About the job

Job summary

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

We are responsible for:

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

Government Digital, Data and Technology Workforce and Capability:

The GDaD Workforce and Capability team 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.

We are a dynamic and growing team of capability and GDaD professionals who form a pivotal part of the CDDO. We are committed to building & continually developing a culture that is inclusive, enthusiastic, supportive, & 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 priorities are:

A unified government digital & data career and reward framework for government. Design & facilitate cross-government adoption of a unified government digital & data career and remuneration framework that partners standardised role profiles, skill requirements & skill assessments for GDaD professionals with a competitive pay framework that is applied across government.

A single front door for government digital & data recruitment. Design & implement a single front door for government digital and data recruitment that simplifies & standardises recruitment to reduce current & future reliance on contingent labour and time to hire. 

GovTech Academy. Build and scale existing training to service government’s need to upskill non-DDaTers & radically transform the skills of existing professionals, underpinned by development of a high-yielding talent pipeline across UK. 

A Government digital & data Strategic Workforce Plan. Cohere a single workforce dataset & establish common digital capability sourcing principles and contingent labour controls to support the development of a Strategic Workforce Plan.

Job description

You will:

• lead on accelerating and scaling the adoption of high-quality government digital and data apprenticeship programmes, for new and existing talent, across government.
• lead development of government digital and data outreach programmes to drive greater awareness, engagement and attraction to early career government digital and data opportunities in CS, with specific focus on under-represented groups.
• establish deep and productive relationships with departmental talent leads and technical specialists across government so that we can respond to emergent challenges.
• work closely with the leads of our other key transformation programmes that have direct dependency on Government Digital and Data Talent, such as Graduates and Innovation Fellows.
• ensure that government digital and data Talent strategies directly support acceleration toward greater diversity and inclusion in our cross-government digital and data teams.
• be in touch and up to date with the wider market and organisational trends/dynamics associated with talent development in digital and data.

Person specification

You will:

• have experience in developing and implementing talent strategies to support workforce development in large or complex organisations;
• demonstrate experience of building talent pipelines to attract new and diverse talent via multiple routes such as graduates schemes, apprenticeships, T Levels, etc;
• have experience leading and delivering projects in a fast-paced environment, amid ambiguity and changing priorities;
• be able to think critically, use analysis, and challenge of assumptions or change the status quo;
• communicate clearly and persuasively and build relationships with stakeholders, including with those at very senior levels;
• have a brilliant track record of leading, inspiring and managing teams, setting objectives and developing skills and capabilities;
• demonstrate budget management skills, including monitoring performance and benefits against a plan.

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 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:

• Have experience of developing and implementing talent strategies to support workforce development in large or complex organisations;

Recruitment Timeline:

Role Closes - 28th July 2024

Sift - week commencing 29th July 2024

Interview - week commencing 12th August 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: 

• Leadership
• Seeing the big picture
• Working Together
• Developing self and others

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.