HM Revenue & Customs
Head of IT Change Delivery
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Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Portsmouth, Telford, and Worthing.
Due to workforce controls, Birmingham is only open to existing HMRC employees.
Job Summary
This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of HMRC's digital transformation, accountable for delivering a significant portfolio of technology change that supports some of the UK's most important public services. The role leads multidisciplinary teams and strategic suppliers to deliver complex change safely and effectively, ensuring technology investments achieve their intended outcomes and deliver measurable value to customers, colleagues, and the wider organisation.
The postholder will provide visible leadership across the delivery lifecycle, driving performance, managing dependencies and risks, and ensuring resources are deployed to the highest organisational priorities whilst maintaining a strong focus on service stability, quality, and value for money.
Job Description
The postholder will:
- Lead the coordination and orchestration of technology change delivery across major transformation programmes, PATH, policy-driven change, IT investment, and business-as-usual change activity.
- Ensure IT resources, skills, and supplier capacity are prioritised and deployed effectively to support organisational priorities.
- Provide a single view of technology change demand, commitments, dependencies, constraints, and delivery readiness across the enterprise.
- Identify, manage, and escalate cross-programme risks, conflicts, dependencies, and resource pressures to support effective decision-making.
- Own and continuously improve the end-to-end IT change lifecycle, establishing effective governance, planning, assurance, and reporting mechanisms.
- Develop forecasting, planning, and performance capabilities that improve confidence in delivery outcomes and organisational decision-making.
- Lead the exploitation of AI, automation, and data-driven approaches to improve visibility of change activity, enhance forecasting, identify emerging risks, and automate administrative processes.
- Provide strategic leadership for Business Relationship Management, ensuring business priorities, technology capabilities, and delivery plans remain aligned.
- Build strong relationships across business groups, CDIO functions, transformation programmes, and suppliers to create a joined-up approach to change delivery.
- Provide senior leaders with clear insight into delivery performance, resource utilisation, organisational capacity, and emerging challenges across the change landscape.
- Lead and develop a high-performing team responsible for IT change governance, business relationship management, and change lifecycle improvement.
Person Specification
The successful applicant will need to demonstrate relevant experience and effective delivery of the following essential criteria:
Essential Criteria
- Significant experience leading the delivery of large-scale, complex technology and digital change portfolios within a major organisation.
- Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and strategic suppliers to deliver outcomes in complex and fast-paced environments.
- Strong track record of delivering technology change whilst balancing operational stability, risk, quality, security, and value for money.
- Experience of prioritising resources, managing competing demands, and making delivery trade-offs to achieve organisational objectives.
- Demonstrable ability to establish effective relationships with senior business stakeholders and influence decision-making at executive level.
- Strong commercial and supplier management experience, including overseeing delivery through strategic delivery partners.
- Excellent leadership skills, with experience building high-performing teams, developing capability, and driving accountability for delivery outcomes.
- Experience managing complex delivery risks, dependencies, and governance arrangements across multiple programmes, products, and services.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical and delivery issues clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Experience operating in regulated, high-availability environments where service continuity and customer outcomes are critical.
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Desirable Skills and Experience
- Experience leading technology delivery within government, the wider public sector, or another large, complex regulated organisation.
- Knowledge of modern digital delivery approaches, including Agile, DevSecOps, product-centric delivery, and cloud-based technologies.
- Experience delivering large-scale enterprise technology platforms, such as CRM, contact centre, data, cloud, or AI-enabled solutions.
- Familiarity with government digital standards, assurance frameworks, and technology governance processes.
- Professional qualifications in programme, project, or service delivery disciplines (e.g., MSP, PRINCE2, Agile, SAFe, APM, ITIL, or equivalent).
Compensation
Alongside your salary of £86,000, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £24,914 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).
Pension
Your Civil Service pension is a valuable part of your total reward and is one of your biggest benefits.
When you join the Civil Service, you get access to the alpha pension with a generous employer contribution of 28.97% and some of the lowest member contributions in the public sector.
Please visit Civil Service Pension Scheme for more information.
Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance
- 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service (allowance pro-rata for part-time colleagues).
- This is complemented by one day's paid privilege leave to mark the King’s Birthday and is in addition to your public holidays.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
The Civil Service values and supports all its employees. At HMRC we want to create great places to work that are welcoming to all – where there is a strong sense of belonging and community.
We embed inclusion in everything we do. Senior Civil Servants play a crucial role in promoting and maintaining inclusive behaviours, addressing disparities, and reporting progress.
Our HMRC equality objectives 2024-2028 describe how we are working to become a more inclusive and representative organisation reflective of our values.
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.
Selection Process Details
Selection Panel
- Sarah McMann, Chief Digital Product Officer, HMRC
- Martin Owen, Chief Digital Product Officer, HMRC
- Paul Williams, Director, Technology Transformation, Change Delivery Group, HMRC
Shortlist
The panel will assess the evidence provided in your CV and statement. Candidates whose applications best meet the essential criteria will be selected for interview.
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HMRC is a Disability Confident leader and guarantees to interview candidates applying under the Disability Confident Scheme who successfully meet the minimum selection criteria outlined in the person specification.
Due Diligence
Candidates should declare any perceived conflicts of interest at application, and this may be discussed with you at interview.
Informal Conversation
Shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to speak to Sarah McMann prior to interview. This is an informal discussion to allow you to learn more about the role and is not part of the assessment process.
Assessment
If shortlisted, you will take part in the following assessments:
- Individual Leadership Assessment – a combination of psychometric assessments
Assessments are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for further exploration at interview and do not result in a pass or fail decision.
Interview
You will attend a panel interview for a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence. This will include a 5-minute verbal presentation (further information will be issued in advance).
Interviews are expected to take place in person in Leeds.
Offer and Feedback
Unfortunately, due to the anticipated number of applicants for this role, we are unable to provide feedback to those not successful at shortlist stage.
Candidates who are shortlisted and attend an interview will be offered feedback from a member of the interview panel. We will also send you a copy of the report for any assessment you have undergone.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a standard (or equivalent) 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
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