Careers

Looking for a new challenge? Join our Adjudication team!

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About us:

CDRL is a leading alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider that operates across a number of industries. Our purpose is to investigate complaints made by consumers against companies and decide what needs to be done to put things right.

We are an independent, not-for-profit organisation that plays a vital role in the UK across multiple sectors. Every day we help resolve disputes between consumers, or small businesses, and organisations. The complaints we deal with vary. If we believe a customer hasn’t been treated fairly, we’ll ask the business to put things right. If we think the business isn’t at fault, we’ll explain why. The decisions we make have a huge impact: they can be life-changing for individuals, and they provide insights which are useful for businesses.

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Your role: Adjudicator

By joining us as an Adjudicator, you’ll play a key role. Each case and each customer is different. No two days are ever the same, and sometimes the work is challenging. But it’s a job that makes a real difference and you’ll be rewarded with generous benefits as well as job satisfaction.

As an Adjudicator new to the role, you’ll spend up to three months in our academy getting the training you need to make fair and reasonable decisions confidently. After that, you’ll work as part of a team, supported by a Chief Adjudicator, Sector Experts, and an Operations manager, managing your own caseload and prioritising your work.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Investigating complaints
• Managing your caseload effectively to reach targets
• Managing relationships with our customers – both consumers and businesses
• Examining evidence to get to the heart of each complaint
• Weighing up all sides of a story and assessing the relevant rules and regulations to make fair and reasonable decisions
• Communicating with empathy – listening carefully to both sides, asking the right questions and using sound judgement
• Communicating your findings clearly, explaining what you think and why through a clear and structured written response

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Reports to: Operations Manager

Location: Remote working with the possible occasional travel (although this is rare)

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Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing

With fairness at the heart of everything we do, we embrace difference and treat everyone as equals. We’re a diverse organisation, but something we all share is our values. They’re central to the way we work – and work together. We’re an independent, not-for-profit organisation that sorts out disputes between businesses and their customers. We do this by making decisions that are fair – and feel fair to both sides. We are an equal opportunities employer. All applicants will be treated in a fair and equal manner and in accordance with the law, regardless of gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation.

We’re committed to being a great place to work – attracting and developing people from the widest possible range of backgrounds. We want everyone to perform at their best and feel able to be themselves. We understand that if we’re diverse and inclusive, we’ll better understand different perspectives, which is fundamental to our job resolving financial complaints.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Disabled applicants who fulfil the minimum criteria for the role will be progressed to the next stage of the process. Do let us know of any reasonable adjustments you need.

You will need to demonstrate that you meet the minimum criteria in your CV in order to qualify for the Disability Confident scheme.

Person specification:

You’ll:

• Be a self-starter who can prioritise tasks and work well independently
• Have great people skills & an analytical, problem-solving mind

You must have experience in a legal/paralegal role, or have worked in casework, claims or investigative work for another public agency.

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Essential Criteria:

• Excellent communication skills (including a talent for listening and explaining things in clear language, as well as good written English)
• Experience providing excellent customer service with people who may be angry or upset
• Problem solving and finding constructive solutions
• Strong administrative skills and the ability to prioritise your workload
• Experience of working to meet targets or service level agreements

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Education:

• Certificate of Higher Education (preferred)

Experience

• An Adjudicator role or claims handling: 2 years (required)

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

• Company pension
• Work from home

1. Purpose of the role

The HR Manager is responsible for leading and delivering all aspects of human resources at CDRL and its group companies.

This includes recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, performance management, learning and development, reward, HR policy and compliance. The postholder will support CDRL’s goal of resolving consumer disputes fairly, impartially and efficiently by making sure the organisation attracts, develops and keeps skilled, well-trained staff. This includes ADR officials whose competence and independence are central to CDRL’s approval by its competent authorities.

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2. Key responsibilities

2.1 Recruitment and onboarding

• Manage end-to-end recruitment for all roles, including workforce planning with managers, writing job descriptions and adverts, shortlisting, interviewing, pre-employment checks and issuing offer letters and contracts.
• Design and run competency-based recruitment processes for ADR officials (adjudicators, arbitrators and managers) that meet the standards expected by CDRL’s competent authorities.
• Manage the recruitment, contracting and deployment records for CDRL’s bank of part-time adjudicators.
• Run a structured onboarding and induction programme so new starters are productive quickly and understand CDRL’s values, policies and compliance obligations.
• Maintain right-to-work checks and other pre-employment verification in line with UK legislation.

