Director Roles within Migration, Borders & Citizenship - Home Office - SCS2

Location

Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Sheffield

About the job

Job summary

This advert is for 2 Director Roles within HO Digital.

Role 1: Regular Migration and Immigration & Citizenship Services.

Role 2: Illegal Migration, Borders, Compliance and Enforcement.

Please state your preference within your application.

Job description

The Director – Regular Migration and Immigration & Citizenship is responsible for leading strategic digital product teams that deliver Regular Migration and Immigration & Citizenship Group digital services, including the Atlas caseworking system underpinning all Migration &Borders services, Access UK migrant application services, Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), eVisas, UK Passports, and Crossing the Border Digital (including the next generation of egates, intelligent border and contactless border). This role is responsible for delivering strategic GMPP digital-enabled outcomes, including those for the Future Borders Immigration System (FBIS), Caseworking Capability, the cross-government Digital Identity Programme, and Passports and Civil Registration. This role operates in partnership with the PB2 Director for Illegal Migration, Borders, Compliance andEnforcement, and both roles share responsibility for the portfolio's £700m annual investment. 

Key responsibilities include: 

• Operate as a principal digital adviser to Migration and Borders senior leadership, including the DG and wider SCS cohort, shaping strategic direction through bringing thought leadership on the latest trends, navigating competing priorities, and resolving complex issues across a high-profile operational environment.
• Provide executive leadership for digital product management across Regular Migration and Customer Services, setting vision strategic direction and investment priorities to align organisational objectives, user outcomes, and delivery performance at scale.
• Build organisational capability and high performance by championing a product-centric culture, coaching senior leaders, strengthening internal expertise, and leveraging supplier capability to deliver sustainable, system-wide impact.  
• Lead operational excellence across live services, including incident management, service recovery, SLA performance, cyber resilience and service reliability, while embedding a strong culture of ownership and accountability.
• Lead and develop a senior leadership cadre of SCS PB1 Delivery and Product Directors and functional heads, providing visible, cross-cutting leadership that builds organisational resilience, strengthens capability, and sustains high performance.
• Hold financial accountability for a £375m Migration and Borders Digital annual investment in delivery and live services, ensuring robust financial stewardship, transparent reporting, value realisation, commercial discipline and effective strategic supplier management 
• Provide executive oversight of commercial, contractual, and supplier relationships for third-party delivery and resourcing, securing performance, innovation, and strategic value across major procurements and delivery partnerships.
• Represent digital at senior programme boards and maintain direct accountability to Ministers and Director General leadership for the delivery of strategic, digital-enabled outcomes across Migration and Borders.

The Director – Illegal Migration, Borders, Compliance and Enforcement is responsible for leading strategic digital product teams that deliver digital services that enable Illegal Migration, Asylum, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, Border Security Command, Crossing the Border outcomes.  This role operates in partnership with the PB2 Director for Regular Migration and Immigration & Citizenship Services, and both roles share responsibility for the portfolio's £700m annual investment. 

Key responsibilities include:

• Operate as a principal digital adviser to Migration and Borders senior leadership, including the DG and wider SCS cohort, shapingstrategic direction through bringing thought leadership on the latest trends, navigating competing priorities, and resolving complexissues across a high-profile operational environment.
• Provide executive leadership for digital product management across Illegal Migration. Borders, Compliance and Enforcement,setting vision, strategic direction and investment priorities to align organisational objectives, user outcomes, and deliveryperformance at scale.
• Build organisational capability and high performance by championing a product-centric culture, coaching senior leaders,strengthening internal expertise, and leveraging supplier capability to deliver sustainable, system-wide impact. 
• Lead operational excellence across live services, including incident management, service recovery, SLA performance, cyberresilience and service reliability, while embedding a strong culture of ownership and accountability.
• Lead and develop a senior leadership cadre of SCS PB1 Delivery and Product Directors and functional heads, providing visible,cross-cutting leadership that builds organisational resilience, strengthens capability, and sustains high performance.
• Hold financial accountability for £375m Migration and Borders Digital annual investment in delivery and live services, ensuringrobust financial stewardship, transparent reporting, value realisation, commercial discipline and effective strategic suppliermanagement 
• Provide executive oversight of commercial, contractual, and supplier relationships for third-party delivery and resourcing, securingperformance, innovation, and strategic value across major procurements and delivery partnerships.
• Represent digital at senior programme boards and maintain direct accountability to Ministers and Director General leadership forthe delivery of strategic, digital-enabled outcomes across Migration and Borders.

Person specification

Essential Criteria x Both Roles.

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge, experience, capability and behavioural approach to a high standard against the following key criteria: 

• Proven experience of delivering large scale, digital transformation, strategic digital product leadership and accountability for live digital services with demonstrable ability to balance service reliability, cyber resilience and delivery of new capabilities.
• The ability to build high trust relationships with very senior customers and stakeholders, bridging technical and non-technical divides, with the confidence and credibility to challenge where necessary.  
• Experience in leading strategic digital product teams with the ability to inspire and empower colleagues to innovating and deliver high-quality, user-centred services ensuring alignment with organisational goals and ministerial priorities. 
• Strong financial management skills with experience in managing substantial budgets (>£50mper annum). 
• Proven expertise in managing suppliers and contracts (>£50m per annum), with a strong track record of driving supplier performance and achieving substantial cost savings.