AI & Digital Transformation Manager

The Government Office for Science works at the heart of Government, ensuring policies and decisions are informed by the best scientific evidence and strategic long-term thinking. It's an exciting time to join the organisation; we have outstanding and high-profile positions providing you an opportunity to inform and influence policy-making and the systems for use of science and engineering across government. If you are highly motivated and looking for your next career challenge we want to hear from you.

Our mission is:

• Science advice mechanisms that are efficient, effective, speak truth to power and are embedded irreversibly in Government systems.
• Visible impact through both pro-active and demand-led science advice that is relevant, excellent, and delivered fit for purpose.

Further information can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-office-for-science

We strongly believe diversity of experience, thought, perspectives, skills, and background makes us a more innovative, welcoming Department, thus making better decisions and better delivering our objectives. We are actively seeking applications from every part of the community and particularly welcome applications from candidates of any age, background, disability, or from an ethnic minority background and any other protected characteristics. This will help us move to a workforce that reflects the people we serve to deliver better policies.

We are a friendly, inclusive team and emphasise personal development. We will ensure individuals with disabilities are provided adjustments to participate in the job application and interview process. We support your wellbeing by putting flexible working at the heart of our offer.; if successful, you will be able to discuss working arrangements with your new manager.

We maintain an internal surge capability of staff who may be called at short notice to support an activation of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Training and support will be provided. This is an excellent opportunity to develop crisis management skills., The AI & Digital Transformation Manager will lead the introduction, integration and transition of AI and digital capabilities into GO Science workflows.

The post holder will lead an organisation wide change programme to build confidence, capability and adoption of AI enabled ways of working across GO-Science. They will champion new behaviours, support cultural readiness, and ensure staff feel empowered to use emerging digital tools responsibly and effectively.

The post holder will scope, deliver and embed new AI enabled processes, working with users to understand their needs and ensuring services are designed, procured and transitioned smoothly into live operation.

They will additionally act as the lead for Knowledge & Information Management (KIM) as it relates to AI and Digital capabilities, working with DSIT KIM teams to ensure that GOS information assets, data handling practices and knowledge sharing support new capabilities and are robust, compliant and aligned with organisational and legislative requirements.

This role combines AI transformation, service transition, product thinking, and digital specialist leadership, supporting GO-Science to become an AI ready, digitally mature organisation., * Lead GOScience’s change programme to build staff readiness, acceptance and long term adoption of new AI and digital capabilities.

• Develop and deliver change interventions (communications, training, engagement sessions, champions networks) to support behaviour change and embed new ways of working.
• Address cultural, capability and process barriers to adoption, ensuring staff feel informed, supported and confident using new tools.
• Draw together work across GOS on AI and digital infrastructure and help maximise the impact of secondees/fellowships.

Knowledge & Information Management (KIM)

• Embed good information management practices into new AI and digital workflows, ensuring responsible use of departmental knowledge assets.

AI and Digital Delivery

• Map and analyse existing processes—such as evidence synthesis and core corporate procedures—to identify opportunities for beneficial AI integration. Promote user centred design, continuous improvement and a culture of evidence based decision making.
• Oversee the evaluation, testing and implementation of AI tools, whether in-house, commercial or centrally procured, and drive continuous improvements through iteration, feedback loops, analytics and user insight. Ensure a seamless handover between development, testing and live operations, whilst working with ICS to assess and manage risks, dependencies and issues relating to digital and AI implementations.

Governance & Compliance

• Ensure that services and deployments adhere to DDaT standards, covering accessibility, security, resilience and sustainability. Promote responsible, secure and ethical deployment of AI technologies.
• Establish repeatable governance pathways for adoption of AI tools within GO Science.
• Document and maintain service and support processes, including runbooks, escalation paths and service quality metrics

Stakeholder & Supplier Engagement

• Act as the primary digital specialist advisor on AI tooling across GOScience, working with DSIT, GDS and other cross government digital bodies.
• Manage relationships with vendors, delivery partners and technical stakeholders.
• Communicate complex AI and digital concepts to non technical audiences, ensuring shared understanding of constraints, opportunities and risks.

Skills (DDaT Capability Framework)

• Service focus (expert): Maintain focus on the entire life cycle of the service and ensure it’s at the forefront of readiness activities understand and communicate service benefits to end users ensure that service focus is championed within your team and actively recommend its adoption.

• Availability and capacity management (practitioner): Manage high impact, complex change requests, ensure that release policies, procedures and processes are applied.

• Ownership and initiative (practitioner): Take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems, achieve excellent user outcomes.

• Community collaboration (practitioner): Work collaboratively in a group, actively networking with others, adapt feedback to ensure it’s effective and lasting, use your initiative to identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify. Identify issues through Agile ‘health checks’ with the team, and help to stimulate the right responses.

• User focus (practitioner): Collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally, explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user, champion user research to focus on all users, prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so, offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use.

• Asset and configuration management (working): Maintain secure configuration and accurate information, control IT assets in one or more areas, verify the location and state of IT assets.

• Incident management (working): Diagnose and prioritise incidents, investigate their causes and find resolutions.

• Continual service improvement (working): Identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions.

• Problem management (working): Initiate and monitor actions to investigate patterns and trends to resolve problems, effectively consult specialists where required, determine the appropriate resolution and assist with its implementation, determine preventative measures.

• Service management framework knowledge (working): Show you have a Level 3 service management framework qualification demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle or capability elements of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library).

• Continuity management (awareness): Explain the basic principles of IT standard continuity management processes and procedures.

• Technical understanding (working): Understand the core technical concepts related to the role, and apply them with guidance., Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, and can be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return., Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

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).

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., * 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

Do you have experience in Sage?, * Service focus - Understands service level requirements and ensures new AI/digital capabilities meet operational, user and business needs.

• Community collaboration - Builds strong relationships across technical and non technical stakeholders; influences decisions and manages complex expectations. Communicates complex AI and digital concepts to nontechnical audiences, ensuring shared understanding of constraints, opportunities and risks.
• Change management - Experience leading organisation wide change or transformation programmes, with demonstrable impact on staff behaviours, capability and adoption. Proven experience delivering digital or AI transformation programmes, including transitioning services into live operation.
• Technical understanding - Understands AI technologies, data considerations, digital service lifecycle, accessibility, cyber risks and integration challenges. Strong understanding of AI technologies and their application to organisational workflows. Experience working with evidence synthesis, research workflows or scientific advisory processes. Understanding of Knowledge & Information Management (KIM), including records management, information governance, data handling and knowledge sharing practices.
• Ownership and Initiative - Experience in supplier and contract management for digital or AI tools., * Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing, This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check .

Alongside your salary of £67,250, Government Office for Science contributes £19,482 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We offer a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

For the full list and to see our commitment to diversity and inclusion, please see the attached Employee Offer booklet.