Ddat - Chief Technology Office - Assurance Lead

**Details**:
**Reference number**:
193357

**Salary**:
£52,051 - £63,175

National: £52,051 min-£57,254 max. London: £57,434 min-£63,175 max

**Grade**:
Grade 7

**Contract type**:
Permanent

**Business area**:
HO - Digital Data and Technology

**Type of role**:
Business Management and Improvement
Quality

**Working pattern**:
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time, Compressed Hours

**Number of posts**:
4

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Location

Croydon - Lunar House / Manchester - Soapworks / Sheffield - Vulcan House

About the job

**Summary**:
The first duty of the government is to keep citizens safe and the country secure. The Home Office has been at the front line of this effort since 1782. As such, we play a fundamental role in maintaining the security and economic prosperity of the UK. The Home Office leads on immigration and passports, refugee protection, counter-terrorism, policing, fire services, and crime and drugs policy.

This is an exciting time to be at the Home Office. You’ll have a chance to shape the future and support our mission to deliver exceptional public services that work for everyone.

Our work is guided by these principles:

- we put user needs first
- we value delivery and outcomes over process
- we work in the open

Our flexible working policy ensures a healthy work-life balance. We also nurture talent and offer a broad range of learning and development opportunities that will help you flourish in your role.

We work hard to maintain a positive working culture and are committed to helping you fulfil your potential. We value diversity and provide an open, inclusive and supportive environment to help you do your best work.

You can keep up-to-date with our work on the Home Office DDaT blog.

**Job description**:
We are constructing a brand new digital and technology assurance team in the Home Office and we are looking for a number of Assurance Leads to support this work.

To do this, they will operate, maintain and iterate the assurance process that supports the department’s Spend Control Pipeline. This will involve working with teams during the development of their spending proposals and business cases, and undertaking technical assessments, evaluations and reporting.

This is a unique opportunity for someone interested in gaining understanding of the breadth and scope of departmental technology and digital projects. The Leads will need to review and understand all the Home Office’s digital and technology spend, and assess elements of planned activities, ranging from how a delivery team intends to meet user needs and plan procurement to how it will manage data across its lifecycle.

The Leads will need to provide independent and constructive advice and on adopting digital government standards, including the Technology Code of Practice, Service Standard and DDaT Functional Standards, as well as the Home Office DDaT Strategy.

They will engage with Home Office stakeholders and teams to ensure that assurance is embedded appropriately across the whole Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) business area, with a mission to improve quality, reduce the risks of non-compliance, and support the successful delivery of critical Home Office services.

Whilst your role is part of the wider Quality Assurance and Testing professional community, line management and delivery accountability for this role is with the CTO (Chief Technology Office) team.

**Responsibilities**:
Your main day-to-day responsibilities will include:

- Supporting, advising and challenging teams on digital and technology projects, ensuring that services are rigorously assessed against mandatory standards.
- Identifying and communicating risks, issues and dependencies and escalating risks issues where appropriate.
- Working with Cabinet Office Central Digital and Data Office to ensure Home Office products and services comply with technology and digital spend control requirements.
- Supporting the head of Digital and Technology Assurance to create, develop and iterate the assurance function, including creating a Product Book, assurance framework and team ways of working.
- Coordinating assurance activities with other members of the assurance function as they undertake technical assessments, evaluations, and reporting.
- Supporting and advising across the wider Home Office on Spend Pipeline assurance and assessment matters.

Other day to day activities:

- Supporting peer reviews, assurance workshops and service assessments where needed.
- Identifying issues that negatively influence risk and cost early, when it’s easier and more cost-effective to correct.
- Building and managing relationships with senior stakeholders on relevant assurance and governance boards within the Home Office, and working with 2nd line assurance to grow and sustain a mature DDaT-wide approach to assurance. Reporting and tracking recommendations resulting from assurance reviews and assessment activities.
- Working with relevant board secretariats to ensu