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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Associate Director for Digital - **Company:** Disclosure & Barring Service - **Location:** UK (Remote available) - **Salary:** £74,061.0 - £80,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Agile Methodology, Disaster Recovery, Interaction Design, Service Design, User-Centered Design - **Published:** September 7, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=131f67d9174bf7f5 ## About the Role * Ability to lead at senior level across organisational boundaries, setting direction, influencing executive decisions and holding teams and partners to account for digital service outcomes. * Significant experience of leading complex digital services, products or transformation activity in a large organisation, including accountability for service design, delivery, live operation and continuous improvement. * Strong understanding of user centred design, service design, accessibility, agile delivery, product management, digital service standards and the use of insight and performance data to improve services, * Ability to build organisational confidence and maturity in digital by design, user centred design and evidence-led decision-making. * Experience of operating in a public sector, regulated or high-volume service environment, with an understanding of safeguarding, trust, risk and public accountability. * Knowledge of Government Digital Service standards, assisted digital, accessibility requirements and good practice in multidisciplinary digital delivery., Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check . ## Description DBS was established under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 on 1 December 2012, working from two sites, which are Liverpool and Darlington. We operate on behalf of government delivering Disclosure functions in England, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and Barring functions for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We function within a framework of legal and regulatory requirements and that includes work with a range of external organisations including other government departments, regulators, and trade bodies. We provide a service that enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make better informed, safer recruitment and other decisions. We do this by providing information to enable them to determine whether individuals are unsuitable or unable to undertake certain work, particularly with occupations involving regular contact with vulnerable groups, including children. Our Strategy Our current Strategy sets out our purpose, vision, and the impacts we want to achieve. Our strategy was co-created with our staff and has been supported by insight from our various partners, and throughout, you will find our ambitions to be achieved. Everything that we do within DBS, from developing our strategic intent, to the day-to-day operational delivery of our services, is underpinned by constant considerations of safeguarding, quality, sustainability, value for money, and diversity and inclusion. Our strategic objectives aim to enhance our effectiveness, influence, and customer satisfaction while fostering a supportive environment for everyone. Equality, Diversion, and Inclusion at DBS DBS is committed to fostering an environment that values individual differences and ensures fair treatment to unlock the full potential of staff and better support customers. Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are core to driving organisational success and we have developed specific equality objectives for DBS. Every decision and activity will be considered through an EDI lens, aiming to build an inclusive culture, improve policies and practices, gain external assurances, and become a leading voice of good practice in EDI. Read More For further information, please see below for a collection of DBS strategies and business plans: • DBS strategies - GOV.UK • DBS business plans - GOV.UK, The Associate Director of Digital will provide senior leadership for digital services across DBS, ensuring services are designed around user needs, delivered to the Digital by Default Service Standard, and continuously improved through evidence, data and user insight. The role will act as the organisational lead for digital by design, user-centred design and user experience, building the capability, culture and governance required to ensure DBS services are simple, inclusive, accessible, reliable and outcome-focused. Working closely with operational, policy, technology, commercial and transformation leaders, the postholder will hold end-to-end accountability for the strategy, design, delivery, live operation and continuous improvement of digital services, ensuring priorities align to organisational strategy, operational need and the future Target Operating Model. As a senior leader within Technology and Innovation, the postholder will shape digital maturity across DBS, lead multidisciplinary teams, influence executive decision-making, and ensure digital services deliver value for money, public trust and measurable benefits for users, staff and partners. Key responsibilities include: • Lead digital by design across DBS, ensuring services, products, policies and processes are shaped around user needs, accessibility, inclusion, evidence and measurable outcomes. • Lead and mature the User-Centred Design function, strengthening user research, service design, interaction design, content design and accessibility capability. • Set and communicate a clear digital service vision, securing alignment across senior stakeholders on priorities, trade-offs, risks, opportunities and outcomes. • Take accountability for service performance, resilience, compliance and continuous improvement across the full service lifecycle, from discovery through to live service. • Use performance data, user research, operational insight and delivery evidence to improve services and realise measurable benefits. • Embed governance and assurance that require user insight, accessibility, testing, value for money and continuous improvement as standard. • Lead high-performing multidisciplinary teams, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, agility and continuous learning. • Influence at executive level, ensuring user needs and digital service