There Are Many Benefits Of Working At GDS, 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 28.97%
• 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
• 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 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

Any move to Government Digital Service 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

Office attendance

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 over the accounting period.

DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Things you need to know

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the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.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

The standard selection process for roles at GDS 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 75 minute video interview - A short task to present back in the interview for a maximum of 15 minutes. We know life is busy for many people, so we do not expect you to spend more than 1-2 hours on this task. You will receive the task information in advance.

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

• Having a track record of turning accessibility and inclusion strategy into tangible outcomes, ideally within large and complex organisations such as those in the public sector or government

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:

• Working together
• Changing and improving
• Leadership
• Developing self and others
• Communicating and influencing

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Head of accessibility specialist at G6 level role. However, for the Lead level, your skills will be assessed against the expectations set out below.

• Communicating information - Expert
• Governance and assurance (accessibility) - Expert
• Leadership and guidance - Practitioner
• Technical understanding (accessibility) - Practitioner
• Testing - Practitioner
• User focus - Expert

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here

Recruitment Timeline

• Sift completion: 31/07/2026
• Panel interviews: Week commencing 10/08/2026

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.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

Location:

Whilst this role's location is Bristol / Manchester, if you are a current Civil servant working in DSIT and based in London, you are also able to apply for this role. If you are successful, you will retain your London location and pay.

Security:

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional job offers.