Head of Technology Operations & Strategy

The Head of Technology Operations & Strategy is a new role in DDAT, reporting to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) as their strategic advisor. You will lead on developing and implementing a Technology Strategy and oversee the technical design of systems and services.

You will ensure teams deliver high quality, secure, scalable architecture design and will provide architectural assurance over internal functions, partners and suppliers. This role will be a key part of ensuring that digital technologies are an enabler and catalyst for DCMS’s missions:

• Secure and scalable service-oriented architecture
• Demonstrate strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Capability to assess business requirements, make sound technical decisions, provide practical solutions and advice.

You will bring experience of leading technical teams and implementing operational technology and cyber security frameworks and standards, including endpoint detection services, SIEM and SOAR, and reviewing existing SOC capabilities to optimise and respond to cybersecurity threats. You will also take ownership of technical processes, governance and technology policies, and establish and own technology governance and decision making.

You will act as a deputy and advisor to the CTO, providing leadership for architects across DDAT, representing DCMS at senior and cross-government forums, contributing to the wider DDaT Senior Leadership team, and building strategic relationships with technology suppliers to optimise commercial arrangements., We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Community collaboration
• Strategy design, If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only. Prior agreement to be released on loan 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.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

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

Security

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 security check .

See our vetting charter . People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks., * 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

• Experience working with public cloud platforms (Microsoft Azure and Google GCP)
• Experience defining and implementing technical strategies, roadmaps, standards, patterns and policies, and evidence of measuring success.
• Evidence of guiding operational decisions with high risk and complexity.
• Strong communication skills, with experience communicating with and influencing senior technical and non-technical stakeholders, mediating difficult decisions, and gaining support for complex initiatives.
• Experience supporting selection and procurement of technology systems and suppliers, managing supplier contracts and relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and review budgets/spending, and evidence capability to maximise investments.
• Experience working in multidisciplinary agile delivery teams.

Desirable skills

• Experience leading the identification and analysis of IT system capabilities, and the ability to explore, learn and apply new technologies.
• Experience producing technical documentation and architecture diagrams.
• Experience designing technical architecture for internal/public-facing systems, balancing technology against cost, user experience, operational support experience and strategic outcomes., This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., * Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

The technical skills to be tested at interview are:

• Community collaboration
• Strategy design

Experience: You will also be required to prepare a presentation to demonstrate your relevant experience. Full details of this, including the topic, length of time, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.

Pulled from the full job description

• Childcare
• Annual leave
• Employee discount
• Sick pay
• Employee assistance programme
• Company pension
• Paid volunteer time, Alongside your salary of £62,203, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £18,020 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .

DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home
• 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years’ service
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice
• 3 days of paid volunteering leave
• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year
• Occupational sick pay
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice
• Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks
• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work
• Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more!, Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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 https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Candidate Information Pack’ attached.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

We are transforming DCMS to meet the demands of an agile, delivery-focused department leading on some of the highest priority work for the government’s agenda to drive growth, enrich lives and level-up society.

Our modernisation plans include critical investment in our systems, ensuring they are fit for purpose and reducing the manual input required, as well as the ongoing development of a new central function to transform the way DCMS uses technology, data and digital services.

We also want to transform how we solve policy challenges by having user centred design and collaboration within multi-disciplinary teams at the heart of what we do.

This is an incredibly exciting time to join the team within DCMS. Our mission is to digitally enable how DCMS delivers its priority outcomes which can adapt and respond to the changing needs of the sectors and partners we work with. Can you help us get there?