Deputy Director, Digital Project and Change Delivery - HM Courts and Tribunals Service - SCS1
Government Digital & Data -
Location
East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, Scotland, South East England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the Humber
About the job
Job summary
This is a Nationally based role
Job description
The Role
The Deputy Director, Digital Project and Change Delivery is a senior leadership role within HMCTS Digital and Technology Services (DTS). The postholder will be responsible for driving delivery excellence across a portfolio of digital and technology change initiatives, ensuring that projects and programmes are aligned to HMCTS priorities and delivered to time, cost, and quality standards.
Reporting to the Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO), the role provides visible leadership across project delivery and digital workstreams, enabling joined-up delivery and timely resolution of inter-programme challenges.
The postholder will also lead delivery of the Decommissioning and Legacy Risk Mitigation (DLRM) Programme — a Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) initiative addressing legacy technology, cyber and operational risks. Acting on behalf of the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), they will ensure that the programme delivers against its business case, meets the highest technical and security standards, and contributes to the modernisation and resilience of HMCTS’s digital estate.
Key Responsibilities
Portfolio Delivery
- Provide strategic leadership across the DTS portfolio of projects and programmes, ensuring work is effectively sequenced, prioritised and governed to deliver HMCTS’s strategic objectives. Shape the overall portfolio roadmap, aligning investment and delivery capacity with business priorities, and maintain oversight of interdependencies to ensure coherent and sustainable progress.
- Lead prioritisation and trade-off decisions where resource constraints or risks arise, balancing short-term operational needs with long-term transformation goals. Work collaboratively with peers across DTS and the HMCTS Change Portfolio Directorate to enable integrated planning and shared accountability for delivery outcomes.
- Strengthen capability and consistency across the digital delivery profession by overseeing the Digital Workstreams and Project Delivery Groups. Champion best practice in agile and hybrid delivery, build programme management maturity, and embed performance insights and continuous improvement across teams.
Leadership of the Decommissioning and Legacy Risk Mitigation (DLRM) Programme
- Lead the delivery of the DLRM Programme on behalf of the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), providing strategic direction and day-to-day oversight of the Programme Director and delivery teams. Ensure commercial, technical and operational delivery are fully integrated, risks are managed proactively, and business case benefits are realised.
- Champion high standards of delivery practice and governance, maintaining progress across this complex, multi-supplier environment and managing dependencies across HMCTS and MoJ.
- Ensure all delivery approaches meet the highest technical and security standards, making appropriate use of innovative technologies (such as AI and Low Code) to accelerate progress, reuse capabilities, and reduce cost and risk.
- Provide authoritative advice to senior stakeholders — including HMCTS and MoJ leadership, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, Cabinet Office and HM Treasury — and represent the programme in key assurance and investment forums.
- The DLRM Programme addresses some of HMCTS’s most complex digital and operational challenges, from legacy system retirement to large-scale data migration. The postholder will combine strategic foresight with strong delivery discipline to ensure progress towards a modern, secure and sustainable technology estate.
Cross-Government Engagement and Governance
- Act as a senior digital leader across HMCTS, engaging with MoJ, GDS, and cross-government delivery and assurance bodies as required.
- Lead DTS contributions to HMCTS governance boards and cross-cutting delivery forums, including ministerial briefings and PAC/NAO engagements as necessary.
Team and Community Leadership
- Provide line and professional leadership to the Heads of Project Delivery and Digital Workstreams.
- Embed a culture of delivery, accountability and professional excellence within the change community.
- Champion the Civil Service values, model inclusive leadership, and foster a culture where diverse teams can succeed.
Financial and Commercial Stewardship
- Ensure delivery is underpinned by strong commercial and financial management, with robust oversight of business cases, budgets, procurement pipelines and in-flight delivery performance.
- Contribute to Spending Review and investment case development, particularly in relation to legacy mitigation, Reform transition, and digital operations continuity.
Leading Through Ambiguity / Vision for the Future
- Deliver insights that shape organisational design, enabling future-ready structures and ways of working.
* Be a stabilising force during times of change, guiding teams through transition with clarity, empathy, and a focus on maintaining momentum and morale
Person specification
Please view our candidate information pack for full details about the role, key responsibilities, person specification, and the criteria you will be assessed against throughout the recruitment process.
We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.
Diversity & Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
For full details about the Role, Key Responsibilities and Person Specification, please download and review the Candidate Information pack on the Civil Service Jobs link.
