People Business Partner in Wilmslow

Full time / Part time Salary: £57,815- £65,021 per annum, with potential for further progression to £73,211 with our pay progression scheme. 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?

• 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.

The People Business Partner (PBP) is the strategic people lead for the ICO’s Executive Directors and their departments. Part of the extended People Leadership Team, the People Business Partner will work with key stakeholders to shape and implement effective people strategies and activities, ensuring Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Organisational Development, Workforce Planning, Talent and Reward strategies are appropriately aligned to the future needs of the directorate. They will have a clear understanding of the ICO’s capacity and capability needs, directorate strategies, and organisational goals. They will be agents of change, championing cultural practices that empower our leaders to achieve the right outcomes for their people. They will use data and analytics to deploy workforce solutions that ensure the business is capable of achieving its strategy. PBP’s will be responsible for delivering the People Strategy and People Business Plan, mitigating people related risk, and providing expert advice and coaching to business leaders. They will be responsible for ensuring that the most effective and appropriate People Business Plans and approaches are delivered to enable the work of the ICO. They will also be responsible for building effective relationships with relevant stakeholders on behalf of the ICO, including trade unions, public and private sector partners and suppliers.

Key Responsibilities

• Through close working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, lead the development of effective business plans, processes and strategies for their assigned executive directorate.
• Work collaboratively with ET, SLT and senior managers to provide specialist people advice and support which enhances and promotes the executive directorate’s priorities and objectives ensuring that equality, diversity and inclusion considerations are integrated into discussions at an early stage.
• Have strong business acumen and be responsible for staying current with cross government people activities and external trends.
• Ensure delivery of the executive directorate’s people strategies and plans, both within the People department and the directorates, to ensure their objectives are achieved.
• Confidently interpret data to provide insight to directorates through People Services Dashboard, using effective analysis to inform executive directorate’s people objectives and thoroughly evaluate strategies and plans to ensure the future effectiveness of people activities.
• Effectively commission services, projects or activities from people colleagues to ensure the delivery of strategies and plans.
• Manage resources effectively including the matrix management of people colleagues as required for outcome-based project teams.
• Effectively co-ordinate resources to support the delivery of Directorate strategies, plans and processes, including efficient budget management.
• Proactively identify engagement opportunities and interventions to support the executive directorate’s objectives and priorities. Empowering directorate leaders to make decisions, offering an options, risk-based approach to advice.
• Deliver effective internal and external partnership working by fostering good working relationships with all stakeholders, including managers, unions and suppliers.
• Manage trade union consultations in good faith, ensuring a proactive approach is built in to managing any conflict.
• Confidently present ideas, people strategies and plans internally and externally.

Person specification

Essential criteria assessed at application stage:

• Substantial work experience across a broad range of HR disciplines.
• CIPD Level 5 qualification.
• Management experience in a HR environment with staff, contractors and budget.
• Broad HR experience including employee relations, resourcing and supplier engagement.
• Excellent written communications skills.
• Up to date knowledge of employment legislation and HR best practice.

Essential criteria assessed during interview:

• Experience of dealing with difficult and sensitive situations in a diplomatic and professional manner.
• Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organisation, planning and management skills, including workstream, delegation, budget, performance and project management.
• Ability to take complex information and provide clear advice to the relevant stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge and experience of managing employee relations issues.

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 Sunday 9 August 2026. 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)