Chief Product & Technology Officer

Location: The successful candidate will be attached to one of our offices based in London, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, York, Glasgow.

Closing Date: Sunday 20 March 2022 at 23:55

At the Government Digital Service (GDS), our mission is to build a simple, joined-up and personalised experience of government for everyone. Using our unique position at the centre of government, we develop services that work for the user, however complex the underlying systems may be. We believe that ensuring things work for end users is the only way to realise the efficiencies that come with digital transformation.

What you'll do

Reporting to the CEO, you will be responsible for building and shaping the new Product and Technology directorate for GDS. Through partnerships with the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) community across government, you will also ensure the development and delivery of online products and services which are scalable, secure and intuitive for customers to use.

As the Chief Product & Technology Officer you will provide outstanding delivery-focused leadership to a committed group of product & design, engineering and cyber security professionals. You will also provide inspirational leadership and work cross-discipline with other digital, data and technology professionals - including user research, data science and performance analysts - to realise cross-cutting GDS priorities.

You can also expect to work in close partnership with the Chief Technology Officer in the Central Digital & Data Office, as well as CTOs across government.

If you thrive in an exciting and complex environment and can bring enthusiasm and ambition to this leadership role then we would warmly welcome your application.

The Chief Product & Technology Officer will:

• build a clear architectural and engineering strategy for GDS, and converge our technology practises and platforms to gain efficiencies and faster delivery

• manage our key technology platform and hosting supplier relationships, making sure we are getting full value from our partnerships

• lead the work to develop and recruit technical roles, from junior apprentices through to the most experienced technical architects, and create a vibrant community of practice for technical specialists to develop their skills and gain new ones

• build cyber security best practice into all engineering practises including building new “red teams” of ethical hackers to test the limits of our cyber resilience, and ensuring regular penetration tests happen for all products so vulnerabilities are quickly addressed

• standardise and modernise approaches to continuous integration/continuous deployment using best practice cloud hosting technologies

• ensure that we have a consistent and strategic approach to product design and development across GDS’ business areas, standardising where appropriate

• ensure that user-centred design best practice is built into GDS products and services, and shape and promote universal inclusive design - prioritising accessibility

• be a visible and inspiring leader across GDS and government, promoting agile and user-centric product development best-practice

• ensure an inclusive and collaborative culture is maintained and amplified increasing the diversity of teams across GDS

Who you are

We’re interested in people who have:

• proven experience of working in an engineering or product background, ultimately a customer-centric product visionary; passionate about technology and solving real problems

• significant software development and architecture experience in designing large scale services

• demonstrable experience of agile development techniques and how to align engineering productivity with customer focused product development

• proven success of building high-performing and cross-functional technical teams, establishing and owning key performance indicators whilst raising performance levels and developing critical capabilities

• outstanding communication and influencing skills with proven ability to build effective relationships with diverse groups of stakeholders

• working knowledge and understanding of industry standard security issues and processes

• experience of managing third party providers, budget management and procurement

To find out more and apply click on Apply. For a confidential conversation to explore this role before applying please contact Lisa Goby at lisa.gobey@gatenbysanderson.com / 07570 654 500 or Sarah Luxford at sarah.luxford@gatenbysanderson.com / 07812 150 386 at GatenbySanderson.