Devolved government is seeking to appoint a new tech leader to spearhead a team of software engineers, and with a remit to provide the technical expertise to support transformation ambitions

The Scottish Government is recruiting for a chief technology officer to help set the “vision and direction” for digital transformation across citizen services.

The post will sit within the government’s digital directorate, reporting into an overall digital director Geoff Huggins. The CTO brief comes with a remit to “provide technical direction for the development and delivery of government services”, according to the job advert.

“This includes responsibility for setting the vision and direction of the Scottish Government’s technology strategy, in line with the organisation’s platform-based transformation strategy and wider ambitions to operate on a digital business model; coherent to business architecture, technology and capabilities,” it added.

The successful candidate, who will start their post on a salary of £91,656, will spearhead “a group of software engineering professionals”. As a leader, the CTO will be tasked with driving “greater alignment of principles, tools and skills to enable a technical community focused on reuse and collaboration within the Scottish Government, and the wider public sector”.

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The government is hoping to hear from applicants that have experience of “building an effective software engineering function” in a large enterprise environment, as well as “identifying… and implementing… which technologies and operating models will deliver organisational outcomes”

The advert specifies four key leadership criteria the post will demand: understanding, managing and developing self; developing others; leading others; and leading collectively.

“As a technology leader, you will be experienced in building technical functions across organisational boundaries; ensuring that your teams have the skills and capabilities they need to meet future needs,” the advert added.

Applications for the position, which will be based in either Glasgow or Edinburgh, are open until 11.55pm on 4 March.