Principal Technology Adviser - Identity and Trust at Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Principal Technology Advisor – Online trust  

Full time / Part time 

Salary:       £55,591 - £62,974, with potential for further progression to £70,907 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 summary

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.

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
• 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 
• Ability to apply technical standards or legislative requirements to the development and application of information and communications technologies
• A strong desire and aptitude to continually develop technical knowledge, skills and abilities as technology evolves

Essential criteria assessed during interview:

• Excellent analytical and research skills demonstrating an ability to identify emerging technology trends, developments and related issues
• 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 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 [email protected]

Closing Date 

Please submit your CV and cover letter detailing your suitability to the role by 23:59, 22 September 2025

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.