Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Director – Digital Inclusion and Skills
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This role may be based in one of the following locations: London or Manchester.
The department operates a discretionary Hybrid Working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home-based location for 40-60% of the time. Senior Civil Servant (SCS) staff are expected to aim for closer to 60% of the time at an office or non-home-based location over the accounting period.
Job Summary
As Director (SCS2) for Digital Inclusion and Skills, your key responsibilities will include:
- Set the strategic direction for digital inclusion, building on the 2025 Digital Inclusion Action Plan and the evidence from its first year. Drive a long-term, place-based approach that improves access to devices and connectivity, skills, confidence and trust, and the accessibility and usability of digital services.
- Deliver the Digital Communities Fund working with Mayors, local leaders and delivery partners to fill gaps in support and scale approaches that work, while ensuring robust evidence, value for money and measurable impact.
- Drive Digital Inclusion work across Whitehall, joining up with other departments, notably CO, HMT, DHSC, DWP and DfE, to ensure that the most vulnerable in society are supported to maximise benefits of the digital transformation.
- Deliver the Women in Tech agenda, working with the Women in Tech Taskforce and its Chair to improve workplace culture, support women to start and scale technology businesses, and partner with the right group of organisations to lead wider change.
- Coordinate and deliver skills and talent work across DCMS, developing a shared departmental approach to issues including migration and talent, building on existing sector and tech-specific work.
- Deliver the £250m TechFirst programme, building a stronger domestic technology talent pipeline, supporting regional growth and widening access for young people and women to high-value careers in frontier technology sectors. Maintain strong partnerships with employers, schools and regional organisations and ensure effective programme delivery.
- Lead a high-performing directorate, bringing teams and portfolios together around a clear purpose, developing capability and an inclusive culture, and maintaining momentum across a broad, high-profile ministerial agenda.
Job Description
Key Challenges for the Role
- Delivering through complex stakeholder environments, including across a wide range of government departments and local government, civil society, and industry, including supporting the work of the Women in Tech Taskforce.
- Translating high ministerial ambition into a coherent, prioritised and deliverable strategy across digital inclusion, technology skills and diversity in tech, while maintaining a clear focus on outcomes for people and communities.
- Design and deliver a series of interventions to have a material difference to the digital inclusion of the most vulnerable in society.
- Ensuring the successful delivery of high-impact programmes. Expand and deliver the TechFirst Skills Programme, which aims to reach 1 million students by 2030, and builds on the success of CyberFirst. Coordinate with others across DCMS to provide oversight and coordination for the full range of talent and skills activities taking place.
- Playing a full role as part of the Digital Foundation Group’s SLT and the wider DCMS senior leadership group, including leading teams through the machinery of government changes.
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Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Proven leadership experience, with a track record of leading high-performing, diverse teams in high pressure environments. A proven ability to set a clear and compelling vision, lead confidently through uncertainty, and create an inclusive environment for teams.
- Excellent relationship-building skills, and able to quickly build credibility at senior levels across a range of stakeholders, including central government, local government, industry, and the wider public sector.
- Highly developed communication skills, able to brief on complex and sensitive issues clearly and concisely. Outstanding interpersonal, negotiation and influencing skills, combined with the resilience to operate effectively at the most senior levels of government.
- Sound judgement and strong political acumen, with the ability to read a shifting context, manage risk, and make well-reasoned decisions on complex strategic and reputational issues.
- Experience in formulating and delivering complex strategies, policies, and programmes under pressure and where you don’t own all the necessary levers.
Desirable criteria
- Demonstrable experience in digital inclusion and/or skills development.
Alongside your salary of £100,000, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career with the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead.
Benefits
You’ll benefit from a wide range of training and development opportunities, regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits. This includes:
Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance
- 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays and one day’s leave for the King's birthday.
Pension
- A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire.
Flexible Working
- Flexible working patterns and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours.
Parental Leave
- Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers.
Season Ticket & Bicycle Loan
- Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle.
Onsite Facilities
- The opportunity to use onsite facilities including staff canteens (where applicable).
Sick Pay
- Occupational sick pay.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
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Selection process details
SHORTLIST
When applying you will need to submit a two page CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements, along with a statement of suitability (Max 1250 words).
Applications will be sifted to select those demonstrating the best fit with the post against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please ensure you keep this in mind when writing your CV and supporting statement.
The timeline further down this page indicates the date by which a decision is expected to be made, and all candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.
ASSESSMENT
If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a Staff Engagement Exercise in advance of the final panel interview. This assessment will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, it is designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.
Shortlisted candidates can request an informal conversation about the role with the vacancy holder, Sarah Connolly.This discussion does not form part of the assessment.
Shortlisted candidates may also be invited to an informal discussion with a minister from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Full details of the assessment process will be provided to shortlisted candidates at the earliest opportunity.
For further information regarding the assessments please visit - https://scs-assessments.co.uk/.
INTERVIEW
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.
As part of the process there may be assessment of skills either by a presentation or simulated exercise with follow up questions. Full details of the requirements will be given to shortlisted candidates ahead of their interview.
SELECTION AND FEEDBACK
Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible, and will offer the opportunity to discuss feedback for all candidates who reached the interview. A reserve list will be held for up to 12 months, which we may use to fill future suitable vacancies.
EXPECTED TIMELINE
We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for assessments or interviews. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates are only indicative may be subject to change. If you anticipate any difficulties attending, please alert scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk upon application
The Anticipated Timetable Is As Follows
- Advert Closing date: 23:55, Sunday 4th October 2026
- Shortlist: Thursday 15th or Friday
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