at, internal and external meetings, in order to ensure that minutes are taken and a record of meetings is maintained as specified by others in legal service.
Assist with preparation for presentations and events.

Person specification

Essential criteria assessed at application stage:

Candidates must have a law degree, Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or equivalent law conversion qualification, CILEX Level 3 Professional Diploma in Law or a higher/equivalent CILEX qualification, or have successfully completed an equivalent level of academic or professional legal training towards qualification as a solicitor, barrister or advocate in a UK jurisdiction
Relevant work experience at a level demonstrating graduate ability.
Proven ability of working on own initiative and dealing with individual case variations confidently (also measured at interview).
Excellent accuracy and strong attention to detail (also measured at interview).

Essential criteria assessed during interview:

Good intellectual and analytical ability. Demonstrable ability to apply knowledge of relevant legislation in variety of circumstances.
Very good written and verbal communication together with strong interpersonal skills.
Excellent time management skills and the ability to cope with tight deadlines, work flexibly and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
Experience of using computerised databases/ record management systems, ideally including SharePoint, and very good working knowledge of Microsoft Office Excel and Word.

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 recruitment@ico.org.uk

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,604, Information Commissioner's Office contributes £10,024 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.

Things you need to know

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

Please submit your CV by 23:59, 16 November 2026

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 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 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 theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

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

Salary range

£34,604 - £44,137 per year