Deputy Director of Digital Delivery

Location: Newport, Fareham, Darlington
Salary: £71,000 – £85,000 per year

About us

Our 5000 employees work in an exciting variety of roles. We have colleagues who operate in the field nationwide engaging with the public, at ports, airports and in their homes, as well as colleagues who work from our 3 main sites in Newport, Titchfield and London.

We work to ensure that as the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, our outputs are trusted to inform government and guide policy makers.

We are modern, technically focused and data driven – never has there been a more exciting time to join us. You can read about our organisational priorities and plans for the future in our “Statistics for the Public Good” strategy.

About the role

The Digital Delivery Deputy Director for Data Collection and Ingestion will be an exceptional technical leader with proven ability to set a strong direction and convey a persuasive future vision at all levels of an organisation.

They will build on successful delivery of digital services such as the Census 2021. They will help drive the transformational change across the Data Collection and Ingestion arena for ONS and wider government, covering Social Statistics Transformation, the future of Public Health Analysis and Monitoring (including COVID-19), Economic Statistics Transformation and Census 2023 Recommendation, all of which require digitally enabled secure data collection. These will support the critical insights required for the Government’s ambitions to build back better and support Levelling Up, Net Zero and the response to the Pandemic.

The post-holder will report to the Chief Digital and Information Officer and will reside within the Digital Services and Technology Directorate. The post will have direct line management responsibility for approximately four staff members and a divisional budget of approximately £10m consisting of 130 technical staff responsible for the delivery and operation of circa 20 digital products and services critical to the ONS strategic objectives and major programmes.

Impact you’ll own

Service Delivery and Operation

• Be accountable for leading and delivering all aspects of the of the Data Collection and Ingestion service and underlying platforms, aligned with the needs and long-term plans of ONS’ strategic goals and major
  programmes.
• Establish a clear vision and strategy for the future of Data Collection and Ingestion as a service, providing clear roadmap across the portfolio of products.
• Drive efficiency in product teams and ways of working, promoting agile delivery at pace incorporating the latest industry practices, including DevSecOps approaches and automation.
• Own the delivery of products from inception through implementation and operation, built and around user needs and helping drive efficiencies improvements across the wider ONS

Programme Management

• Ensure work is prioritised and resourced to deliver in alignment with the needs of ONS’ major programmes.
• Maintain robust controls across the portfolio, utilising agile methodologies, strong change and risk management techniques alongside comprehensive financial controls and reporting.
• Prioritise and drive the successful delivery of programmes and projects within relevant time, cost constraints and to the appropriate level of quality.
• Baseline, develop and monitor the divisional budget, costs, forecasts, and related performance information as part of the wider corporate governance and controls.
• Carefully manage financial resources to ensure probity, optimise outcomes and secure cost efficiency.
• Identify and utilise effective KPIs and analysis to ensure performance data drives the delivery and improvement of products and services and increases the quality of management information throughout the
  organisation.

Strategic Leadership

• Contribute to the continuous development and delivery of the ONS’ Digital and Technology Strategy, aligned with the wider Government digital strategy and the needs of the ONS and its users.
• Bring a deep knowledge of the Digital Delivery landscape and marketplace to the department, and ensure that it makes effective use of resource models, modern approaches and solutions
• Embed the importance of product over project in the digital arena, ensuring that success is met by meeting business goals and delivering tangible benefit for users.
• Deliver cost savings in line with key corporate commitments and priorities
• Inspire others and create teams which makes individuals feel proud to be a member

Transformation and Change

• Shape and transform the way business is done, developing the capability to provide better online services to achieve faster and more effective models of delivery at optimal cost.
• Actively participate in cross-directorate process improvements, ensuring solutions are strategically designed and implemented on a user-focused basis.
• Support the flexible, cost effective transformation of the department’s technology estate by working with the Senior Leadership team to deliver solutions that support digital services
• Whilst leading the changes within their own area, supporting fellow Senior colleagues in driving changes to the provision of DDaT services across the department

Collaboration and Alignment

• Work with the Cabinet Office, Government Digital Service (GDS), Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) and other departments to exchange best practice, develop crossgovernment strategic direction and deploy commodity shared services within the department.
• Ensuring digital services comply with the Digital by Default Service Standard, and that IT projects are delivered in line with the Government’s technology code of practice
• Engaging with a wide range of stakeholders as a strong advocate for digital solutions and
  approaches for data collection and ingestion

What you bring

• Technical expertise with extensive knowledge and understanding of technology and digital service delivery, including Cloud services, aligned to user needs.
• Experience of successfully developing digital strategies and managing the delivery of
  associated technical services and solutions.
• Strong digital literacy and ability to effectively engage with technical staff, technology suppliers and stakeholders to define the best approach to service delivery to achieve business/user objectives.
• A strong appreciation of user research and experience design and how this works within
  product development with a delivery focus, able to interpret data to create and present evidence-based insight.
• A proven track record at senior management level in change management and capable of balancing both strategic, tactical and operational priorities; able to deliver strategy at pace with resilience to sustain the strategy, often through high levels of ambiguity and organisational change.
• An ability to thought lead, influence and persuade others both inside and outside of the organisation to overcome conflict and optimise engagement.
• Ability to communicate effectively and to produce clear advice on complex issues; and to gain credibility and influence stakeholders at all levels
• Ability to embed a culture of value for money and work collaboratively across boundaries to ensure that the department maximises its strategic outcomes within the resourcing available
• Ability to take a corporate-wide strategic perspective and ensure divisional activity is coherent with wider organisation vision and objectives, providing expert advice and delivering solutions as appropriate
• Experience of innovative approaches to sourcing services, and of managing relationships with large and SME suppliers
• Awareness and understanding of Industry standard security issues and processes, including HMG’s security policy framework and Data Protection law and regulations

What you will get

• Hybrid working in an organisation voted top in the UK for work-life balance
• A market leading pension scheme – our employer contribution rate is around 27%
• A choice of working patterns for every role: full-time, part-time, job-share.
• Maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of 26 weeks full pay (subject to qualifying criteria)
• Employee Assistance Programmes
• Diversity Network Groups
• Mental Health Allies
• Civil Service Sports and Social club
• Generous holiday allowance – 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years’ service in addition to 9 public holidays

For further details and to apply please click here

Closing date: 11 / 01 / 2022
Contact query: Simon.Taylor@ons.gov.uk