Associate Director for Digital

Job summary

DBS was established under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 on 1 December 2012, working
from two sites, which are Liverpool and Darlington. We operate on behalf of government
delivering Disclosure functions in England, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and
Barring functions for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We function within a framework of
legal and regulatory requirements and that includes work with a range of external organisations
including other government departments, regulators, and trade bodies.

We provide a service that enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to
make better informed, safer recruitment and other decisions. We do this by providing information
to enable them to determine whether individuals are unsuitable or unable to undertake certain
work, particularly with occupations involving regular contact with vulnerable groups, including
children.

Our Strategy
Our current Strategy sets out our purpose, vision, and the impacts we want to achieve. Our
strategy was co-created with our staff and has been supported by insight from our various
partners, and throughout, you will find our ambitions to be achieved. Everything that we do within
DBS, from developing our strategic intent, to the day-to-day operational delivery of our services,
is underpinned by constant considerations of safeguarding, quality, sustainability, value for
money, and diversity and inclusion. Our strategic objectives aim to enhance our effectiveness,
influence, and customer satisfaction while fostering a supportive environment for everyone.

Equality, Diversion, and Inclusion at DBS

DBS is committed to fostering an environment that values individual differences and ensures fair
treatment to unlock the full potential of staff and better support customers. Equality, diversity,
and inclusion (EDI) are core to driving organisational success and we have developed specific
equality objectives for DBS.

Every decision and activity will be considered through an EDI lens, aiming to build an inclusive
culture, improve policies and practices, gain external assurances, and become a leading voice of
good practice in EDI.

Read More
For further information, please see below for a collection of DBS strategies and business plans:
• DBS strategies - GOV.UK
• DBS business plans - GOV.UK

Job description

Job Purpose:
The Associate Director of Digital will provide senior leadership for digital services across DBS,
ensuring services are designed around user needs, delivered to the Digital by Default Service
Standard, and continuously improved through evidence, data and user insight.
The role will act as the organisational lead for digital by design, user-centred design and user
experience, building the capability, culture and governance required to ensure DBS services
are simple, inclusive, accessible, reliable and outcome-focused.
Working closely with operational, policy, technology, commercial and transformation leaders,
the postholder will hold end-to-end accountability for the strategy, design, delivery, live
operation and continuous improvement of digital services, ensuring priorities align to
organisational strategy, operational need and the future Target Operating Model.
As a senior leader within Technology and Innovation, the postholder will shape digital maturity
across DBS, lead multidisciplinary teams, influence executive decision-making, and ensure
digital services deliver value for money, public trust and measurable benefits for users, staff
and partners.
Key responsibilities include:
• Lead digital by design across DBS, ensuring services, products, policies and processes
are shaped around user needs, accessibility, inclusion, evidence and measurable
outcomes.
• Lead and mature the User-Centred Design function, strengthening user research,
service design, interaction design, content design and accessibility capability.
• Set and communicate a clear digital service vision, securing alignment across senior
stakeholders on priorities, trade-offs, risks, opportunities and outcomes.
• Take accountability for service performance, resilience, compliance and continuous
improvement across the full service lifecycle, from discovery through to live service.
• Use performance data, user research, operational insight and delivery evidence to
improve services and realise measurable benefits.
• Embed governance and assurance that require user insight, accessibility, testing, value
for money and continuous improvement as standard.
• Lead high-performing multidisciplinary teams, creating a culture of accountability,
collaboration, agility and continuous learning.
• Influence at executive level, ensuring user needs and digital service outcomes shape
strategic decisions, investment choices and transformation roadmaps.

Corporate Duties:
• Play an active part as a member of the directorate management team (DMT), leading
the organisation and undertaking corporate duties on behalf of DMT.
• As an Associate Director of Digital within the DBS Corporate Leadership Team (CLT)),
take a lead role in developing the organisation, ensuring a continued focus on VFM.
• Fully engage and participate in the change programme.
• Support the DBS Board and its committees as required.
• Work as part of a wider directorate management, bringing together skills
and expertise into a single, coherent and enabling directorate.
• Demonstrable experience in creating the vision for large-scale cultural change.
• Strong communication, influencing and leadership skills to translate technical concepts
and issues into easy-to-understand propositions and secure buy-in
• Demonstrable evidence of thought leadership in transformation.
• Represent the Directorate, Group and Department as a leader in creating an innovative
place of work to both internal and external audiences and driving forward the positive
public image to all.

