About the job

Job summary

HMRC is transforming the way it does business with its customers, and CDIO Strategy, Design, Architecture and Innovation is at the forefront of much of this change. Around us the technical landscape is rapidly changing, with new innovative emerging technologies offering significant improvements to the way that HMRC works. These new technologies are changing the way customers engage with services and have moved customer expectation in terms of how they want to engage with HMRC services. The Innovation team works closely with HMRC partners and industry leading SME’s to identify and evaluate technical opportunities that offer significant potential in HMRC, conducting proof of concept and proof of value exercises, which can then help inform decision making and future strategies.

Job description

The role will involve understanding and translating technology advancements in to an HMRC concept, building the evidence via a user centred approach to demonstrate how technology can shape and transform policy or ways of working in HMRC. 

Working directly with senior leaders across HMRC, you will understand business problems, challenges and how technology can transform policy or ways of working to meet strategic objectives. Exploring how the economy and working practices are changing, working collaboratively with policy, strategy futures and OGD colleagues to bring together user needs, design and technology that demonstrate how HMRC can transform. Ensuring Innovation team deliveries are value-focused, with a clear, prioritised backlog to achieve the vision of each initiative. 

Providing direction to rapidly deliver and using agile methodology to adapt to user needs. Leading multi-disciplined teams, investigations, research and analysis i.e. through proof of concepts, hackathons, etc to demonstrate how technology solutions (including new and unconstrained) can be applied in an HMRC environment. Leading engagement with HMRC IT partners and industry leading SMEs to get a solid understanding of the value offered by emerging tech, being able to expertly communicate this potential to influence Excom, directors, strategy and policy makers. 

Demonstrating an understanding of the strategic direction and the key challenges facing HMRC and customer needs as the economy develops and ways of working change, identifying and proving that technology can provide appropriate solutions enabling HMRC to continuously adapt and stay up to date with technology advancements. 

Promoting a shared understanding by simply translating between business requirements and the technology solutions to influence business counterparts by providing evidence-based recommendations to decision making that shapes the direction of the department and how we deliver solutions and services. Acting as the single point of contact for senior leaders and directors within customer and functional units in CDIO, corralling innovation engagement that develops an environment to foster innovation and provides access to resources and tools that can develop ideas and prove the art of the possible.

Moving proven innovations into realised benefits via the appropriate delivery teams.

Person specification

We are seeking an excellent leader and manager with a strong customer ethos and a demonstrable track record of vendor management in a multi-supplier environment, demonstrating an understanding of market pressures and realities. We want to hear from candidates who are an expert and thought leader in the specific technology or business domain. We require someone who can demonstrate understanding of compliance within a complex data driven environment. 

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

Essential Criteria:

• Ability to capture and translate user needs into deliverables, defining the minimum viable product and prioritising accordingly. 
• Demonstrable experience of working with a range of specialists in multidisciplinary teams with an excellent understanding of user need and why data-led change matters; developing relationships with key internal stakeholders and technology service providers with the ability to communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries.
• Understanding the range of available technology choices and the ability to make informed decisions balancing user need and value for money. Understanding the variety and complexities of digital contexts and the ability to design services to meet them; with demonstrable knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology. 
• Experience of agile ways of working and a user centred design approach. 
• Proven experience of leading a technical innovation team at a large scale
• Thriving in a fast-paced, evolving environment and using an iterative method and flexible approach to enable rapid delivery. 

Desirable qualifications and professional memberships:

• Educated to degree level in relevant area.
• Knowledge of HMRC tax regimes. Knowledge across tax regimes will help identify and suggest opportunities where technology solutions can be applied.

 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £20,250 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

Application:

To apply for this post, you will need to complete an online application by submitting the following:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Statement of Suitability explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the criteria in the person specification.

Your CV and Statement of Suitability should reflect your most relevant and recent skills and experience in relation to the role. Therefore, we recommend that each document is no more than two A4 pages long. 

By not submitting a CV and a Statement of Suitability will mean we only have limited information to assess your application against the person specification. Please ensure both documents contain your full name.

Please see attached candidate pack for further details.

All Criminal Record Checks applications are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

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. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.