Associate, Online Safety Supervision

COM1000 Office of Communications; Manchester; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

Ofcom is seeking an Associate within the Online Safety Group to supervise a portfolio of key online services and build relationships with providers to understand protections for users under the Online Safety Act. You will develop expertise in supervised services and contribute to governance across the programme, while supporting risk assessment duties and producing clear reports.

You will work with cross-functional teams, adapt to evolving online safety measures, and help drive improvements in

Qualifications

• Experience in a policy role, or within a regulated industry.
• Interest in policy compliance/regulatory issues.
• Evaluating Problems: Ability to identify and solve issues using well-thought-out strategies, considering different angles and potential solutions to resolve concerns.
• Generating Insights: Ability to use evidence-driven methods to gather insights and make well-founded decisions based on thorough analysis.
• Executing Plans: Able to organise tasks and set clear goals, managing resources wisely while monitoring progress.
• Forming Relationships: Able to build and nurture positive relationships with people inside and outside the organisation.
• Harmonising Work: Ability to work effectively with others, create an honest team environment and share valuable information and resources.

Responsibilities

• Support your team to build and maintain sustainable relationships with relevant online services
• Develop knowledge and expertise in your supervised services and across Ofcom's online safety programme, keeping across online safety, markets and tech developments
• Understand, assess and, where necessary, support improvements in protections offered to users and other obligations (including risk assessment duties) under the Online Safety Act
• Identify and support research, information gathering and analysis about the services you supervise and ensure analysis and outputs are drawn together for the wider team
• Ensure the delivery of clear, concise and focused documents, such as meeting notes, agendas, briefings and research reports, for internal use or external publication
• Own and prioritise your workload to ensure we deliver against our strategic priorities
• Build and maintain effective relationships with teams across Ofcom that work with us, ensuring they are updated, included and feel heard
• Deliver or contribute to initiatives across the Supervision Team to support our strategy as a whole, e.g. international or cross-regulatory engagement or developing expertise in specific markets
• Ensure clear communication and information sharing at all levels with the rest of the Online Safety Group and deliver clear updates on the services you supervise when requested

Skills

Policy experience

Regulatory interest

Problem solving

Insights generation

Planning and execution

Relationship building

Team collaboration

Job description

Closing Date: 28/09/2026 Group: Online Safety Group Management Level: Associate Job Type: Fixed Term (Fixed Term) Job Description: Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Monday 28 September, and therefore we advise getting your application in by no later than midnight on Sunday 27 September.

About the Team

The Online Safety Group's purpose is to ensure UK citizens have a safer life online by implementing and overseeing the requirements under the Online Safety Act 2023. The Group is responsible for delivering online safety policy, supervising online services, and building technical expertise to meet the regime's aims. This role sits within Ofcom's Supervision Team. The Supervision Team provides close, structured engagement with specific services in scope of the online safety regime, alongside an approach to promoting compliance across many thousands of services. This role will consider industry practices in good governance and standards in online safety risk assessments, working closely with other specialist teams in Ofcom and the supervision team to identify improvements.

Purpose of the Role

Our Supervision Associates support our engagement with some of the online services people use every day. You will be directly supervising key tech firms, building relationships so we can understand their protections for users and, where necessary, encourage them to do better. As you grow into the role, we'll support you in building your knowledge of online safety measures and the services you supervise so that you can become an expert in protecting users from harmful and illegal content. You will be part of a team that supervises a portfolio of key online services. You will help develop supervision strategies for each service and help report on progress against them to the broader Online Safety Group. You may be Ofcom's primary point of contact for some services, working as part of a team to ensure that all Ofcom's engagement and requests for information meet Ofcom's strategic aims while balancing proportionality. Our Associates may also work with a broader range of regulated services that are not formally supervised, working with teams across Ofcom to respond to live and emerging compliance issues where we may need to intervene to help protect people online. Our Associates may additionally focus on identifying and drive improvements in regulated services on risk and governance related issues. This is a Fixed-Term Contract Content information and safeguarding Applicants should be aware that whilst these roles should not involve direct exposure to illegal content, they could include working time spent on distressing content, material, and themes. Ofcom is committed to safeguarding our colleagues who undertake this type of work and offers a range of tailored support options, including training, annual psychological assessments for those regularly doing this work and 24-hour access to counseling services.

