JOB DESCRIPTION

The Director for Technology, Innovation and Enterprise leads the ICO’s technology and business-facing directorate. The role spans some of the most contested issues in the digital economy – AI and biometrics, children’s privacy, online tracking and digital innovation – areas that shape how people live and how businesses succeed.
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.
You will provide senior leadership to three departments – Technology, Innovation and Enterprise – and act as the ICO’s sponsor Director for the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF), forging alignment with Ofcom, the CMA and the FCA on systemic digital issues.
You will have intellectual authority, visible leadership and the ability to deliver at pace, representing the ICO credibly at the highest levels of government, industry and civil society. You will have the opportunity to shape the UK’s regulatory approach to emerging technologies for the decade ahead.

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)
• 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

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide strategic leadership of the Technology, Innovation and Enterprise directorate, ensuring delivery of ICO25 priorities and alignment to corporate objectives.

• Lead and inspire the directorate’s three departments (Technology, Innovation and Enterprise), setting vision, allocating resources and ensuring a high-performance culture.

• Oversee delivery of major programmes including online tracking, AI and biometrics, children’s privacy, and innovation services, ensuring impact and value for money.
• Ensure structured horizon scanning and anticipatory policy development, positioning the ICO on frontier technologies such as agentic AI, neurotechnology and quantum computing.
• Act as the ICO’s sponsor Director for the DRCF, ensuring effective cross-regulatory collaboration and alignment on systemic issues across the digital regulatory landscape.
• Provide authoritative advice and representation to senior government, parliamentary and industry stakeholders, securing trust and influence for the ICO on matters of technological risk and innovation.
• Lead the development of a statutory regulatory sandbox and ensure continuous improvement of the ICO’s innovation services portfolio.
• Manage risk across the directorate, ensuring effective governance, robust assurance and timely escalation to the Executive Team.
• Promote professional development, inclusion and wellbeing across the directorate, creating an environment that attracts and retains high-calibre staff.
• Contribute actively to the ICO’s Senior Leadership Team, supporting collective decision-making and corporate responsibilities.
• Represent the ICO nationally and internationally, building strategic partnerships and enhancing the organisation’s external profile.
• Adapt the directorate’s scope and structure as the ICO’s operating model evolves, leading organisational change with clarity and confidence.

Substantial experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification, including in engaging with the interaction between information rights and technology and/or innovation and accumulated through any combination of academic or vocational qualifications or experience. (Also assessed at interview).

• Experience of engaging and negotiating with senior external stakeholders. (Also assessed at interview).
• Substantial experience of the management and deployment of resources, including budgets. (Also assessed at interview)
• Inclusive and supportive staff leadership skills. (Also assessed at interview).
• Deep familiarity with the use of technology to process personal data, and the promotion of, and engagement with, innovation. (Also assessed at interview)