Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO) - DWP - SCS3

DWP is looking to fill the Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO) role in Digital directorate.

The complexity and scale in which we work is unprecedented. In our digital function, we transact £170 billion a year, we manage 50 million lines of code and we have one of Europe’s largest IT estates operating across 850 buildings and 90,000 desktops.

We are currently looking to recruit a new Director General, Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO). This role is critical to our
transformation as a department servicing over 20 million citizens each year. The role aims to drive transformation by driving digitalisation of the business by unlocking the potential modern online technologies and data present.

You will report to Peter Schofield the DWP Permanent Secretary. You will be responsible for eight direct reports and role model leadership for c.5,000 colleagues in Digital Group, with an annual budget of £1 billion.

Please see video below from Peter Schofield, DWP Permanent Secretary for more information on the role.

Welcome video from Peter Schofield, DWP Permanent Secretary

Job description

Role Responsibilities

• Lead both the Digital function of c.5,000 people, as the Digital professional lead in the department, and as a visible and credible Digital leader across the wider department.
• Shaping the digitalisation strategy for DWP, driving and embedding a Digital First mindset and working across different lines of business to deliver policy intent through user-centered digital services. Ensuring that the right processes, procedures and technologies are designed, used and integrated to make sure that digital becomes ingrained in the business.
• Role modelling the desired leadership behaviours and creating the culture and conditions to empower people to work across organisational boundaries, in multi-disciplinary teams, in service of our strategic priorities.
• Promoting new ways of working and information technology-enabled innovation, including exploring and delivering responsible AI to drive and build sustainable digital capability across the Department to support Civil Service Reform and Digital Strategy priorities, developing a culture which is able to build, attract and retain talent across the function.
• Providing assurance that strategic risks are identified and managed and where appropriate escalated and shared with Senior Stakeholders, including Ministerial teams. This role will require an ability to work confidently with Ministers and engage with them to deliver their priorities.
• Developing collaborative strategic partnerships working across Government including Cabinet Office, Treasury, Government Digital Service and other Departments in service of dealing with the most complex issues, sharing best practice and deploying shared services.
• Leading the delivery of digital and information systems and services to 90,000 DWP colleagues. Managing a budget of £1 billion in a sustainable and compliant manner.
• Establishing strategic, sustainable relationships with partners and vendors.
• Contribute to and actively participate in the executive leadership of DWP as we deliver unprecedented change to the welfare system, and to the products and services it delivers; working in close partnership with Director General colleagues on transforming our services and transforming how we as a Department operate.
• Deliver high quality, stable and resilient live IT services and lead the strategic management of the supplier contract.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate must be an effective business and digital services transformation advocate, experienced at operating at the most senior levels, and able to demonstrate their knowledge, experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• Extensive experience leading, developing and implementing transformational digital strategies to scale in complex private or public organisations.
• Proven leadership across the full suite of a technology and digital function, both financially and with a significant team, with a track record of leading at scale, setting a clear vision and role modeling an inclusive, collaborative culture which focuses on building current and future capability through developing and championing professionalisation, and creating an environment where high performing teams thrive.
• A track record of building and managing complex senior stakeholder relationships, channeling differing or conflicting views, to ensure that both the digital and broader business directorates are brought into the digitalisation strategy and are therefore moving in the same direction.
• Proven experience to grasp complex business processes and provide insight on how they might be enabled through digitalisation. Crucially to achieve the spending review commitments, a proven history of aligning business strategies with financial challenges and the ability to combine an understanding of the customer into how digital technology will reimagine customer experiences.
• A track record of establishing meaningful business case and performance metrics by which digital effectiveness and value is, or could be, achieved coupled with a flair to engage, communicate and influence to demystify digitalisation and further embed it within the organisation.