Ofwat offers up to £111k for director of ICT and digital

Water regulator wants IT pro who can lead a portfolio of tech-enabled changes

Ofwat, the water services regulator for England and Wales, is on the hunt for a director of ICT and digital, and is offering up to £111k for the right candidate.

The director will lead a small, dedicated technology and infrastructure function within Ofwat's operations unit. They will lead the delivery of a portfolio of technology-enabled changes including defining the organisation's enterprise architecture, delivering its cloud migration, deploying new HR and payroll systems, new unified communications and intranet capabilities and embedding Ofwat's approach to information management.

The digital and ICT director will work alongside Ofwat's senior director of business improvement, and together Ofwat wants them to rethink the regulator's ICT strategy in order to ensure it makes the most of the latest digital technologies, for itself and for the companies it regulates.

"We will be launching a single Business Improvement programme during 2018 which you will help to shape, thinking through how we can get the most from business process redesign and culture change alongside ICT system and infrastructure changes," the job advert stated.

"We are also procuring a strategic partner to bring in expertise and capacity to transform Ofwat's operational services including ICT. You will play a key role working with our partner as an intelligent client to scope what needs to be looked at and manage the ICT elements of this co-source relationship," it added.

The post-holder will have to have experience in leading and delivering ICT and digital change within a similarly complex and customer-focused organisation.

Ofwat said it wanted a "great team player" that is passionate about innovating and getting the basics right. That includes the ability to translate technical complexity into language that Ofwat's other employees can understand.

In regards to pre-requisites, the regulator is looking for someone with relevant experience at a senior management level, or "a graduate in any discipline".

They do want a professional ICT qualification such as ITIL or BCS, and evidence of commitment to continued professional development including training or experience in project management - such as the PRINCE 2 qualification.

The salary range for the role ranges between £74k and £111k. The position is based in Birmingham and the closing date for applications is 9 October. Interviews will then be scheduled for 23 October.