Associate Service Owner

Details
Reference number

435351

Salary

£56,070 - £70,219

Based on capability. The base salary of this grade is £61,005 for London and £55,403 for other locations. Offers made above this will be made up with a specialist pay allowance. £61,740 - £70,219 (London) £56,070 - £61,793 (National Locations)

GBP

Job grade

Grade 7

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

GDS - Digital Centre Design

Type of role

Digital

Working pattern

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

Number of jobs available

3

Contents

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

Location

Bristol, London, Manchester

About the job
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.

Job description

This is a rare opportunity to transform the way government delivers services. As an Associate Service Owner in the Performance and Assurance team you will run and continuously improve world-class services based on user needs.

You will:

• Own the end-to-end design, delivery and continuous improvement of your service area, ensuring it meets the needs of users across government.
• Collaborate with relevant stakeholders including policy, delivery, commercial, finance, and technical teams to align service design with strategic objectives and statutory requirements.
• Drive a joined-up, user-centred approach to your area, using feedback, data, and insights to refine processes and improve outcomes.
• Lead cross-functional working groups and communities, ensuring coordinated contributions from stakeholders across government.
• Identify duplication, blockers or inefficiencies in the current landscape and shape digital or procedural solutions to address them.
• Work with service and project teams across departments to embed reformed processes, standards and tools in ways that streamline delivery and improve accountability.
• Contribute to the reform of central controls and performance frameworks, surfacing cross-cutting system-level issues.

The Performance and Assurance team sits at the heart of how government delivers great digital and technology services. We help departments build the right things, in the right way, by providing trusted assurance and insight across government. From running service assessments and digital spend controls through the Get Approval to Spend (GATS) service, to shaping funding reform and developing the new cross-government Performance Framework, which provides a consistent measurement of digital and technology development. We make sure digital delivery is effective, efficient, and focused on user needs. Our work drives accountability, builds confidence in delivery, and helps government make better decisions about where and how to invest in digital.

We're hiring for three really exciting roles to shape the future of digital delivery in government:

• Digital Standards Associate Service Owner: Help drive how government delivers great digital and technology outcomes. You'll design new approaches on how to bring together GDS' bank of functional standards, test ideas, and build feedback loops.
• Systems Reform Associate Service Owner: We're leading a cross-government Sprint to redesign the end-to-end assurance journey — bringing together Cabinet Office controls, HM Treasury approvals, and NISTA reviews into one streamlined digital service. We need an Associate Service Owner to lead discovery and prototyping, using user-centred design to cut duplication, simplify processes, and improve delivery outcomes.
• Performance Associate Service Owner: We're also looking for an Associate Service Owner to define how we measure and improve digital performance across government. You'll develop meaningful service metrics that show how services really perform for users, building a shared, data-driven view of what good looks like and helping teams turn insight into impact.

Please let us know in your application if you have a preference for one of the three focus areas.

Person specification

We are looking for candidates who have;

• excellent understanding of delivery of services across government
• leadership experience in the successful design, delivery and operation of high-quality products and services which maximise opportunities offered by digital technology
• proven expertise in gathering, analysing and using user insight and performance data in a way that ensures responsiveness to changing user needs and technical developments
• experience translating complex aims and needs into compelling strategieswith clear and manageable plans - communicating these in an open and transparent way through a variety of channels
• experience managing the expectations of stakeholders with conflicting needs and demands, engaging with senior stakeholders, and developing a pipeline of customer adoption
• experience assessing risks, scoping resource requirements and managing budgets and operating costs to ensure value for money and sustainable development of teams and services at scale
• experience championing agile delivery principles and methods as outlined in the Government Service Design Manual.

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for the King's birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Things you need to know
Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the "person specification" section above
• a 45 Minute Interview which will feature a short presentation task. Details of this task will be shared with selected candidates prior to the interview.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

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.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is: Leadership in successful design, delivery and operation of high quality products and services which maximise opportunities offered by digital technology

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We'll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we'll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• working together
• managing a quality service
• delivering at pace

We'll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Service Owner role. At the Associate Service Owner Level, we are looking for the below skills and competency levels:

• Adapting to delivery methodologies (Practitioner Level)
• Applying user centred insights (Practitioner Level)
• Leading performance and benefits (Practitioner Level)
• Stakeholder relationship management (Practitioner Level)
• Strategic ownership (Practitioner Level)

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are?Click Here

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: 10/11/25

Panel interviews: 18/ /11/25

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

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 D&I Strategy.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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.

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.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

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 :
• 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 GDS- in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.

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