Head of Digital Service Portfolio - Government Digital Service - G6

Location

Bristol, London, Manchester

About the job

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government. 

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by: 

1. joining up public sector services
2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government. 

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol. 

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale. 

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need 

Job description

The Head of Digital Service Portfolio leads the oversight, assurance and performance insight of major government digital services. The role ensures leaders have the right information and governance to make informed decisions and deliver the best outcomes for users and government. 

It provides a system-wide view of service health, transformation progress, risks and opportunities, ensuring the portfolio is effectively governed, prioritised and meeting organisational needs. 

Working collaboratively with departments, the role drives continuous improvement and promotes best practice in service management and digital delivery. It ensures services align with government digital, data and technology strategies and the Service Manual. 

The Head of Digital Service Portfolio leads and develops the portfolio function, overseeing its governance and operation. They lead a team of digital portfolio managers and build capability across the wider community to ensure consistent, high-quality portfolio oversight across government. 

In this role you will: 

• lead the performance tracking, assessment, and assurance of government digital services
• own portfolio prioritisation, sequencing and trade-offs, balancing risk, user outcomes, funding and delivery capacity across government services
• ensure effective governance and assurance processes are in place for digital services across government across the service portfolio
• monitor service health, delivery performance, user outcomes and transformation progress, to provide cross-government insights on service health, risks and opportunities strategic insight to senior leaders
• identify, manage and escalate portfolio-level risks, issues, dependencies and opportunities for intervention, including opportunities and risks posed by AI enabled services
• translate service performance data and delivery insights into recommendations that support prioritisation, investment and funding decisions
• provide a cross-government view of service health, future risks and opportunities to support strategic planning and decision-making. Work with departments and delivery teams to improve services, adopt best practice and deliver against agreed outcomes and service standards
• facilitate governance and assurance discussions in complex, high-risk and politically sensitive environments
• act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on service performance, delivery and transformation
• foster a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration and accountability across the service portfolio
• own and continuously improve the digital service portfolio function, building team capability and ensuring consistent, high-quality governance, assurance and insight across government 

Person specification

We’re interested in people who: 

• have substantial experience owning and operating a complex digital portfolio within an agile environment, utilising agile methodologies and iterating quickly to ensure delivery outcomes are aligned to organisational priorities 
• demonstrate strong expertise in designing and implementing portfolio governance and assurance, and improving the performance of digital services
• be able to provide clear, compelling insight and recommendations to senior leaders, enabling strategic decisions about the future of the portfolio and providing guidance to other on working in the strategic context 
• demonstrate expertise in planning, with the ability to identify, manage and escalate risks and dependencies across a portfolio, understanding the environment to prioritise the most important or high value tasks
• demonstrate excellent stakeholder leadership, including influencing and negotiating with senior stakeholders to resolve issues and enable progress. 
• show a track record of building and supporting a professional community, including coaching, line management and developing capability