Director of Legal (Data Privacy & Advice)

Full time / Part time

Salary: £91,276 pa - £104,513 pa, with potential for further progression to £117,748 pa 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?

• 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.

Job Summary

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.

The Legal Director (Data Privacy Advice) will play a pivotal role in advising across the full range of legislation that the ICO is responsible for monitoring and enforcing, with a particular focus on data protection and public/administrative law. Ideally, the successful candidate will be an expert in data protection law and have some regulatory or policy making experience. This is a senior and varied position, offering the opportunity for high-profile leadership at the intersection of law, technology, and society, and the chance to make a real impact by delivering the ICO’s strategic priorities.

Job Description

The Legal Director will lead a team of six lawyers providing legal support on a wide range of the ICO’s policy work and regulatory interventions. This includes advising as part of multi-disciplinary teams on:

• Implementing reforms following the passage of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and other legislative proposals, such as the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill;
• Regulatory interventions prioritised under the ICO’s strategic causes, including Children, Cyber Security, Online Tracking, and AI and Biometrics;
• Engagement with major stakeholders from the public sector and tech industry;
• The application of the law to emerging technologies, including projects in the ICO’s Regulatory Sandbox.

The Legal Director will work through matrix-managed teams drawn from policy, technology, and enforcement colleagues. There will be regular engagement with other regulators and central government as we work together to address challenges in the digital environment. The role will involve handling highly sensitive matters requiring DV level security vetting. This is a unique opportunity to provide impactful leadership and to contribute to the ICO’s mission in a dynamic, data-driven environment.

Reporting to, and supporting, the General Counsel, the Legal Director (Data Privacy Advice) provides strategic leadership to the ICO Legal Service. As a member of the ICO’s Senior Leadership Team, you will contribute to corporate leadership, supporting decision making and delivering change. You will ensure that the ICO is run, managed and governed in line with our corporate vision and values.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide senior leadership to an effective legal function which provides timely, robust, solutions-focused advice that enables the ICO to meet its strategic objectives and manages risk appropriately. Ensure proper governance, quality and ethical standards are met.
• Use initiative, be innovative and seek opportunities for strategic change to deliver world class legal advice and support the ICO’s objectives. Seek, encourage and recognise ideas and have the courage to take risks and change how things are done, challenging the status quo appropriately where required.
• Make effective, confident and timely decisions, involving relevant colleagues and consulting others where needed, articulating options and making recommendations for preferred courses of action.
• Take responsibility and be accountable for achieving the ICO’s strategic priorities, translating these into clear and deliverable objectives within the directorate. Providing the energy and drive to achieve them and deciding when change is necessary to re-align activity to meet the ICO’s objectives.
• Maximise resource efficiency across ICO Legal Service and deliver value for money. This will involve the continual review of activities and opportunities for improvement.
• Work with other senior colleagues to create long and short term strategic business plans and budgets, ensuring that they are joined up across the ICO and contribute to the achievement of the ICO’s goals by making the relevant connections throughout the wider ICO.
• Lead and manage a high performing team, communicating effectively to achieve staff engagement and being a visible and credible leader.
• In collaboration with the other Legal Directors ensure ICO in house legal resources work within a framework which promotes continuous professional development, and are motivated and supported to provide the highest possible standards of service.
• Promote team working, knowledge sharing and resource co-ordination across the ICO, working with other senior leaders to achieve these outcomes.
• Champion the development of staff, creating an inclusive environment which values diversity, encourages learning and development and identifies and acts where capabilities need to be improved.
• Develop and manage strategic relationships, both within and external to the ICO, in particular negotiating and influencing others to achieve desired outcomes.
• Represent the ICO and its values effectively at senior level in engagements and presentations nationally and internationally.
• Undertake corporate responsibilities as a senior leader in the ICO, such as leading or participating in steering groups and committees, and leading or chairing internal investigations or panels.
• Support, and where necessary deputise for, the General Counsel or other senior leaders, maintaining a strong insight and understanding of the work of ICO Legal Service, collaborating and supporting senior colleagues effectively.
• Act as Information Asset Owner for your directorate. Provide the Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) with assurance that information assets are appropriately managed in line with legal requirements including data protection legislation, and ICO standards and procedures.

Person specification

Essential Criteria Assessed At Application Stage

• Applicants must be qualified to practise as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales or, in respect of Applicants qualified in a jurisdiction outside of England and Wales, must have an appropriate equivalent professional qualification and may be required to undertake the Solicitors’ Qualifying Examinations (or apply and be granted an exemption of one or both parts) within a defined period.
• Substantial experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification.
• Substantial experience in a senior legal position.
• Experience of engaging and negotiating with senior external stakeholders.
• Ability to manage and supervise legal staff in inclusive and supportive manner.
• Knowledge of the regulatory environment and the public law framework, including the democratic, political and organisational context.
• Excellent organisational skills, ability to prioritise and delegate.

Essential Criteria Assessed During Interview

• Experience of the management and deployment of resources including budgets.
• Excellent analytical skills particularly in a data protection context.
• Experience of interpreting and applying complex legislation with particular emphasis on the legal framework required to support effective regulation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, negotiation and presentation skills.
• Ability to seek out, manage and influence opportunities for continuous improvement and change.
• Experience of advising on complex strategic projects.
• Experience of analysing complex operational/statistical information and producing accurate/intelligent forecasts and plans.

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.

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 on Sunday 1st February 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.

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