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Deputy Director - Chief Executive of Digital Identities and Attributes

Hybrid in London·Added today (last checked 10 Nov)

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)

12 open roles

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Our summary

Salary
£86,000 a year

About £5,040 a month after tax.

Work mode
Hybrid, London
Experience
Senior level
Closing date
Apply by Monday 23 November
Holiday
25 days holiday
Pension
28.97% employer pension

Skills

Nice to have

Requirements

What we're looking for

This role is for you if...

You can lead through ambiguity, make sound decisions and bring people with you. You will be able to show that you have:

  • led complex policy programmes at scale, ideally involving digital services, identity or data governance
  • worked confidently with legislative and regulatory processes, including drafting or influencing primary or secondary legislation
  • influenced senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries in high-pressure environments
  • designed governance models and accountability frameworks for programmes involving more than one department or organisation
  • used strategic thinking and sound judgement to turn complex issues into clear decisions and action
  • communicated clearly with different audiences and built confidence in difficult or unfamiliar work
  • led inclusively and demonstrated a strong commitment to public service values and ethical leadership.

Pay & benefits

What you'll get

£86,000

Non civil servants will be expected to start at the salary minimum if successful. Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the Civil Service pay rules. If you are applying from another Government Department on a lateral move we will match your base salary.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

  • A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
  • Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
  • A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
  • An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
  • Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
  • A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Visa & relocation

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.

The role

Digital verification and trust services can make it easier for people to prove who they are and complete important tasks safely. They only work when the public, government and the market have confidence in them.

As Chief Executive of DIA, you will set the strategic direction for a new organisation with an important public purpose. You will shape the policy, governance and legislative framework for trusted and secure digital verification and trust services across the UK. You will also make sure the department delivers its statutory functions effectively and earns confidence across the public and private sectors.

This is a visible, demanding leadership role. You will bring together ministers, senior officials, regulators and industry leaders, often where interests and expectations differ. You will turn complexity into clear choices, maintain strong safeguards, and help digital identity services develop in a way that protects privacy, security and public trust.

What you'll do

What you will do

  • Set direction. Develop and lead the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes policy and strategy, aligning ministerial priorities, legislative requirements and cross-government digital transformation goals.
  • Build credible governance. Put in place governance and accountability arrangements that give ministers and the market confidence that DIA's statutory functions and approximately £9 million budget are well managed.
  • Influence across sectors. Build trusted relationships with senior officials, ministers, regulators and private-sector leaders, using them to shape and influence the future of digital identity.
  • Manage risk and safeguards. Identify and manage policy risks involving privacy, security, interoperability and funding constraints.
  • Lead the statutory and legislative agenda. Oversee the statutory functions in Part 2 of the Data (Use and Access) Act and lead the development of legislative proposals and regulatory frameworks that support the adoption and integrity of digital identity services.
  • Grow a strong team. Build and lead a high-performing policy team, creating an inclusive culture that supports innovation and delivery excellence.

How you'll work

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Apply before

Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 23rd November 2026

Reference number

489948

Job grade

SCS Pay Band 1

Contract type

Permanent

Type of role

Digital
Information Technology

Number of jobs available

1

Location

Bristol, London, Manchester

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.

Assignment duration

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.

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 leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
  • Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Job contact

  • Name : joe.blakemore@dsit.gov.uk
  • Email : joe.blakemore@dsit.gov.uk

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Hiring process

Selection process details

a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 1000 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 60 minute video interview

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.

Candidates will be assessed using the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, including:

  • Behaviours: Leadership, Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Working Together.
  • Experience: Relevant policy leadership in digital or identity-related fields.
  • Technical Skills: Understanding of digital identity, data protection, and public sector governance.
  • Strengths: Strategic thinking, resilience, collaboration.

Recruitment Timeline

Closing date: 23.55 23rd November 2026

Sift completion: W/C 30/11

Panel interviews: W/C 07/12

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

About Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)

Industry
Government Administration

In their own words

About the company & team

DSIT - Digital Foundations

  • Email : joe.blakemore@dsit.gov.uk

Additional information

Security: SC Clearance

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 jobs offers.

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (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.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance dsitresourcing.GRS@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/

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