9513 - Head of Information Access Rights
| Posting date: | 02 September 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £42,914 to £53,081 per year |
| Additional salary information: | The national salary range is £42,914 - £46,182, London salary range is £49,325 - £53,081. Your salary will be dependent on your base location |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 17 September 2025 |
| Location: | London, UK |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Ministry of Justice |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 9513 |
Summary
About the Role:
Duties and Responsibilities:
The main responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to:
Engaging with senior managers regarding the management and access to information requests including taking ownership of FOI’s, information requests and DPA compliance and reporting.
Managing and monitoring the progress of requests under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act and Environmental Information Regulations to meet statutory deadlines
Providing advice and guidance to business groups on requests, applications of exemptions and appeals.
Briefing ministers and senior officials on complex information access requests involving public interest tests and restrictions on disclosure of sensitive information.
Raising awareness within the NIO and the Wales Office, promoting information management, ensuring delivery of staff training in information access and personal and that staff awareness remains high.
Ensuring a collaborative and joined up approach to managing requests for information that impact on the work of the Legacy team
Assisting records and information management projects and providing input to overall departmental objectives, management, NIO Board and relevant external organisations.
Collaborating with the Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure GDPR compliance.
Essential Criteria:
Thorough understanding of the Freedom of Information Act (2000); this will include but not be restricted to:
Strong understanding of the exemption provisions provided under the FOI Act and how they are applied and a good understanding of Public Interest Tests and when and how they should be applied
Strong written and oral communication skills
The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview:
Desirable Criteria:
Certified Data Protection Practitioner qualification
Demonstrable experience of managing electronic document and records management systems
A sound understanding of the Data Protection Act (2018), in particular a good understanding of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Behaviours:
We will assess you against the following Success Profiles behaviours at the SEO level during the application sift and interview process:
Delivering at Pace
Managing a Quality Service
Communicating and Influencing
Experience:
Please provide a statement of suitability no longer than 500 words outlining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria and a work history. Both will be used in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.
Your statement of suitability needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role.
If you don’t have work-based examples then give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.
You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your education, professional qualifications, previous skills and full employment history. Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Your CV will be used to add context to your personal statement.
More information on behaviours and success profiles can be found here.
Please note that in the event of a large number of applications being received we may run the initial sift on the lead Behaviour Delivering at Pace.
Interview:
You will be assessed against the same behaviours at the interview stage and will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated the behaviours. You will also be assessed using technical or operational questions.
It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:
WHO- What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or
STAR- What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Strengths
It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.
If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.
All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The main responsibilities of the role include but are not limited to:
Engaging with senior managers regarding the management and access to information requests including taking ownership of FOI’s, information requests and DPA compliance and reporting.
Managing and monitoring the progress of requests under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act and Environmental Information Regulations to meet statutory deadlines
Providing advice and guidance to business groups on requests, applications of exemptions and appeals.
Briefing ministers and senior officials on complex information access requests involving public interest tests and restrictions on disclosure of sensitive information.
Raising awareness within the NIO and the Wales Office, promoting information management, ensuring delivery of staff training in information access and personal and that staff awareness remains high.
Ensuring a collaborative and joined up approach to managing requests for information that impact on the work of the Legacy team
Assisting records and information management projects and providing input to overall departmental objectives, management, NIO Board and relevant external organisations.
Collaborating with the Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure GDPR compliance.
Essential Criteria:
Thorough understanding of the Freedom of Information Act (2000); this will include but not be restricted to:
Strong understanding of the exemption provisions provided under the FOI Act and how they are applied and a good understanding of Public Interest Tests and when and how they should be applied
Strong written and oral communication skills
The post holder will need to demonstrate the following in their application and at interview:
Desirable Criteria:
Certified Data Protection Practitioner qualification
Demonstrable experience of managing electronic document and records management systems
A sound understanding of the Data Protection Act (2018), in particular a good understanding of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Behaviours:
We will assess you against the following Success Profiles behaviours at the SEO level during the application sift and interview process:
Delivering at Pace
Managing a Quality Service
Communicating and Influencing
Experience:
Please provide a statement of suitability no longer than 500 words outlining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria and a work history. Both will be used in order to assess any demonstrable experience, career history and achievements that are relevant to the role.
Your statement of suitability needs to set out evidence of how your experience meets the requirements set out above. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. One narrative example may cover the requirements needed. You don’t have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Share with us what makes you suited to this role and why. What you can do, the skills you have that are transferable and the life experience or passion you have that are linked to this role.
If you don’t have work-based examples then give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.
You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your education, professional qualifications, previous skills and full employment history. Your CV will not be formally assessed so please put the main evidence of your skills into your personal statement. Your CV will be used to add context to your personal statement.
More information on behaviours and success profiles can be found here.
Please note that in the event of a large number of applications being received we may run the initial sift on the lead Behaviour Delivering at Pace.
Interview:
You will be assessed against the same behaviours at the interview stage and will be asked to provide examples of how you have demonstrated the behaviours. You will also be assessed using technical or operational questions.
It may help to use one or more examples of a piece of work you have completed or a situation you have been in and use the WHO or STAR model to explain:
WHO- What it was? How you approached the work/situation? What the Outcomes were, what did you achieve? or
STAR- What was the Situation? What were the Tasks? What Action did you take? What were the Results of your actions?
Strengths
It is difficult to prepare for strength type questions. However, you can think through your answers, focus on your achievements and aspects you enjoy and decide how these can be applied in the organisation and role. While strengths questions are shorter and we do not expect a full STAR response, the panel is interested in your first reaction to the question and information or reasoning to support this.
If you do not have work-based examples then please give examples from school/college, clubs, volunteering or other activities you have been involved in.
All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit.