Department creates another new post at director general level with a remit to help lead the state’s role in the delivery of core IT and connectivity infrastructure throughout the UK

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is seeking to appoint a figurehead to oversee government’s efforts “to lay the digital foundations for the country”.

DSIT is advertising a newly created role as director general for digital foundations, a position which comes with an annual salary of £174,000 and a wide-ranging remit encompassing leadership of major programmes and policy areas.

The postholder will “lead government cybersecurity policy and oversee the Government Cyber Unit”, according to the job advert. The job also comes with a brief to oversee the rollout of government’s new Digital Inclusion Action Plan and the delivery of the Project Gigabit and Shared Rural Network connectivity infrastructure programmes. The successful candidate will work with other senior managers in government to “share responsibility for the UK’s digital identity scheme as the policy develops”

The position – which is only open to UK nationals – also comes with a remit to help “strengthen telecoms and digital infrastructure resilience” and to “represent DSIT in industry and regional partnerships”.

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The advert adds: “The director general for digital foundations will lead the UK government’s work to lay the digital foundations for the country, including through delivering safe and secure access for all through programmes and policy to build and support infrastructure, and ensuring cyber security for individuals, business and across government.”

Directors general sit one rung below permanent secretaries in the grading system of the senior civil service and the new digital foundations leader will become DSIT’s seventh DG. This senior managerial line-up includes four other technology-focused leadership briefs that have been created or reshaped in recent months.

In August, the department revealed that Sarah Connolly had been named as DG for digital, technology and infrastructure, while Ollie Ilott was appointed to a director general role focused on AI. In January of this year, long-standing Government Digital Service executive Christine Bellamy was promoted into a post as DG for digital products while the brief of another incumbent leader, Emily Middleton, was reimagined as  director general of DSIT’s Digital Transformation Group.

All four of these positions are currently held on an interim basis.

Applications for the digital foundations posting are open until 11:55 pm on 29 April and the department is working with executive recruitment firm Odgers on the hiring process.