2.2 Employee relations

• Provide expert, practical advice to managers and staff on employee relations matters, including absence, capability, conduct, grievances and disciplinary issues.
• Manage formal employee relations cases fairly and consistently, in line with CDRL policy, the Acas Code of Practice and employment law.
• Handle sensitive and confidential matters with discretion and good judgement.
• Promote a positive, inclusive working environment and act as a trusted point of contact for staff.

2.3 Performance, learning and development

• Develop and manage CDRL’s performance management framework, including objective setting, appraisals and one-to-ones.
• Identify training needs and coordinate learning and development activity across the organisation.
• Maintain records of ADR officials’ training, qualifications and ongoing competence, so CDRL can provide evidence of this to competent authorities when required.
• Support managers in developing their people management skills.
• Contribute to succession planning and career development pathways.

2.4 HR policy, compliance and governance

• Develop, maintain and review HR policies, procedures and the employee handbook so they stay compliant with current employment law and reflect good practice.
• Make sure HR processes support the independence and impartiality requirements for ADR officials, including conflict of interest declarations where applicable.
• Maintain accurate and secure HR records in line with UK GDPR and CDRL’s information security management system, including ISO/IEC 27001 controls relating to people (such as screening, confidentiality agreements, security awareness and leavers’ processes).
• Support CDRL’s ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001 audits by providing HR evidence and completing any related corrective actions.
• Monitor changes in employment legislation and advise senior management on their impact.
• Coordinate HR matters for staff based outside the UK, working with local advisers where needed.

2.5 Reward, payroll and HR administration

• Manage the monthly payroll input process with finance, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Administer benefits, pension auto-enrolment and holiday and absence records.
• Support pay and benefits reviews, including benchmarking salaries against the market.
• Manage the HR information system and produce HR reports and metrics (such as headcount, turnover, absence and training compliance) for senior management.

2.6 Wellbeing, engagement and culture

• Lead initiatives that support staff wellbeing, particularly for roles that involve high caseloads or challenging interactions with consumers and traders.
• Run staff engagement activity, such as surveys, and turn feedback into practical improvement plans.
• Promote equality, diversity and inclusion across all HR practices.
• Work with the IT Project & Compliance Manager on health and safety and wellbeing obligations.

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3. Key relationships

Internal: Senior management team, ADR managers, adjudicators and arbitrators, the IT Project & Compliance Manager, finance and all staff.

Reports to: CEO

Direct reports: HR Administrator

External: Recruitment agencies, pension providers, employment law advisers, training providers, Acas, and ISO certification bodies (for HR-related audit evidence).

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General responsibilities

• Comply with all CDRL policies and procedures, including those relating to health and safety, information security, data protection, and equality and diversity.
• Maintain confidentiality of CDRL, staff, consumer and member information at all times.
• Uphold CDRL’s commitment to independence and impartiality.
• Take part in training and professional development as required.
• Carry out any other duties reasonably consistent with the role, as CDRL may require from time to time.

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This job description sets out the main duties of the role at the date of issue. It is not exhaustive and does not form part of the contract of employment. It may be reviewed and updated from time to time to reflect the changing needs of the organisation, in consultation with the postholder.

Person specification

Essential:

• Proven experience in a generalist HR role at manager or senior adviser level, preferably in a small or medium-sized organisation.
• Sound, up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law and good HR practice.
• Experience managing employee relations cases from start to finish.
• Experience of end-to-end recruitment, including competency-based interviewing.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and build trust at all levels.
• High level of discretion and integrity when handling confidential information.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Good IT skills, including experience with HR information systems.

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Desirable
• CIPD Level 5 qualification or above (or working towards it).
• Experience in a regulated, dispute resolution, legal, ombudsman or complaints-handling environment.
• Experience supporting ISO 9001 or ISO/IEC 27001 audits.
• Experience managing a flexible or bank workforce.
• Knowledge of UK GDPR as it applies to HR data.

