Assurance and Information Officer

Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Please note that for candidates requesting to work in Newcastle, this role will be based at Benton Park View from September 2025, and then at 1 Pilgrim Place in Newcastle city centre by the end of 2027.

Job Summary
This is a role that sits within the People Excellence Team within the People and Capability Group (PandC). The role of People Excellence is to provide valuable insights to help shape the People Strategy and guide in-year planning across People and Capability.

At People Excellence, we cultivate a collaborative, supportive, and high-performing team culture that values open communication, continuous learning, and inclusivity. The team drives effective management across the Group by delivering high-quality analysis, robust evidence, and comprehensive support. We are committed to building excellence, increasing efficiency and effectiveness, and strengthening capability, while championing continuous improvement for both People and Capability and the wider department.

The Assurance and Information Officer will be working within the Planning, Prioritisation, Risk and Business Assurance Team. This team manages an extensive portfolio of activities, including in-year planning, delivering comprehensive reporting, briefing, and governance services for PandC, embedding best practices in risk management and leading focal point activities, including Parliamentary Questions (PQs) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

As an Assurance and Information Officer, you will play a key role in overseeing and coordinating Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information activities. Your primary focus will be on meeting statutory deadlines and upholding the highest service standards. Throughout the year, you will lead the development of key reports, ensuring that all outputs are timely, accurate, and insightful.

To succeed in this role, you must demonstrate the ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues and stakeholders at all levels. Drawing on your knowledge and experience in reporting, ideally at a strategic level, you will excel in a dynamic environment, consistently delivering high-quality outcomes even when working to tight deadlines and adapting to shifting priorities.

Job Description
As an Assurance and Information Officer, you will

• Monitor and effectively manage the Parliamentary Questions/Freedom of Information/Internal Reviews (PQ/FOI/IR) activity to ensure statutory deadlines and service standards are met.
• Develop strong relationships and collaborate with PandC stakeholders, the Central FOI team, and other focal point teams across DWP to understand business priorities and ensure coordinated, timely, and accurate delivery of PQ/FOI responses.
• Oversee the coordination and delivery of responses to DWP Oral Questions, which are presented in Parliament on a six-week cycle, ensuring consistent compliance with all statutory requirements and deadlines.
• Lead the development and timely delivery of the monthly People Pack report and ad-hoc reports for senior leaders, highlighting key risks and supporting informed discussions and decisions.
• Demonstrate a strong motivation to share best practice and actively support continuous improvement within the Focal Point team and across the wider DWP.
• The above responsibilities are not exhaustive, and the post holders may be required to undertake any of the above tasks or additional tasks not listed above, within the remit of their grade, to support the team.

As an Assurance and Information Officer, you will

• Monitor and effectively manage the Parliamentary Questions/Freedom of Information/Internal Reviews (PQ/FOI/IR) activity to ensure statutory deadlines and service standards are met.
• Develop strong relationships and collaborate with PandC stakeholders, the Central FOI team, and other focal point teams across DWP to understand business priorities and ensure coordinated, timely, and accurate delivery of PQ/FOI responses.
• Oversee the coordination and delivery of responses to DWP Oral Questions, which are presented in Parliament on a six-week cycle, ensuring consistent compliance with all statutory requirements and deadlines.
• Lead the development and timely delivery of the monthly People Pack report and ad-hoc reports for senior leaders, highlighting key risks and supporting informed discussions and decisions.
• Demonstrate a strong motivation to share best practice and actively support continuous improvement within the Focal Point team and across the wider DWP.
• The above responsibilities are not exhaustive, and the post holders may be required to undertake any of the above tasks or additional tasks not listed above, within the remit of their grade, to support the team.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• An ability to, and evidence of building and maintaining effective relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to deliver business outcomes (Lead Criteria)
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability and resilience to work at pace, demonstrating personal leadership and working with others to deliver against multiple priorities
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to get to the heart of issues and challenges and communicate succinctly to a range of audiences
• Experience of working in a reporting function; producing high-level strategic reports to support the Director General and organisation.
• Analytical skills, ability to not only produce reports, but analyse the data and provide clear, actionable insights.
• Demonstrate a high level of attention to detail, consistently ensuring accuracy and precision when handling data, reports, and information.
• Strong team player with a proven ability to foster collaboration, support colleagues, and contribute to a positive and productive team environment.
• Highly flexible, confident in managing new tasks, changing priorities, and ad hoc demands in a professional manner.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Lists, PowerPoint)
• Strong SharePoint skills

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Alongside your salary of £38,772, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £11,232 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year's continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women's Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the following actions:

Stage 1 - Short Application Form

Please complete the first stage short application form, which includes your personal details, eligibility to apply and any reasonable adjustments required.

