Whitehall department advertises top techie role to help dictate and deliver vision for the rest of the decade, as incumbent chief Adrian Blundell to depart after five years in post
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is seeking a leader to take on the department’s most senior tech job as it sits “on the cusp of an exciting digital transformation”.
The position as chief digital and information officer comes with a remit to manage an annual tech budget of £230m – a figure which will be “growing significantly over the next few years to help drive a digital transformation programme”, across the department, according to the job advert.
The successful candidate, who will earn up to £162,500 a year, will also sit at the head of a team of more than 400 digital and data professionals, based in FCDO offices in London, Milton Keynes, and East Kilbride – as well as in consulates and embassies around the world.
The CDIO will spearhead deliver of the ‘FCDO 2030’ initiative setting a vision for the organisation’s future. The programme is intended to “deliver a more efficient, streamlined and impactful department and meet the foreign secretary’s vision to make the FCDO a world-leading digital foreign affairs ministry”, according to the job advert.
It adds: “By integrating cutting-edge technologies, the FCDO will continue to enhance efficiency, strengthen international collaboration and deliver exceptional outcomes for the British people and the world. Our CDIO will drive our ambitious digital, data and cyber transformation strategy. You will play a pivotal role in embedding digital innovation into our business, ensuring that we remain agile and responsive to the fast-changing technological environment. You will form part of the senior leadership team that drives genuine change across the organisation and enables the FCDO to deliver every day in every part of the world.”
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Applications for the post are open until 9am on 28 July. A longlist of candidates will then be drawn up, and these people will be asked to meet with public sector-specialised recruitment firm Allen Lane – which is supporting the FCDO with the hiring process.
Once the longlist has been trimmed into a shortlist, around the end of August applicants will be asked to undertake an leadership assessment and psychological profiling exercise, as well as meeting with both a senior FCDO manager and “a selection of people from across the FCDO” convened for a “staff engagement panel”.
The successful applicant can choose to be based at either the FCDO’s central London headquarters or its location in East Kilbride – although, in the latter case, “frequent travel” to the capital will be required in any case.
The recruitment for a new tech chief comes as the department’s incumbent CDIO, Adrian Blundell, will shortly depart after five years in post.
Writing on LinkedIn, Blundell said that he is “proud that the foreign secretary and senior FCDO leadership have confidence in our plans to deliver a huge uplift in digital capability and put digital at the heart of transforming British diplomacy and development over the next few years”.
Ministers last week indicated that, over the coming months and years, the department intends to conduct a major programme of insourcing and recruit new staff to replace contractors on which the department currently spends a total of £17.6m a year.
