Chief Technology Officer

Job summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a cross-government hub bringing people together to tackle key national issues while working closer to the communities we serve.

Job description

As Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for HM Treasury, you will play a critical leadership role at the heart of government, shaping how technology enables one of the UK’s most influential departments to operate, decide and deliver. HMT is a fast‑paced, policy‑driven organisation with a diverse user base of several thousand staff, including ministers, senior officials and analysts, all reliant on secure, resilient and responsive digital services.

The Treasury operates a predominantly Microsoft‑based technology ecosystem, including Microsoft 365, Azure and associated security and endpoint tooling, delivered through a largely outsourced, multi‑tower operating model. You will provide technical leadership across this ecosystem, setting direction, assuring design, and acting as the department’s senior technical authority across live services, change and investment.

The CTO leads a small, highly skilled internal team of technology specialists, working closely with commercial, delivery and security colleagues and with multiple strategic suppliers. The role is accountable for defining technology strategy and standards, overseeing architecture, managing technical risk, and ensuring services are modern, secure, value for money and aligned to wider government strategy.

This is a unique opportunity to work at the centre of government, operating at pace, influencing major decisions, and ensuring technology effectively supports Ministers and the Treasury’s critical role in stewarding the UK economy.

Key responsibilities include:

1. Set the department’s technology strategy and technical vision, ensuring alignment with HMT priorities, cross‑government standards, and the GDaD profession.
2. Own and actively lead the Treasury’s TrIS Microsoft‑based technology stack (including M365, Azure, identity, security and endpoint services), from working hands‑on in the system to providing direct technical direction and assurance on major designs, changes and incidents.
3. Assure that HMT technology services and investments are secure, resilient, scalable and value for money across a largely outsourced, multi‑tower operating model.
4. Lead and develop a small team of technology specialists in line with GDaD professional standards, building capability through coaching, role clarity, delegated authority and clear accountability, while fostering strong links into cross‑government technology communities and supplier teams.
5. Influence and engage senior stakeholders across HMT, other departments and suppliers, acting as a trusted technical adviser to enable informed decisions, manage risk and balance pace with control.
6. Oversee technical risk, legacy and lifecycle management, ensuring compliance with security, service management and governance requirements while enabling innovation and continuous improvement.
7. Champion innovation and emerging technologies, fostering a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement to deliver transformative solutions for departmental operations through automation, AI and other targeted tech solutions.
8. Represent HM Treasury at the cross‑government CTO Council and other senior technology forums, shaping and influencing shared technology strategy, promoting best practice, and ensuring HMT’s interests, risks and priorities are effectively articulated and reflected in cross‑government decisions.

If you would like to speak to the current post-holder or hiring manager informally prior to the closing date, please contact Ieuan Ashman (CTO) at ieuan.ashman@hmtreasury.gov.uk or Huw Stephens (CIO) at huw.stephens@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Person specification

Application Stage

Applications should consist of a CV including your employment history, qualifications and a 250-word statement demonstrating evidence of each of the below shortlisting criteria. Your CV and employment history won’t be scored. It’s used to give context to your application and support discussions at interview.

The panel will review applications and invite those that best demonstrate evidence of the shortlisting criteria below for interview. Please keep this in mind when writing your application.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

1. Experience: Proven ability to shape and implement IT and Digital strategies, securing buy‑in and delivering measurable outcomes in fast-paced environments with competing priorities, and organisational complexity.
2. Making Effective Decisions: Ability to apply strong technology expertise to generate quantifiable business benefits while maintaining architectural coherence.
3. Communicating and Influencing: strong communicator able to explain complex technical concepts clearly, influence decisions, and build consensus cross‑government partners, senior leaders, and suppliers.

The lead criterion is: Experience: Proven ability to shape and implement IT and Digital strategies, securing buy‑in and delivering measurable outcomes in fast-paced environments with competing priorities, and organisational complexity.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we’ll first sift using the lead criterion only. Those meeting the minimum score will then be assessed against all remaining criteria.

Interview Stage

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Experience
• Technical Skills - understanding of solutions architecture, engineering delivery practices, tooling, automation, and AI.
• Strengths
• Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Developing Self and Others, Making Effective Decisions

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Developing Self and Others

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• understanding of solutions architecture, engineering delivery practices, tooling, automation, and AI.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £69,820, HM Treasury contributes £20,226 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Generous Annual Leave - 25 days (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus public holidays and the King’s birthday.
• Outstanding Pension Scheme - Defined Benefit pension with employer contributions of 28.97%
• Parental Leave Packages - Including 6 months’ occupational pay for maternity/adoption, shared parental leave options.
• Flexible & Hybrid Working - Options include part-time, job-share, compressed hours, flexitime, and hybrid working (where business needs allow).
• Advance Schemes & Discounts - Rental deposit, cycle-to-work, SmartTech, season ticket loans, and access to HM Treasury’s benefits portal for a wide range of discount codes.

You can review HM Treasury’s full offer here.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Candidate Guidance

Please review the candidate guidance for an overview of the Success Profiles and STAR approach, along with top tips for applications and interviews.

Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: Tuesday 16 June
• Shortlisting: from Wednesday 17 June
• Interviews: w/c 6 July

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline.

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile.

Reserve Lists

You will be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot offer you a role immediately. Where more than one location has been advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to provide your location preference on your application form. Please note that a place on the reserve list does not guarantee an offer.

If you are offered a role in your first preferred location and you decline the offer or are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe, you will be removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances.

Those on the reserve list may also be approached for similar roles at a lower grade. If you are offered a role at a lower grade and choose to decline, you can remain on the reserve list.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Candidates cannot apply to roles in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Successful candidates will be subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database. This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This also applies to those who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the database will be refused employment.

National Security Vetting

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, successful candidates will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Security Check (SC).

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. You will be asked to provide residency information within your application form, and eligibility for national security vetting will be checked once the advert closing date has passed. In certain circumstances, for example if you have been working abroad on a government posting, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case-by-case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).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.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Huw Stephens
• Email : huw.stephens@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints Process: Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment based on fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact HMT by email at: hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

Attachments

462804 - Chief Technology Officer Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 213kB)