Operational Delivery Duties

Digital
• Deliver services which meet and maintain the Digital by Default Service Standard.
• Interpret user insight and performance data to drive service design and iterative
operational improvements for digital and assisted digital service channels.
• Clarify and articulate the diverse requirements of users and delivery partners to support
effective delivery of a service.
• Translate complex aims and needs into clear and manageable plans
and determining resource requirements to support service design and maintenance.
• Support the Director in creating joined up service delivery plans that have positive
impact and are aligned to the DBS’s overarching digital strategy.
• Build and sustain the DBS’s capability to design, build and operate high quality digital
services, bringing in a range of technical, analytical and design skills.
• Identify step changes that quickly transform the flexibility, responsiveness, and quality of
a service, taking quick, confident decisions at a strategic level to move things forward.
• Act as an advocate for the digital transformation of services, promoting the DBS’s
progress and publicising learning; influencing culture change and digital adoption
throughout the organisation.
• Manage the relationship with both the Sponsor Unit and Home Office to ensure
economies of scale are realised; synergies between digital service providers
are exploited; DBS interests and requirements are appropriately understood and
considered.
• Proactively create and maintain a strong network of connections with colleagues across
the department and Digital Service Managers in the wider Civil Service.
• Work effectively across teams to support the department in delivering back-end
technology that enables that delivery of excellent digital public services.
• Gather and report on detailed performance data against key indicators to generate
actionable improvements to the quality of services offered by the DBS.
• Understand the financial position of the service, the DBS and the wider economy and
recognise the impact of this when delivering services; promote and visibly demonstrate a
culture of value for money.
• Make strategic choices on spending and procurement, challenging high risk or costly
options and using cloud-first options.

• Use agile methodologies to maintain a strong focus on delivery priorities, holding others
to account for delivery, and swiftly responding to changing requirements.
• Ensure the organisational structure and resource requirements are designed and
delivered in line with DBS strategic vision.
• Provide leadership, across two sites (Liverpool and Darlington) and remotely.
• Ensure that digital services for the DBS are delivered cost effectively and efficiently,
and in accordance with compliance required and best practice standards, and that a
disaster recovery approach is in place.
• Ensure good management of strategic technology partners, ensuring that their delivery
and service levels match or exceed contractual obligations.
• Identify opportunities and risks for delivering the DBS digital services, including
identification of competitive services, opportunities for innovation, and assessment of
marketplace obstacles and technical hurdles.
• Lead on development and execution of disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
• Communicate and develop the DBS digital strategy to internal and external stakeholders.

Management of Finances:

• They will be accountable for the allocated financial resources of Digital Delivery.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Ability to lead at senior level across organisational boundaries, setting direction, influencing executive decisions and holding teams and partners to account for digital service outcomes.
• Significant experience of leading complex digital services, products or transformation activity in a large organisation, including accountability for service design, delivery, live operation and continuous improvement.
• Strong understanding of user centred design, service design, accessibility, agile delivery, product management, digital service standards and the use of insight and performance data to improve services

Desirable Criteria:

• Ability to build organisational confidence and maturity in digital by design, user centred design and evidence-led decision-making.
• Experience of operating in a public sector, regulated or high-volume service environment, with an understanding of safeguarding, trust, risk and public accountability.
• Knowledge of Government Digital Service standards, assisted digital, accessibility requirements and good practice in multidisciplinary digital delivery.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £74,061, Disclosure & Barring Service contributes £21,455 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

The DBS offers a number of excellent benefits for its employees. These can include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Excellent maternity, paternity and adoption schemes (after a qualifying period)
• Commitment to the health and wellbeing of our employees
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Flexible working opportunities
• Eyecare voucher scheme
• Occupational Health Service including referrals for counselling and physiotherapy
• 24/7 Counselling and Wellbeing Service
• A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

The DBS vision and purpose is to make people safer by being a visible, trusted and influential organisation, providing an outstanding quality of service to all our customers and partners, where our people understand the important safeguarding contributions they make and feel proud to work here. To do this, the DBS is committed to being an employer that is able to attract, develop, retain and engage diverse talent that is representative of the communities we serve, and to be an organisation providing outstanding service to all our existing and new customers, who are diverse and have a range of different needs. We want all our staff to be able to bring their ‘whole self’ to work.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

DBS has appointed executive search specialists Gatenby Sanderson to support us with this appointment.

To apply for this please click the link below:

https://dbs.gs-attract.com/

Your application should include:

• A current CV, including your educational and professional qualifications and full employment history (explaining any gaps), with details of budgets and teams managed and highlighting key achievements.

• A covering letter, no more than two A4 pages, explaining why this appointment interests you and how you meet the criteria set out in the candidate profile (please note that references and open-source due diligence checks (including into social media accounts) may be undertaken for all short-listed candidates)

The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Closing Date: 9am on Monday 5 October 2026

Long Listing: Week commencing 12 October 2026

Preliminary Interviews: Weeks commencing 19 and 26 October 2026

Short Listing: Week commencing 2 November 2026

Informal Discussions: Week commencing 9 November 2026

Final Panel: Week commencing 16 November 2026

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : dbsdigital@gatenbysanderson.com
• Email : dbsdigital@gatenbysanderson.com

Recruitment team

• Email : dbsdigital@gatenbysanderson.com

Attachments

Job Description - Associate Director for Digital August 26 Opens in new window (pdf, 381kB)