Your key responsibilities

• Support your team to build and maintain sustainable relationships with relevant online services
• Develop knowledge and expertise in your supervised services and across Ofcom's online safety programme, keeping across online safety, markets and tech developments
• Understand, assess and, where necessary, support improvements in protections offered to users and other obligations (including risk assessment duties) under the Online Safety Act
• Identify and support research, information gathering and analysis about the services you supervise and ensure analysis and outputs are drawn together for the wider team
• Ensure the delivery of clear, concise and focused documents, such as meeting notes, agendas, briefings and research reports, for internal use or external publication
• Own and prioritise your workload to ensure we deliver against our strategic priorities
• Build and maintain effective relationships with teams across Ofcom that work with us, ensuring they are updated, included and feel heard
• Deliver or contribute to initiatives across the Supervision Team to support our strategy as a whole, e.g. international or cross-regulatory engagement or developing expertise in specific markets
• Ensure clear communication and information sharing at all levels with the rest of the Online Safety Group and deliver clear updates on the services you supervise when requested

The skills, knowledge and experience you will need for success

• Experience in a policy role, or within a regulated industry
• Interest in policy compliance/regulatory issues
• Evaluating Problems: Ability to identify and solve issues using well-thought-out strategies, considering different angles and potential solutions to resolve concerns.
• Generating Insights: Ability to use evidence-driven methods to gather insights and make well-founded decisions based on thorough analysis.
• Executing Plans: Able to organise tasks and set clear goals, managing resources wisely while monitoring progress.
• Forming Relationships: Able to build and nurture positive relationships with people inside and outside the organisation.
• Harmonising Work: Ability to work effectively with others, create an honest team environment and share valuable information and resources.

Inclusive hiring at Ofcom

At Ofcom, our mission is clear: to make communications work for everyone. To achieve that, our people must reflect the diversity of the UK, in background, identity and experience. We believe innovation thrives when difference is valued and everyone feels empowered to contribute their ideas and perspectives. That's why we welcome colleagues of all ethnicities and races, sexes, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, faiths and beliefs, and those with apparent and non-apparent disabilities. We value socio-economic diversity, life experience and neurodiversity too. Whether you're a carer, a parent, a veteran, or re-entering work after time away, your voice and perspective matter here.

Flexibility is at the heart of how we work because we want you to thrive in a way that suits you best. Most roles can therefore be adapted for part-time hours, job shares, or other flexible arrangements. Learn more about our Rewards, Benefits and Wellbeing on our careers page.

Our recruitment process is intentionally designed to be open and accessible. If you need adjustments, information in a different format or an alternative way to apply, contact us at [e-mail] or 0330 912 1378. As a proud Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for a role. You can read more about this commitment here. Whoever you are, whatever your story, you belong at Ofcom. We make communications work for everyone.

As the UK’s communications regulator, we're delivering vital work that helps keep the UK connected and shapes the future of how we'll stay connected with each other. Our work covers everything from phones and broadband, through to TV, radio, the postal service, and wireless devices. And we need people of all backgrounds, skill sets, and experiences to help us achieve our goal of making communications work for everyone. Ofcom's remit is huge – we keep UK citizens and consumers safe from harm and ensure they receive the best possible service from their communications providers. Find out more about Ofcom, where we operate, and the different types of work we do to keep the country connected.

At Ofcom we are determined to do all we can to promote diversity and equality inside our organisation and in the wider sectors we regulate. Diversity and equality are fundamental to achieving our purpose to make communications work for everyone. We need to make the best decisions for all UK consumers and citizens. To do this, it is essential that all levels of our organisation are diverse and foster an inclusive culture.