Stage 2 – Online Test
After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Judgement Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.

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 05/01/2026. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

Our online test supplier will be performing scheduled maintenance between 4:00pm and 7:00pm on 14/12/2025 and 04/01/2026. There will be up to 1 hour during this time where candidates will not be able to access tests.

All online tests will be affected.

Impact for candidates

Candidates who are taking a test when the downtime starts will have their test paused. They will be able to pick up where they left off after the downtime. They can do this by accessing the test again from their application centre.

Candidates will not be able to launch new tests during the downtime.

Candidates reporting issues should be advised to return to take the test after 7:00pm on 14/12/2025 and 04/01/2026.

Should you require further information on this particular online test, please visit: Preparing for the Civil Service Judgement Test - GOV.UK

Stage 3 – Written Application and Sift
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a personal statement in no more than 1000 words detailing the relevant skills and experience you can bring to the role, based on the key criteria listed. Please pay particular attention to the lead criteria as if you do not demonstrate these on your application, you will not progress to the interview stage.

When completing your personal statement, please read and understand the key criteria thoroughly, as this is what your written evidence will be assessed against. Your layout is entirely your preference; you may choose narrative, bullets, etc. You may choose to address each criteria separately, however, one narrative example may cover and evidence several key criteria. You may not be able to meet all the key criteria, but please ensure you evidence the key personal requirements, what have you done that's relatable to the requirements. You don't have to explain the whole process, just what you have done and the skills and experience you have used. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

You will also be asked to complete a CV with details of your job history, full qualification details, previous skills and experience. 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.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criteria. If so, we will sift on:

• An ability to, and evidence of building and maintaining effective relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to deliver business outcomes (Lead Criteria)

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to an interview.

• Please note the closing date for your full application is 23:55 on 05/01/2026**

The sift is scheduled to be held from 6th January 2026 to 23rd January 2026. These dates may be subject to change.

Stage 4 - Interview
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview lasting up to 45 minutes. This will take place MS Teams. The interview panel will be a minimum of two people and will assess Behaviours and Strengths.

Interviews are scheduled to take place from 02/02/2026, please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. Interviews will be scheduled Monday to Friday, between 09:00 to 17:00.

Hybrid Working
This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office. If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert.

Visa Sponsorship Information
For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed.

Further Information
At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

Find out more about working for DWP on the DWP Careers Hub.

Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

If you are placed on a reserve list but we cannot immediately offer you a post, please note:

• If you are later offered the role you applied for, in a location you have expressed a preference for, and you decline the offer or are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe you will be withdrawn from the campaign and removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a contractual Part Time Working Pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered or in cases of serious ill health).
• If DWP makes an offer of an alternative role or location to that which you originally applied for, and you decline that offer, you will be able to remain on the reserve list.

Disability Confident Scheme
If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards.

Reasonable Adjustments
We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact the Government Recruitment Service via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the "Reasonable Adjustments" section in the "Additional requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Integrity, plagiarism and Civil Service Principles
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles.

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words.

Examples Of Plagiarism Can Include

• Presenting the work, ideas and experience of others as your own
• Copying content or answers from an online or published source that is not your own

Disclosure and Barring Service and Internal Fraud Database Checks
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre- stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

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. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 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.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check will be carried out.

Important
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Before applying for this vacancy, current employees of DWP should check whether a successful application would result in changes to their terms & conditions of employment, e.g. mobility, pay, allowances. If you are a current employee and are successful you must be able to be released from your current post within four weeks.

Those on protected TUPE/ COSoP terms and conditions applying on promotion or voluntary permanent level move will adopt DWP's Terms and Conditions and this may have a different impact on pay and allowances. Please review this prior to acceptance of a role.

Civil Servants that would transfer into DWP from other government organisations, following successful application, will assume DWP's terms & conditions of employment current on the day they are posted, unless DWP has stated otherwise in writing. Accepting a post will be taken to mean acceptance of revised terms & conditions.

Civil Servants applying on promotion will usually be appointed to the salary minimum or within 10% of existing salary.

Any move to DWP 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. Determine your eligibility at the Childcare Choices Website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

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.

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 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.

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).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in 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 : Samantha Clark
• Email :

Recruitment team

• Email :

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DWP by email: HR..GOV.UK.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission. Click here to visit the Civil Service Commission.