The former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police John Yates has been cleared of misconduct in relation to allegations that he inappropriately secured a job for the daughter of a former News of the World editor at the Met in 2009.

However, a report from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found that Yates showed "poor judgment" in forwarding her CV to human resources with an accompanying email which implied that staff were "expected to find Ms [Amy] Wallis a job".

Deborah Glass, the IPCC deputy chair, said Amy Wallis, daughter of Neil Wallis, was not at fault but that "employment policies were not followed" and the responsibility for the lack of adherence to policy lay with the head of HR, Martin Tiplady, who retired before the investigation by the police watchdog began.

In the email to Tiplady published by the IPCC, Yates notes that the former newspaper executive has been "a great friend (and occasional critic) of the Met in past years and has been a close adviser to Paul [Stephenson] on stuff/tactics in respect of the new commissionership."

He goes on to say she looks "eminently qualified"; that he has met her on "several occasions" and that she is "clearly bright, very personable and presents well".

He carries on by asking for "an early response so I can manage expectations with both Neil and his daughter".

The IPCC said the forwarding of the CV "did not amount to misconduct" but the words in the email and the involvement of Yates and Tiplady in her employment "had the foreseeable consequence that human resources staff believed that they were obliged to find a post".

Following the email exchange an HR officer emailed another staff member to say "Martin is very keen for us to accommodate Ms Wallis, particularly in light of her father's position/relationship," demonstrating the pressure they felt to find her a position.

Wallis's daughter started a six-month contract on 1 June in the human resources department and declared her connection with her father on 15 July, the day after his arrest.

When he resigned in July last year Yates admitted he had helped Amy Wallis, but insisted he had only acted as a "postbox" in January 2009.

Tiplady told the IPCC that neither he nor Yates had any direct involvement in her recruitment and had the assistant commissioner applied pressure he would have advised him to "back off".

At the Leveson inquiry, Wallis protested that he had done nothing wrong by inquiring about a job for his daughter and objected to her privacy being invaded.

He referred to an email from Tiplady which showed that the two people who had referred the incident to the IPCC – Catherine Crawford, the chief executive of the Metropolitan Police Authority, and the former deputy Met commissioner Tim Godwin – had themselves referred family and friends to the Met for work.