Deputy Director for Performance & Assurance - GDS - SCS1

Location

Bristol, Manchester

About the job

Job summary

Job summary
The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

joining up public sector services
harnessing the power of AI for the public good
strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
elevating leadership and investing in talent
funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need

You will be joining the Strategy and Assurance Directorate, which is responsible for defining the vision, strategy and ambition for government digital and data, including the role of the digital centre, as well as providing rigorous oversight of digital delivery through spend assurance and controls, and service assessments.

Job description

As the Deputy Director you’ll:

Lead an established team on spend control and service assessment management, ensuring high-quality delivery of digital programmes and projects across government.

Design and deliver innovative, data-based approaches to monitoring departmental progress against the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government and driving greater accountability for outcome delivery and decision making across government. This will include oversight of and management of performance management approaches across Government, continuously improving and innovating in line with industry best practice.

Implement a programme of work to transform the assurance function into a quicker, easier user experience for departments. You will lead on the design and delivery of digital tools to more efficiently deliver spend controls and better draw on the expertise of GDS service lines. Manage teams of advisors engaging with departments and create and maintain robust escalation processes to provide strategic oversight to the advice given.

Build trusted relationships with senior Digital, Data and Technology leaders across departments, as well as with senior officials in GDS and DSIT. You will work regularly and closely with Ministers, articulating complex digital challenges clearly and compellingly, including on spend control.

Lead on ongoing functional engagement with HMT at major critical spending events such as Spending Reviews and ensure HMT and GDS are supported by expertise in Performance and Assurance.

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have:

A strong delivery background, with examples of successful delivery of major projects and programmes and effective leadership in digital and data team(s). Experience of complex digital policy and assurance would be advantageous;

Demonstrable understanding of the Technology Code of Practice, Service Standard and operation of Digital and Technology Spend Controls;

A successful track record of effectively utilising data, analysis and performance metrics to continuously improve and manage the delivery of a complex portfolio;

A track record of building and maintaining effective relationships with Ministers (or equivalent senior leaders) and excellent skills in managing a wide range of stakeholders, across multiple organisations with varied cultures, the ability to form and maintain strong collaborative relationships, and the ability to negotiate constructively with senior stakeholders and delivery teams; and

A track record of building and leading high performing, highly engaged and cross-functional teams and a commitment to coaching and development to drive a culture that drives excellence and collaboration.