About the job

Job summary

Applications are invited for the role of Chief Technical Officer within the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate.  This role is full time, but people on different working patterns are encouraged to apply and we would work together to consider options for fulfilling the business requirements for this post.

This is a permanent, pensionable Senior Civil Service Deputy Director role, with a starting salary of £91,656.

The digital strategy for Scotland sets out our plans for ensuring that we put digital at the heart of everything we do.  The Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate aims to help government organisations adopt digital business models that will deliver well designed, accessible, and inclusive public services.

Through this we facilitate transformation of existing public services, making best use of digital technology for our citizens by championing the core principles of re-use and collaboration – both in technology and skills, and to be an employer of choice in Scotland. 

Job description

Reporting to the Digital Director within the Digital Directorate, you will be the Chief Technology Officer for Scottish Government.  As a leader within the Technology Group within the Scottish Government’s Digital, Data and Technology profession, you will provide technical direction for the development and delivery of government services.  This includes responsibility for setting the vision and direction of the Scottish Government’s technology strategy, in line with the organisation’s platform based transformation strategy and wider ambitions to operate on a digital business model; coherent to business architecture, technology and capabilities.

As well as leading a group of software engineering professionals, you will promote greater alignment of principles, tools and skills to enable a technical community focussed on reuse and collaboration within the Scottish Government and the wider public sector.

As a technology leader, you will be experienced in building technical functions across organisational boundaries; ensuring that your teams have the skills and capabilities they need to meet future needs.

Person specification

Specialist Expertise

Candidates must be able to demonstrate their experience in the following:

• Building an effective software engineering function, locally across a large enterprise, based on common approaches and a shared development platform.
• Developing a professional technical function that has the skills and capabilities to meet the future needs of a large organisation.
• Identifying which technologies and operating models will deliver organisational outcomes and implementing them.
• Working with stakeholders and as part of a leadership team to enable the effective and sustainable digital transformation of an organisation.
• Recruiting and retaining software engineering teams at scale.

Leadership Criteria

Understanding, managing and developing self

• You will demonstrate a strong understanding of yourself as a leader as well as a passion for your work and your own continuous professional development. This includes acting as a role model for inclusive leadership by clearly articulating, with courage and humility, how your personal life experiences and background impact on your thinking and behaviour.

Developing others

• Embedding an inclusive, learning culture in your teams, trusting and empowering others and enabling high performance and innovation.

Leading others

• Setting clear strategic direction and making high quality decisions which balance risk and stakeholder interests to deliver outcomes.

Leading collectively

• Taking an effective whole system approach to complex, dynamic issues; actively developing wide networks internally and externally, breaking down and collaborating across barriers to deliver outcomes.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £91,656, Scottish Government contributes £24,747 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Applications should be submitted no later than 23.55 on Monday 4th March 2024.

Please consult the Candidate Pack and Further Information Pack when preparing your application.

To apply, you will need to submit an online registration form via the Applicant Tracking System (iCIMS), and supply the following supporting documents, again through iCIMS:

• A CV including your contact details; relevant and recent employment history; qualifications that are relevant to your application; and skills and interests (these can be used to describe any additional training or abilities relevant to your application).
• A Supporting Statement (no longer than 1500 words) which relates your personal skills, qualities and experience to the requirements of the role, and the essential criteria, as described in the Candidate Pack.

The system will acknowledge your application.

 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.