Role comes with remit to manage department’s infrastructure networks and staff devices

Credit: PA

The Department for Education has created a director of technology role and is seeking applicants for the £115,00-a-year position.

In a blog post introducing the creation of the post, the department’s chief digital and technology officer Emma Stace said that it is a “role centred on technology, [and] using it to deliver, operate and transform”.

The new hire’s purview will include the DfE’s infrastructure networks and devices, as well as “the technology we make [and] the technology deep within our supply chain”.  The postholder will also have a remit related to promote the effective use of tech across the education and care sectors.

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“We need to make our technology more effective in education and care,” Stace said. “To get this right, we have to change a lot of our processes, practices and culture. This means we’re looking for someone who wants to transform organisations. We need to properly address some of our most systemic issues.”

She added: “In DfE, we have legacy technology like many other organisations. We know we have more to do than simply modernise our old technology, and raise standards for our new technology. It’s not that straightforward. This role is for someone who can work really well with financial, commercial and business colleagues to solve the root causes of problems such as short-term funding and lack of technology ownership.”

The job advert for the position indicates that applicants have until 11.55pm on Wednesday 14 July to submit their CV and a personal statement of up to 1,250 words in length. The successful candidate will be appointed to an initial three-year contract and will be based in one of the DfE’s offices in Coventry, Manchester or Sheffield.

“You will handle areas such as ensuring staff have devices and connectivity, and that digital and data teams have the infrastructure they need,” the advert said. “We don’t think of these as ‘business as usual’ – we’re only at the beginning of our journey to cloud-native computing. There are ambitious areas to this role – such as influencing policymaking to ensure it considers technology trends, where this is not currently a routine way of working. We need someone who can help us realise these ambitions by transforming how we work.”