Head of IT Change Delivery - HMRC - SCS1

Location

Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Portsmouth, Telford and Worthing.

Due to workforce controls, Birmingham is only open to existing HMRC employees.

About the job

Job summary

This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of HMRC's digital transformation, accountable for delivering a significant portfolio of technology change that supports some of the UK's most important public services. The role leads multidisciplinary teams and strategic suppliers to deliver complex change safely and effectively, ensuring technology investments achieve their intended outcomes and deliver measurable value to customers, colleagues and the wider organisation.

The postholder will provide visible leadership across the delivery lifecycle, driving performance, managing dependencies and risks, and ensuring resources are deployed to the highest organisational priorities whilst maintaining a strong focus on service stability, quality and value for money.

Job description

The postholder will:

• Lead the coordination and orchestration of technology change delivery across major transformation programmes, PATH, policy-driven change, IT investment and business-as-usual change activity.
• Ensure IT resources, skills and supplier capacity are prioritised and deployed effectively to support organisational priorities.
• Provide a single view of technology change demand, commitments, dependencies, constraints and delivery readiness across the enterprise.
• Identify, manage and escalate cross-programme risks, conflicts, dependencies and resource pressures to support effective decision-making.
• Own and continuously improve the end-to-end IT change lifecycle, establishing effective governance, planning, assurance and reporting mechanisms.
• Develop forecasting, planning and performance capabilities that improve confidence in delivery outcomes and organisational decision-making.
• Lead the exploitation of AI, automation and data-driven approaches to improve visibility of change activity, enhance forecasting, identify emerging risks and automate administrative processes.
• Provide strategic leadership for Business Relationship Management, ensuring business priorities, technology capabilities and delivery plans remain aligned.
• Build strong relationships across business groups, CDIO functions, transformation programmes and suppliers to create a joined-up approach to change delivery.
• Provide senior leaders with clear insight into delivery performance, resource utilisation, organisational capacity and emerging challenges across the change landscape.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team responsible for IT change governance, business relationship management and change lifecycle improvement.

Person specification

The successful applicant will need to demonstrate relevant experience and effective delivery of the following essential criteria:

Essential Criteria:

• Significant experience leading the delivery of large-scale, complex technology and digital change portfolios within a major organisation.
• Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and strategic suppliers to deliver outcomes in complex and fast-paced environments.
• Strong track record of delivering technology change whilst balancing operational stability, risk, quality, security and value for money.
• Experience of prioritising resources, managing competing demands and making delivery trade-offs to achieve organisational objectives.
• Demonstrable ability to establish effective relationships with senior business stakeholders and influence decision-making at executive level.
• Strong commercial and supplier management experience, including overseeing delivery through strategic delivery partners.
• Excellent leadership skills, with experience building high-performing teams, developing capability and driving accountability for delivery outcomes.
• Experience managing complex delivery risks, dependencies and governance arrangements across multiple programmes, products and services.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical and delivery issues clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience operating in regulated, high-availability environments where service continuity and customer outcomes are critical.

Desirable Skills and Experience: 

• Experience leading technology delivery within government, the wider public sector, or another large, complex regulated organisation.
• Knowledge of modern digital delivery approaches, including Agile, DevSecOps, product-centric delivery and cloud-based technologies.
• Experience delivering large-scale enterprise technology platforms, such as CRM, contact centre, data, cloud or AI-enabled solutions.
• Familiarity with government digital standards, assurance frameworks and technology governance processes.
• Professional qualifications in programme, project or service delivery disciplines (e.g. MSP, PRINCE2, Agile, SAFe, APM, ITIL or equivalent).