Making good on manifesto commitment to allow more than a million extra voters to take part in general elections would impact all of ministry’s online services, according to job advert
Government is seeking to recruit a new senior digital leader to help pave the way for plans to lower the UK voting age to 16.
Before being voted into power last summer, Labour’s manifesto pledged to allow the UK’s 1.5 million 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in general elections. According to a newly published job advert for a deputy director of government’s Elections Digital Division, such a move “requires changes to all our elector-facing services, making them the first interaction that many young people will have with the gov.uk estate”.
The role – which is based in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and is available on a part-time job-share basis – sits at the head of a unit which oversees “a portfolio of seven products and services, including the flagship Register to vote service”.
This suite of online tools has also, “over recent years, [been] rapidly expanded… and electors can now apply online for postal votes, proxy votes and photo identification”.
The advert adds: “As well as continuing to develop our existing products and services to better meet user needs, the digital division has a big part to play in delivering government manifesto commitments and other ministerial priorities”.
The digital elections unit is “a team of enthusiastic and highly skilled digital specialists, geographically dispersed across the UK”.
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“Our multidisciplinary in-house digital team is the driving force behind the development and delivery of excellent elections services for users, as well as the day-to-day operational running of those services,” the deputy director advert said. “We are looking to build our in-house development capability in the coming years.”
The role offers a prorated salary of £76,000 per annum, and applications are open until 11:55 pm on 13 July. The chosen candidate will report to the MHCLG’s overall elections director.
The ministry is hoping to appoint a “strategic leader who can work at pace with the ability to develop a high-performance culture”.
“You will be able to effectively manage multiple senior relationships, across all levels of government and stakeholders,” the advert says. “You will be comfortable working across digital services and with budgets, able to advise with confidence how to ensure successful delivery. You will have a strong focus on developing your team to perform at its best, give constructive challenge, and act as a trusted advisor into our policy teams.
It adds: “Like the rest of MHCLG, we have an ambition to build more digital capabilities in-house, but currently some of our digital services are delivered by third parties. This means you must have commercial awareness, and be confident dealing with third party suppliers, ensuring we get the most out of relationships.”
A law extending the voting age was not included in the Labour administration’s first King’s Speech last July, but ministers have asserted that it remains on the government’s legislative agenda.
