Department recruits for head of technology category to manage annual spending of £200m

Credit: Nick Ansell/PA Wire

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs is offering a salary of up to £130,000 for a head of technology category to manage its ongoing work to disaggregate its long-term IT engagements.

The Defra UnITy programme is dedicated to breaking up the department’s 14-year relationship with IBM, on which a total of almost £1.5bn has been spent to date. The Environment Agency’s long-term contract with Capgemini is also being disaggregated as part of the UnITy programme.

Defra spends a total of £200m a year on technology, about 60% of which was previously funnelled into the IBM and Capgemini deals. The head new of category will be responsible for overseeing all of this spending, with a focus “securing an effective transition” from the monolithic provision model to a multi-supplier environment.

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“You will lead the design and implementation of commercial frameworks and models, outsourcing strategies, commercial input to sustainable business delivery and management of supplier relationships,” the department said. “This includes supporting and enabling Defra group businesses to achieve their corporate goals and operational plans.”

It added: “Defra is also undertaking an exciting period of digital transformation, including responding to the new demands and opportunities arising from EU Exit, which will necessitate new commercial solutions.”

Candidates will be expected to possess a vast amount of experience of “of strategic review, design and delivery of holistic end-to-end commercial strategy within a technology environment”. They must also have previously worked on projects involving the transition of previously outsourced services to new suppliers or internal teams.

Applications are open until 19 August, the day after which the department will sift applications. Successful candidates will be expected to attend an assessment centre on either 28, 30, or 31 August, with final panel interviews scheduled for 12 September.