Deputy Director, i.AI Strategy and Business Engagement -Cabinet Office
Government Digital & Data -
Deputy Director, i.AI Strategy and Business Engagement
Cabinet Office
Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 2nd June 2024
Salary
£75,000 - £117,800
External candidates will be expected to start on the band minimum. Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the normal Civil Service pay rules.
A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Job grade
SCS Pay Band 1
Contract type
Fixed term
Loan
Secondment
Length of employment
Fixed Term Appointment (20 months), Loan (22 months), Secondments (20 months), Internal candidates (22 months) basis. If applying on loan from another government department, please make sure you have approval from your home department before applying.
Business area
CO - Delivery Group - Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI)
Type of role
Digital
Strategy
Working pattern
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share
Number of jobs available
1
Contents
Location
London
About the job
Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join a brand new team operating at the heart of government. The incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI) is a brilliant new team, comprised of technical experts who are set up to harness the opportunity of AI to improve lives, generate efficiency savings and deliver better public services.
This role is a critical one, sitting at the heart of our structure and overseeing the key enabling functions for our team - Strategy, Operations and Impact. You will work closely with technical experts from across the Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) profession, including AI Engineers, Data Scientists, Software Developers, User Researchers and more. These technical roles form part of our product teams, who are building tools for i.AI to deploy across government.
This role will have line management responsibility for three teams, covering strategy, business operations, and impact and evaluation. Taken together, these functions will provide support to our product team and make sure that we are able to interface effectively with the rest of government in delivering our mission. You can find out more about the work of our team on our website, here: https://ai.gov.uk/
Information session:
To give you an idea of working in i.AI and to answer any questions you might have, we encourage
you to attend our information session on 11:30 am - 12:00 pm on Tuesday 21 May.
Link to join is: https://meet.google.com/gun-nmqj-fwd
Job description
We are recruiting for Deputy Director i.AI Strategy and Business Engagement, to support i.AI in their mission to identify and deploy AI for the public good. This role will support that mission by working across government, and representing the Cabinet Office externally, to ensure that i.AI is effectively joined up with the thriving UK AI ecosystem.
Key Responsibilities
• You will constructively engage across government, building effective working relationships, and engaging with senior stakeholders to champion AI and data driven solutions.
• You will demonstrate a strong ability to form effective collaborations and manage very senior stakeholders, while leading by example for analysts, technical staff, and policy teams across government to inspire a step change in innovation practice use and technical upskilling.
• You will be credible externally in discussing AI for the public good and setting a vision for the UK’s adoption of this exciting technology, including effective engagement with Government AI ministers, and meeting regularly with business leaders and representing the UK government position.
• You will manage three critical branches in the team covering strategy, business operations, and impact and evaluation.
• You will report to Dr Laura Gilbert (10 Downing Street), Director of i.AI and Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) of AI for the Public Good and work very closely with ministerial offices to ensure strategic alignment.
Person specification
It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.
Essential Criteria:
- Proven experience of operating effectively in a relevant tech-adjacent field, for example experience in both AI strategy and implementation, wider digital/analysis functions in government or a large, complex tech-focussed organisation.
- Evidenced ability to build and maintain relationships with, and secure the confidence and trust of stakeholders, senior leaders, and peers, through the provision of expert advice on strategy, partnership working, and collaborative project delivery.
- Ability to work at pace, handling competing priorities and challenging deadlines in complex stakeholder environments. Rapid, collaborative problem solving and resolving complex issues when they arise.
- Excellent communication and written skills, with a proven track record of influencing effectively at Ministerial and Permanent Secretary level; or Board Level.
- Experience as a confident and empowering leader who sets a clear strategic direction to deliver key priorities through teams, with a track record of motivating, developing and successfully leading diverse, high-performing teams.
- Experience of setting up new teams, establishing good ways of working and effective partnership models.
- Experience of working with external business partners/collaborators to drive change within large, complex organisations and with stakeholders relevant to the mission of i.AI.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Leadership
- Making Effective Decisions
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £75,000, Cabinet Office contributes £20,250 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.
This includes:
- 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays.
- This will be complimented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday;
- A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
- Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
- Childcare benefits (policy for new employees as of 5 April 2018): The government has introduced the Tax- Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers, so please check how the policy would work for you here;
- Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable); and occupational sick pay.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Application process
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process, outlined below. This should be completed no later than 23:55pm, Sunday 2nd June 2024.
1. A CV (no longer than 1250 words) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
2. A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
Failure to complete both sections of the online application form (CV and Statement of Suitability) will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.
As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for more information.
Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with us via: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Selection process:
Shortlist
Your application will be acknowledged when it is received.
A panel, including the hiring manager, will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the ‘Person Specification’ section. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.
The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decision is expected to be made, and all longlisted and shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.
Assessment
If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to attend a panel interview, in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. We will be assessing against the success profile Behaviours and Experience at interview.
You may also have the opportunity to speak to a representative of the department prior to the final interview to learn more about the role and organisation. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process.
Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates. If you are required to prepare a presentation for the final interview you will be given the subject in advance.
If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies in the Civil Service requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without the need for a new competition.
Expected timeline (subject to change)
Shortlist - Week commencing 10th June 2024.
Interview - Week commencing 24th June 2024.
Reasonable adjustments
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Further information
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.
Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
Any move to Cabinet Office 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.
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
