About the job

Job summary

A part of the Cabinet Office, the Central Digital and Data Office leads the Government digital and data function for government. We put the right conditions in place to achieve digital, data and technology transformation at scale by working with departments, and other government functions like commercial, project delivery and security professionals.

We are responsible for:

• Government Digital and Data Strategy and Standards, like the Technology Code of Practice, the Service Standard and Open Standards
• Cross-government digital and data performance and assurance, including Spend Controls
• Government Digital and Data Capability Development, including the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework

Digital and Data Workforce and Capability:

The Government Digital and Data Workforce and Capability team (in Cabinet Office) is focused on ensuring that government has the right people to deliver digital transformation and meet the significant challenges that it will face in coming years.  We aim to turbocharge our ability to attract, recruit, grow and retain world leading digital talent who will go on to develop game changing public services.

This challenge is one of the most pressing and exciting in government and one that is critical to government modernisation and reform. 

 We are a dynamic and growing team of capability, digital and data professionals charged with setting strategy and delivering for the 23,000 digital makers, future talent, and the wider civil service. We are committed to building and continually developing a culture that is inclusive, enthusiastic, supportive, and ultimately a place where our people can perform and develop to their very best. It is important that your personal value set aligns with this ambition. 

Our programme will accelerate realisation of a more diverse and inclusive workforce, and includes:

• Development and implementation of a new competitive Government digital and data pay framework;

• Design and implementation of a streamlined and standardised Government Digital and Data recruitment experience that reduces time to hire and supports a reduction in our current and future reliance on contingent labour;

• Up-skilling all senior civil servants to be equipped with ' government digital and data essentials';

• Renewed investment in learning for all in digital and data, and a government-wide commitment to apprentices and graduates at scale;
• A Government Digital and Data Strategic Workforce Plan.

Job description

As the Head of Government Digital and Data Workforce Strategy and Transformation, you will develop and implement integrated solutions that enable the Digital and Data profession to attract, retain and develop the talent it needs to transform government services and adapt to changing workforce dynamics.

Your priorities will be to establish a strategic workforce plan for the profession, develop a reward offer, implement recruitment standards and optimise sourcing routes to talent. You will lead the development of the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework and mature our workforce insights to support those priorities.

You will:

• provide direction for the development of the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework with a specific focus on opening up career pathways;you will oversee its product vision and governance,  make sure it meets service standards, and sponsor the  integration with other digital products in line with user needs.
• lead and inspire a team of subject matter experts, supporting their growth and development and acting as a core part of the wider Government Digital and Data Workforce and Capability Team leadership 
• develop the profession’s reward offer for entry-level to senior leadership roles; expand the adoption, iterate and maintain the competitiveness of the Government Digital and Data Pay Framework 
• lead and deliver the development of a strategic workforce plan for the profession, partnering with the Government People Group strategic workforce planning centre of excellence. This plan will need to foster our profession’s ability to be nimble and to adapt to a rapidly evolving organisational landscape.
• develop and implement attraction and recruitment standards to underpin the profession’s Employer Value Proposition, improve candidate experience and create robust talent pipelines; establish and socialise recruitment metrics for the profession, provide operational advice to departments on their attraction and recruitment plans.
• develop a sourcing blueprint that underpins and optimises departments’ resourcing decisions in line with the profession's Strategic Workforce Plan.
• be the primary interface between the Capability team and CDDO’s Analysis and Strategy functions

This is an exciting opportunity to work at a whole-system level, partnering with departments and strategy teams to meet workforce needs, foster skills development and broaden career progression avenues.

Person specification

To be successful in this role, you will need to build strong relationships with key stakeholders at multiple levels of the organisation.

We are looking for someone who has robust analytical skills, influencing and storytelling abilities, and who is able to operate in a complex environment. 

We’re interested in people who have:

• experience in delivering and maturing workforce plans in large or complex organisations.
• experience in developing and implementing reward strategies
• experience in implementing recruitment strategies and/or in re-engineering recruitment processes and operations 
• strong evidence in making decision decisions based on workforce analytics; experience in developing analytics to explore different workforce scenarios and operating models
• a proven track record of implementing change interventions in complex environments amid ambiguity and changing priorities.
• demonstrable evidence of thinking critically, challenging assumptions, and influencing stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
• a brilliant track record of leading, inspiring, and managing multidisciplinary teams, setting objectives, and developing skills and capabilities

Benefits

The benefits of working at CDDO

There are many benefits including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days 
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave 
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

CDDO offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.

Any move to the Central Digital and Data Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This role is being advertised with Manchester or Bristol as a location. There is an exception to this, if a current London based member of staff from CDDO applies, and is successful, they would retain their London base for pay and allowance purposes

The standard selection process for roles at CDDO consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a brief presentation. Comprehensive details will be shared with the shortlisted candidates
• a 60-minute video interview

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:

• experience in delivering and maturing workforce plans in large or complex organisations.

Recruitment Timeline:

Role Closes - 7th July 2024

Sift - week commencing 8th July 2024

Interview - week commencing 22nd July 2024

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours: 

• seeing the big picture
• leadership
• changing and improving
• communicating and influencing 
• managing a quality service

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.