Deputy Director, Digital Strategy

Details
Reference number

441093

Salary

£81,000 - £91,000

Standard Cabinet Office rules on pay will apply to civil servants appointed on level transfer or promotion. Their salary will increase to the minimum of the SCS PB1 range or by a promotion award of up to 10% more than their current basic salary excluding all allowances (whichever is the greater). Individuals appointed on level transfer will retain their existing basic salary excluding all allowances.

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

SCS Pay Band 1

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

HO - Home Office Digital

Type of role

Digital

Senior leadership

Strategy

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Compressed hours

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

Croydon, Manchester or Sheffield. The role may require travel to London/Croydon and possibly other Home Office locations for meetings if/when required.

About the job
Job summary

The Home Office Digital function is at the heart of one of the UK's most critical government departments. We design, build and operate over 640 digital systems that support millions of users across the UK and around the world enabling public safety, national security, and operational excellence.

Our mission is to deliver secure, resilient and user-centred services that transform how the Home Office operates and how the public interacts with government. From identity verification and visa applications to policing systems and counter-terrorism infrastructure, DDaT underpins the services that keep the UK safe and functioning.

At the centre of HO Digital is the Chief Technology Office (CTO). The strategic engine room responsible for architecture, engineering, transformation delivery, and setting the standards for digital, data and technology across the department. The CTO leads technology direction for all our major digital transformation programmes, drives innovation, and builds professional capability across the organisation.

As Deputy Director, you will be a key member of the CTO Senior Management Team. As we look to take our Digital 2030 Strategy forwards you will be the lead on the implementation, shape its future direction, and monitor and communicate our progress towards our aims. Ensuring that digital transformation is embedded across the department and aligned with both operational priorities, policy direction, and cross-government ambitions.

We are seeking an exceptional digital leader to drive the implementation of the Home Office 2030 Digital Strategy and lead the development of its successor post-2030. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role that will shape the future of digital public services and internal operations across one of the UK's most complex and high-profile departments.

You will lead a cross-functional team to embed the strategy's eight strategic shifts ranging from AI and automation to cyber resilience and digital skills across the department. You will also be responsible for developing the next iteration of the strategy, ensuring it reflects emerging technologies, evolving user needs, and cross-government ambitions.

As Deputy Director, you will act as a strategic bridge between DDaT and the wider Home Office. You will work closely with senior business and operational leaders across the department and at the highest levels of government to align digital transformation with core policy and operational priorities. Your leadership will be critical in enabling the digitisation of services across the entire Home Office embedding digital thinking into the heart of how the department designs, delivers, and governs its services.

Job description

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end implementation of the Home Office 2030 Digital Strategy, ensuring alignment with operational, policy and delivery teams across the department.
• Translate strategic ambitions into measurable outcomes, working closely with product, data, technology and policy leaders.
• Establish and lead a cross-cutting programme of engagement to embed the strategy's eight shifts within the business of the Home Office:
• Monitor delivery progress, risks and benefits, reporting to the Chief DDaT Officer, Executive Committee, and Ministers.
• Lead the development of the replacement strategy from mid-2027, including horizon scanning, stakeholder engagement and alignment with cross-government priorities.
• Represent the Home Office in cross-government forums and with external partners on strategic digital matters.
• Build and lead a high-performing team, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement.
• For the full list of responsibilities, please check the candidate pack attached at the bottom of the advert.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge, experience, capability and behavioural approach to a high standard against the following key criteria:

• Proven leadership in shaping and delivering digital, data, and technology strategies across complex organisations with diverse senior stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of HO Digital's role in public service delivery and emerging technologies such as AI, automation, and cloud platforms.
• Extensive experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and delivering transformation at scale.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, operating confidently at senior technology, operational, policy, and Ministerial levels.
• Commitment to user-centred, inclusive, accessible, resilient, and secure digital services.
• Ability to translate strategic vision into actionable plans, supported by analytical and problem-solving expertise, with experience in government or similarly regulated environments.

Desirable criteria:

• Familiarity with and the ability to contribute to wider government strategy around digital, data and technology
• Familiarity with the Government Digital Service (GDS) standards and frameworks.
• Experience working in or with security, immigration, policing or public safety domains.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Home Office contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know
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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Online Application

Please follow the Job Advert instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply online, no later than 23:55hrs on Sunday 11th January 2026.

Provide some basic personal information;

• A CV - setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years;
• A Statement of Suitability – (limited to 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
• Diversity Monitoring - as part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say'. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022 to 2025 (HTML) - GOV.UK ) for more information.

It is essential that in your written application you give evidence, using examples, of proven experience. These responses will be developed and discussed with candidates invited for interview. Failure to submit both a CV and Supporting Statement will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.

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

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .

See our vetting charter .

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)
• 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

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .

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 and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

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 : Alana O'Sullivan
• Email :

Recruitment team

• Email :

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint you should contact in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Home Office, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Complaints should be sent in writing to: Civil Service Commission, Room G8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.

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