Job Description

Principal Technology Adviser – Online trust

Full time / Part time

Salary: £57,815- £65,021, with potential for further progression to £73,211 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 summary

Shape the future of digital trust. Join the ICO's Technology Department, where cutting-edge technology meets impactful regulation. As a Principal Technology Adviser, you'll help shape how identity, trust and authority are established online, influencing policy and regulatory approaches to areas of public digital infrastructure such as trust services and digital verification services. Whether you're an experienced specialist or an emerging expert with strong technical foundations, this is a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of technology, public policy and innovation.

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

Successful applicants to this role must have a solid technical understanding of public key infrastructure (PKI), and the cryptographic concepts that underpin online trust, and security and digital identity systems. Experience of working with technical standards, specifications or trust frameworks relating to identity verification, authentication, credential issuance, digital credentials, trust services, or secure data exchange would be advantageous

Applications are welcomed from candidates with familiarity with standards and specifications that underpin the emerging online trust ecosystem such as the ETSI trust services framework, and standards and specifications supporting digital credentials and wallets (ISO 18103 mdoc, Open ID, W3C verifiable credentials and related technologies).

We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate strong analytical capability, curiosity, sound technical judgement, and the potential to develop specialist expertise in online trust. The successful candidate will work alongside experienced colleagues on real-world regulatory, technical and standards-related issues. Structured learning and development will be available to help build practical expertise in trust services, technical standards, conformity assessment and regulatory analysis.

You will enjoy substantial autonomy, often working directly with senior colleagues, including members of the ICO Executive and Senior Leadership Teams. You will contribute to internal briefings, policy development, technical assessments and external engagement with industry, academia, and standards bodies.

The ICO provides flexibility in ways of working, with multiple locations and remote options available. Please visit the ICO careers page for more information.

Key responsibilities:

• Provide technical advice and expertise on technology projects and support the development of information rights policy as required.
• Support the ICO's supervisory functions relating to qualified trust services under UK eIDAS.
• Contribute technical expertise to the ICO's work on digital identity, authentication, trust services, digital credentials and associated technologies.
• Support technical assessments, investigations, research activities and regulatory projects relating to online trust.
• Work alongside experienced colleagues on real assessments of trust service providers and related regulatory and technical evaluations.
• Build strong relationships within the ICO and translate technical insights into practical regulatory and policy outcomes.
• Provide strategic advice through timely, high-quality briefings, analysis and recommendations.
• Monitor developments in online trust and their implications for information rights, including technical standards, interoperability, privacy, security, fraud prevention, usability and inclusion.
• Develop relationships with stakeholders across government, industry, academia and standards bodies.
• Represent the ICO in technical discussions, conferences, workshops and meetings where specialist expertise is required.
• Contribute to the development of the ICO's organisational capability in identity, trust and emerging technologies.
• The ICO is committed to developing specialist expertise within the Identity and Trust Team. The successful candidate will have opportunities to:
• Develop practical experience through participation in real-world technical assessments and regulatory activities.
• Work alongside experienced specialists in trust services and online trust technologies.
• Build expertise in the application of technical standards, assurance frameworks and regulatory requirements.
• Contribute to national and international discussions on emerging technologies and standards.
• Undertake structured professional development and specialist technical training relevant to the role.

Person specification

Essential criteria assessed at application stage:

• Good knowledge of cryptographic concepts enabled by PKI (Encryption, digital signatures, authentication, non-repudiation).
• Up to date knowledge of current trends and practices in system architecture for digital identity or trust services (also measured at interview)
• Ability to deal with a demanding workload which may include conflicting demands on time (also measured at interview)
• Excellent analytical and research skills demonstrating an ability to identify emerging technology trends, developments and related issues (also measured at interview)

Essential criteria assessed during interview:

• A strong desire and aptitude to continually develop technical knowledge, skills and abilities as technology evolves.
• Excellent verbal communication and presentation skills including the ability to explain technical matters to a non-technical audience.
• Strong interpersonal skills including the ability to build and maintain good working relationships, both internally and externally.
• Excellent standard of literacy and effective written communication skills for producing reports, documenting research findings, writing letters and meeting notes.
• Ability to travel to meetings and events in the UK and overseas (possibly outside office hours).

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

Closing Date

Please submit your CV and cover letter by 23:59, 18 October. 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.

Clearance Required for this role:

Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)