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Experience:

• Human resources: 2 years (required)

Licence/Certification:

• CIPD Level 5 qualification (preferred)

Consumer Dispute Resolution Limited (CDRL) is hiring a Data Protection Officer to run our subject access requests and keep our day-to-day data protection compliance on track, working closely with our external legal counsel.

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About the role:

CDRL is an independent, not-for-profit Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider. We run five ADR schemes: AviationADR, RetailADR, UtilitiesADR, CommsADR and Consumer Arbitration. Together they resolve disputes between consumers and airlines, airports, retailers, utility and communications providers. We are approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and Ofcom, and received more than 61,000 claims between January and September 2026.

Every case we handle is built on personal data: contact details, booking and account records, correspondence and evidence submitted by consumers and by the businesses that are members of our schemes. Consumers and traders trust us to treat that information fairly and securely. As our Data Protection Officer, you will be the first point of contact for anyone exercising their data rights and the internal owner of our data protection programme.

You will manage subject access requests from start to finish, monitor how we comply with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and flag issues early. On complex or contentious matters you will work alongside our external counsel, preparing the facts and documents they need and putting their advice into practice.

In line with UK GDPR, the role has direct access to senior management and will carry out its duties independently, without conflicts of interest.

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Key responsibilities:

1) Subject Access Requests & data rights

• Log, acknowledge and track every subject access request (SAR) within the one-month statutory deadline, including extensions where lawful
• Handle SARs from consumers, participating member businesses, staff and others, including requests for complete case files
• Verify requesters’ identity and clarify the scope of requests
• Search for, collate and review personal data across our case management and other systems
• Apply redactions and exemptions correctly, protecting third-party data such as the other party’s staff and our ADR officials
• Prepare clear, accurate responses and keep a full audit trail of decisions
• Handle other data rights requests, including erasure, rectification, restriction and objection

2) Monitoring and managing compliance

• Maintain our record of processing activities, privacy notices and data protection policies across CDRL and all five schemes
• Advise colleagues and ADR officials on data protection obligations and lawful bases for processing
• Make sure case data is shared appropriately between consumers, participating members and decision-makers, and no further
• Oversee international transfers, including to airlines and other members based outside the UK
• Carry out and review data protection impact assessments (DPIAs), including for new schemes, systems and online complaint forms
• Monitor compliance through regular audits and spot checks, and report findings to senior management
• Support our ISO certifications and any data protection evidence requested by our approving bodies
• Review data sharing agreements, member terms and supplier contracts for data protection terms
• Oversee data retention schedules for closed cases and secure disposal
• Deliver data protection training and raise awareness across the organisation

3) Breaches and regulators

• Lead our response to personal data breaches, including assessing risk and deciding whether to notify the ICO within 72 hours
• Act as the contact point for the Information Commissioner’s Office and for individuals
• Keep the breach log and lessons-learned records up to date

4) Working with external counsel

• Brief external counsel on complex SARs, complaints, breaches and disputes
• Prepare the chronologies, documents and information counsel needs
• Implement legal advice in practice and track agreed actions to completion
• Help manage legal spend by handling routine matters in-house

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CDRL is an equal opportunities employer.

We welcome applications from everyone and will make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. Your application data will be processed in line with our recruitment privacy notice.

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Application question(s):

• Do you have experience working in data protection, information governance, or a similiar role?
• Do you have a good working knowledge of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018?
• Have you previously handled Subject Access Requests (SAR’s), data breaches or data protection complaints?

About you

Essential

• Proven experience in a data protection, privacy, information governance or compliance role
• Hands-on experience managing subject access requests end to end, including redaction and applying exemptions
• Strong working knowledge of UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and PECR
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage several deadlines at once
• Clear written and verbal communication, with the confidence to advise colleagues at all levels
• Sound judgement, discretion and a methodical eye for detail

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Desirable (but not essential)

• A recognised data protection qualification, such as BCS Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection, PC.dp or IAPP CIPP/E
• Experience in an ADR, ombudsman, complaints-handling or regulated consumer environment
• Experience working with external solicitors or in-house legal teams
• Experience handling personal data breaches and dealing with the ICO
• Familiarity with ISO 27001 or similar information security standards
• Familiarity with case management, eDiscovery or redaction software

• A competitive salary
• 23 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Pension scheme with 3% employer contribution
• Hybrid and flexible working
• Funded professional development, including support towards a data protection qualification
• Onsite parking