Principal Technology Advisor – Identity and Trust

Wilmslow, North West England, SK9 5AF

Job Summary

Principal Technology Advisor – Identity and Trust

Full time / Part time

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

Further details can be found on the benefits section of our website .

Job Description

Reporting to the Group Manager of the Identity and Trust team, you will join legal, policy and technology experts across the ICO involved in different projects and workstreams.

You may have relevant technical experience through a background in encryption or security (public key infrastructure/cryptography), development of technical standards for online trust (ie ETSI, ISO Mdl, NIST 800-63, W3C VC, FIDO, GPG 45), or experience of other associated disciplines, such as Decentralised identity, security and privacy engineering or identity verification and authentication.

You will enjoy substantial autonomy, often working directly with more senior colleagues, including members of the ICO Executive and Senior Leadership Teams, and will regularly provide advice and expertise in internal briefings and at external events and meetings. You may also work directly with external researchers or technologists, and industry fora as part of this role.

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:

• Provide in-depth advice on technology projects and support the development of information rights policy generally as required.
• Build strong relationships within the ICO and translate technical insights into impactful actions.
• Support the ICO’s supervisory functions for qualified status of trust service providers under UK eIDAS.
• Provide strategic advice to the Commissioner and his senior leadership team, including the delivery of timely and high-quality briefings.
• Keep up with developments in online trust and their implications for information rights such as: interoperability and technical standards, fraud and security risks and mitigations, or usability and inclusivity considerations for identity management.
• Develop relationships with key stakeholders and represent the ICO in technical discussions, conferences, and meetings with technical bodies and interest groups.
• Represent the ICO in situations where expert advice or guidance is needed, eg meeting senior technical representative bodies and information rights interest groups, speaking at conferences, etc.
  
  

Reporting to the Group Manager of the Identity and Trust team, you will join legal, policy and technology experts across the ICO involved in different projects and workstreams.

You may have relevant technical experience through a background in encryption or security (public key infrastructure/cryptography), development of technical s

tandards for online trust (ie ETSI, ISO Mdl, NIST 800-63, W3C VC, FIDO, GPG 45), or experience of other associated disciplines, such as Decentralised identity, security and privacy engineering or identity verification and authentication.

You will enjoy substantial autonomy, often working directly with more senior colleagues, including members of the ICO Executive and Senior Leadership Teams, and will regularly provide advice and expertise in internal briefings and at external events and meetings. You may also work directly with external researchers or technologists, and industry fora as part of this role.

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:

• Provide in-depth advice on technology projects and support the development of information rights policy generally as required.

Build strong relationships within the ICO and translate technical insights into impactful actions.

Support the ICO’s supervisory functions for qualified status of trust service providers under UK eIDAS.

Provide strategic advice to the Commissioner and his senior leadership team, including the delivery of timely and high-quality briefings.

Keep up with developments in online trust and their implications for information rights such as: interoperability and technical standards, fraud and security risks and mitigations, or usability and inclusivity considerations for identity management.

Develop relationships with key stakeholders and represent the ICO in technical discussions, conferences, and meetings with technical bodies and interest groups.

Represent the ICO in situations where expert advice or guidance is needed, eg meeting senior technical representative bodies and information rights interest groups, speaking at conferences, etc.

Person specification

Essential Criteria Assessed At Application Stage:

• Substantial 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

Ability to deal with a demanding workload which may include conflicting demands on time

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

Alongside your salary of £57,815, Information Commissioner's Office contributes £16,749 towards you being a member of t

he Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Please visit ico.jobs for full details, including salary and benefits.

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 and cover letter detailing your suitability to the role by 23:59, 25 January 2026

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before this date should we receive sufficient applications. Please apply as soon as possible to ensure your application is considered.

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 criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a 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

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

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.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

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

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

Job Contact :

• Name : recruitment@ico.org.uk
• Email : recruitment@ico.org.uk
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ico.org.uk
  
  

Further information

https://ico.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ICO/details/Principal-Technology-Adviser---Identity-and-Trust_JR696