outcomes shape strategic decisions, investment choices and transformation roadmaps. Corporate Duties: • Play an active part as a member of the directorate management team (DMT), leading the organisation and undertaking corporate duties on behalf of DMT. • As an Associate Director of Digital within the DBS Corporate Leadership Team (CLT)), take a lead role in developing the organisation, ensuring a continued focus on VFM. • Fully engage and participate in the change programme. • Support the DBS Board and its committees as required. • Work as part of a wider directorate management, bringing together skills and expertise into a single, coherent and enabling directorate. • Demonstrable experience in creating the vision for large-scale cultural change. • Strong communication, influencing and leadership skills to translate technical concepts and issues into easy-to-understand propositions and secure buy-in • Demonstrable evidence of thought leadership in transformation. • Represent the Directorate, Group and Department as a leader in creating an innovative place of work to both internal and external audiences and driving forward the positive public image to all. Operational Delivery Duties Digital • Deliver services which meet and maintain the Digital by Default Service Standard. • Interpret user insight and performance data to drive service design and iterative operational improvements for digital and assisted digital service channels. • Clarify and articulate the diverse requirements of users and delivery partners to support effective delivery of a service. • Translate complex aims and needs into clear and manageable plans and determining resource requirements to support service design and maintenance. • Support the Director in creating joined up service delivery plans that have positive impact and are aligned to the DBS’s overarching digital strategy. • Build and sustain the DBS’s capability to design, build and operate high quality digital services, bringing in a range of technical, analytical and design skills. • Identify step changes that quickly transform the flexibility, responsiveness, and quality of a service, taking quick, confident decisions at a strategic level to move things forward. • Act as an advocate for the digital transformation of services, promoting the DBS’s progress and publicising learning; influencing culture change and digital adoption throughout the organisation. • Manage the relationship with both the Sponsor Unit and Home Office to ensure economies of scale are realised; synergies between digital service providers are exploited; DBS interests and requirements are appropriately understood and considered. • Proactively create and maintain a strong network of connections with colleagues across the department and Digital Service Managers in the wider Civil Service. • Work effectively across teams to support the department in delivering back-end technology that enables that delivery of excellent digital public services. • Gather and report on detailed performance data against key indicators to generate actionable improvements to the quality of services offered by the DBS. • Understand the financial position of the service, the DBS and the wider economy and recognise the impact of this when delivering services; promote and visibly demonstrate a culture of value for money. • Make strategic choices on spending and procurement, challenging high risk or costly options and using cloud-first options. • Use agile methodologies to maintain a strong focus on delivery priorities, holding others to account for delivery, and swiftly responding to changing requirements. • Ensure the organisational structure and resource requirements are designed and delivered in line with DBS strategic vision. • Provide leadership, across two sites (Liverpool and Darlington) and remotely. • Ensure that digital services for the DBS are delivered cost effectively and efficiently, and in accordance with compliance required and best practice standards, and that a disaster recovery approach is in place. • Ensure good management of strategic technology partners, ensuring that their delivery and service levels match or exceed contractual obligations. • Identify opportunities and risks for delivering the DBS digital services, including identification of competitive services, opportunities for innovation, and assessment of marketplace obstacles and technical hurdles. • Lead on development and execution of disaster recovery and business continuity plans. • Communicate and develop the DBS digital strategy to internal and external stakeholders. Management of Finances: • They will be accountable for the allocated financial resources of Digital Delivery., * 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 ## Related Videos - [What If We Designed Employee Experience Like a Customer Journey?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1824-what-if-we-designed-employee-experience-like-a-customer-journey) - [Hosting a modern justice system](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/332-hosting-a-modern-justice-system) - [Convincing Product teams to Adopt Gitops in a Large Org](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1936-convincing-product-teams-to-adopt-gitops-in-a-large-org) - [ShapeShift: Reinventing Agile for a B2B SaaS Scale-Up](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1655-shapeshift-reinventing-agile-for-a-b2b-saas-scale-up) - [The user in the eye of the Cargo1492 storm](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/96-the-user-in-the-eye-of-the-cargo1492-storm) - [Security Pitfalls for Software Engineers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/726-security-pitfalls-for-software-engineers) ## Related Articles - [Data Analyst Salary in the UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/278-data-analyst-salary-in-the-uk) - [UK Business Culture and Etiquette](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/326-uk-business-culture-and-etiquette) - [Data Engineer Salary UK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/253-data-engineer-salary-uk) - [Best Companies to work for in London: Top 25 Companies in 2023](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/187-best-companies-to-work-for-in-london-top-25-companies-in-2023) - [Events like RSAC Get You CISOs. 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