Head of Records Management Service and Assistant Departmental Records Officer

The Integrated Corporate Services (ICS) is a new shared corporate service, launched in July 2023. It provides corporate services (HR, Finance, Digital, Commercial, Security and Estates) across the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT).
Our ambition is to be the leading provider of integrated corporate services for government and set the standard for quality, efficiency, and innovation in our field.
We offer great working benefits including a world-class pension, flexible working options and a career where your learning and development is taken seriously. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.
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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
Join ICS Digital, where innovation meets expertise to create digital solutions. We are a cohesive digital community who work in the open, solving problems together and fostering a culture of transparency and collaboration. Our commitment to user-focused design and data-driven decision-making ensures that we deliver accessible services tailored to the needs of our customers.
ICS is a Civil Service enterprise providing essential support services across government departments. Established in 2023, we work with partners to deliver expert corporate functions that enable you to focus on what matters most - serving the public effectively.
ICS brings together expert corporate resources under one roof, helping to:
Create consistent, high-quality support services
Build on successful shared digital platforms
Allow you to concentrate on frontline public service delivery
Support a more agile and efficient Civil Service.
By centralising these essential functions, ICS helps the government work smarter and deliver better value for the taxpayer.
ICS is transforming how we work, simplifying tech, replacing legacy systems, building sleek and compliant solutions focussing on privacy by design and security by design, while taking a user-centred approach. We're building digital and AI capabilities, joining up policy and delivery, and helping teams move faster, work smarter, and reduce costs while increasing efficiencies.
As Head of the Records Management and Archiving Team, you bring extensive team leadership experience and lead a team of nine reviewers based in Cardiff, with direct line management responsibility of two people.
Using your proactive approach and cross-cutting skills set, you ensure the team delivers a first-class service to ICS and relevant government organisations, which include the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
This is an exciting time for the team as we shift from traditional paper reviews to digital selection and appraisal. You will manage this transition, providing confident, inclusive leadership while championing diversity, development, and excellence.
Lead the Records Management and Archiving Team, to ensure we meet regulatory records management and archiving needs for ICS and client organisations. This includes leading on internal and external Audits and reporting internally to Senior Leadership as well as leading on frequent regulatory reporting as well as to the National Archives.
Provide pragmatic, expert advice and guidance on all things related to retention periods, records management and archiving to both ICS staff and client organisations.
Actively lead on the transition from paper records to digital records management processes, ensuring a smooth transition process of digital repositories to the National Archives.
Set up a continuous improvement process and exploring the remit of AI, utilise insights gathered from the team to manage and improve the collection, review and archiving of data, ensuring records are organised and classified logically and in line with retention schedules.
Actively review, improve and draft guidance and policies related to records management and data retention that harmonise the approach and work across all of ICS and its customer tenancies.
Work across teams in the data governance and data protection space and contribute to the design and delivery of relevant training material and informative outputs to promote best practices throughout the records lifecycle.
The successful candidate ideally holds a professionally recognised qualification in Archives and Records Management or has equivalent professional experience.
You have a strong track record of team management and are confident applying professional standards for cataloguing archives.
You are a great communicator who thinks about processes from a user-perspective and understands how to utilise insights and uncover gaps to drive continuous improvement in the records management and archiving space. This includes promoting best practice and drafting internal policies related to retention and records management.
You bring proven project planning and delivery skills and meet tight deadlines.
Your IT skills are excellent, including experience with archive cataloguing software and spreadsheets. You also have demonstrable experience in stakeholder management.
You will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Public Records Act and maintaining the department’s statutory relationship with The National Archives and the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.
As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.
An academic qualification or professional accreditation in records management, such as Practitioner Certificates, Master or Degrees in Information Records Management or Archives and Records Management, or similar relevant professional experience.
Strong and demonstrable knowledge of the Public Records Act and data protection legislation and demonstrable knowledge of standards and procedures in relation to collections management, including the Public Records Act and Copyright Act and the UK GDPR.
Extensive experience of managing organisational compliance with the Public Records Act, including cataloguing standards, developing or leading sensitivity reviews, redaction, file preparation and preservation, and working and engaging with The National Archive (TNA) and understanding their requirements for transferring material.
Significant experience leading, managing and supporting teams and team development.
Experience in Project Management and continuous improvement within the records management and archiving field.
Technical skills and proficiency in working with tools such as Microsoft 365, Jira, SharePoint, online libraries, metadata, retention labelling, as well as being comfortable in using new and innovative technology such as Co-pilot and other AI tools to support current and future operating models and processes.
If your skills and experience look slightly different from what we have identified and you think you can bring value to the Head of Records Management Service role and the team, we strongly encourage you to apply. Please, no recruitment agencies.
An academic qualification or professional accreditation in records management, such as Practitioner Certificates, Master or Degrees in Information Records Management or Archives and Records Management, or similar relevant professional experience.
Managing a Quality Service
Alongside your salary of £55,105, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £15,963 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme , with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home-based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Judgement Test. Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 15/12/2025, If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.
Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to outline your qualifications and experience relevant to this role, focusing on your transition from paper-based to digital document review and your proactive approach to innovation and continuous improvement and how you work collaboratively with colleagues and stakeholders.
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. We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.
Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DESNZ Candidate Guidance . If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
Any move to the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website .
DESNZ does not normally offer full home working (i.e., working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service / Disclosure Scotland on your behalf.
If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website .
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
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 also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
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) .
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Name : People & Development Team
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance DESNZrecruitment.If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints