About the job

Job summary

The Cabinet Office is undergoing a significant Digital Transformation. Over the next three years
we aspire to make UK Government digital services the best in the world, meeting or exceeding
the benchmark set globally by the best public or private sector standards. For us to meet this
ambition we are aiming to further improve the conditions, processes and expertise we have in
place to be set up for success. This means we need to go much further and faster and strengthen
the delivery of DDaT in government.

To support these ambitions we have established a new to build on existing strengths and is based
on six principles;

1. Build trust by stabilising services and getting the basics right.
2. Be the gateway for all digital, data and technology services delivered by the Cabinet
Office to its civil servants and ministerial bodies..
3. Provide impeccable service to our users.
4. Drive digital, data and technology thought leadership.
5. Transform ways of working.
6. Build sustainable capabilities

What you'll do

This role sits within the Chief Technology Office within Cabinet Office Digital supporting the Chief Technology Officer. We are responsible for architecture and engineering across the Cabinet Office and own the newly commissioned Technical Design Authority for the department. We work in collaboration with individual business units and Arms Length Bodies to align technology and operate platforms for the benefit of the products and teams dependent upon them.
This is an exciting opportunity to lead and shape the delivery of digital services with business units across the Cabinet Office, working on a wide variety of projects from high profile public-facing sites to internal digital transformation projects.

Job description

The role:

• Design technical services or plan system integration, selecting necessary platforms and technologies to meet project requirements and user needs keeping the technical strategy intact at all times.
• Provide technical steering and consultancy to both internal and external teams, ensuring solutions are fit for purpose, whilst meeting time and budget restraints.
• Perform architecture deep dives and gap analysis for digital programmes and recommend technical improvements.
• Work with Architecture colleagues to develop and support the full range of Cabinet Office Digital services by contributing design, technologies and architecting rapid prototypes.
• Enable a positive technical culture, applying agile methods to development and completing quality assurance practices.
• Provide guidance to delivery teams, making sure that the technical direction of travel and delivery are in compliance with various government standards.
• Advise delivery / product managers on the estimated effort and technical implications of current user stories, as well as those in the backlog.
• Form relationships with external suppliers and technical stakeholders.
• Help enable the reuse of patterns, tools, and components across the whole government service landscape.
• Contribute actively to the development of the architectural practice, ensuring a coherent and consistent strategy across cyber, cloud, data centre, storage, network,
mobile and the user experience.
• Work with subject matter experts in the Cabinet Office to ensure the digital services are robust, and are in compliance with security, accessibility and data privacy
standards.
• Be involved in the wider technical community, identifying good practices to adopt, informing and refining the technical strategies.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Experience in delivering user-focused services with technical excellence and innovative solution design.
• Experience in researching technology best practices and applying standards/policies in solution designs.
• Ability to rapidly prototype.
• Ability to learn about adapt quickly to new technologies and trends.
• Steering technology teams to adhere to good engineering principles from architecture through to development.
• Experience in ensuring solutions are robust, resilient, and appropriately implemented, tested and documented.
• Deep understanding of a AWS ecosystem, governance & cost optimisation and/or other public cloud platform.
• Awareness of emerging security issues.
• Ability to produce solution design documentation.
• Understanding of how to prioritise work in a fast, customer-centric environment.
• Understanding of agile environments, continual delivery techniques and DevSecOps cultures ensuring Security by Design.
• Understanding of how to influence senior management and communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Risk impact and gap analysis.

Desirable Criteria

• Similar technical architecture experience in public sector
• Experience of legacy migration and re-platforming of digital services
• Identifying process improvements and define best practice, patterns, standards and policies inspiring teams to follow this
• Communicating clearly in a language which meets the needs of different users
• Experience in managing commercial suppliers to deliver digital services
• Acting as a line manager, mentor and coach to technical resources in a matrix organisation
• Working with scaled agile frameworks and implementations

Additional information

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £64,700, Cabinet Office contributes £17,469 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 process

For a confidential discussion about the role, please contact our recruitment advisers at GatenbySanderson: Shoaib Haroon, Principal Consultant on M: 07384258626 or E: Shoaib.haroon@gatenbysanderson.com OR Russell Brandon, Associate Researcher on M: 01962 864 124 or E:russell.brandon@gatenbysanderson.com

Find out more by visiting www.join-codigital.co.uk where you can register and apply.

To apply for this post, you will need to provide: 

• Your CV
• A supporting statement (of no more than 2 pages) detailing how you can address the Essential criteria in the Person Specification
• Contact details for two referees. Referees should be people who can comment authoritatively on you as a person and as an employee and must include your current or most recent employer or his/her authorised representative. References will not be contacted until a successful appointment is made  
• A completed diversity monitoring form, this will appear on screen as part of the application process.

This is to be submitted online at the following portal no later than Sunday 10 March 2024 (23:55) https://www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe106963

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Closing Date for application: 10/03/2024

Sift : 14/03/2024

Preliminary Interviews - w/c Monday 18 March 2024 & w/c Monday 25 March 2024

Final panel Interviews -  w/c Monday 8 April 2024 or w/c Monday 15 April 2024

Interview location - Online

Further information

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to Cabinet 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

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Offers above the band minimum are subject to our assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview. Salaries over the band minimum will be paid as a non-pensionable allowance.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact joincodigital@gatenbysanderson.com as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

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.