UK government hunting for new chief digital officer
Selected candidate can expect salary up to £190,000 per annum
The Cabinet Office has started search for a new Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be responsible for developing and implementing the Government's digital, data and technology transformation to improve services for UK residents.
The successful applicant will replace Joanna Davinson, whose 18-month stint building up and leading Whitehall's digital operation is coming to an end.
A Cabinet Office advert describes the GCDO as the Government's most senior digital data and tech leader, who will be in charge of strengthening data-driven decision-making throughout government while addressing technology-related risks.
The ideal candidate will have proven expertise as a recognised leader inside large, technologically sophisticated workplaces, with a track record of leading digital and technological initiatives.
They will also be confident, inclusive and compassionate, able to 'bring agendas together to create a whole that is more than the sum of its parts'.
The appointee will be responsible for shaping innovation and transformation strategies for modernising the Government's legacy IT systems; digitising end-to-end services; building a cross-government enterprise architecture; updating data and analytics methodologies; upgrading digital, data and technology talent and skills; and bolstering cyber security.
The new GCDO will manage a direct team of around 200 professionals and SMEs in the Cabinet Office's Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO). They will report to Alex Chisholm, the civil service's Chief Operating Officer.
The role will not have direct decision-making authority over digital and technology activities within particular ministries, but it will require coordinating with digital leaders throughout the civil service, as well as ministers and 10 Downing Street.
The advertised salary is up to £190,000 per annum, which is above the average of advertised CDO positions across the UK.
Applications close on 18th March, with interviews planned to take place starting 21st March.
The Government named Joanna Davinson as the executive director of the CDDO within the Cabinet Office last January.
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee said in a report in July 2019 that the UK Government's digital strategy had stalled, citing a lack of leadership as one of its main concerns.
As part of its response to that report, the Government promised last year to build a 'robust' set of criteria to monitor the progress of digital projects.