Deputy Delivery Director, Home Office Biometrics (HOB)

Job summary

Home Office Biometrics provides critical biometric capability across UK law enforcement, immigration, border security and HM Passport Office. Biometrics underpins core national functions, enabling the capture, verification, search and matching of individuals’ biometric and forensic data to solve crime, protect borders and prevent terrorism. These capabilities are deeply embedded across policing and the Home Office, supporting activities from visa and passport applications to frontline policing and border operations.

The Delivery Director for the Home Office Biometrics Programme (HOB) sits within the Police and Public Protection Technology Portfolio (PPPT) Senior Management Team and is part of the Home Office Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function. The role supports both major transformation programmes and live operational services for a user community of over 45,000 people across more than 50

organisations. HOB is a high‑profile GMPP programme in its final years, delivering a suite of biometric products that will transform how policing and the Home Office missions identify individuals and assess risk.

Biometrics is an internationally recognised capability, with the programme actively engaged in data sharing across Europe and with Five Eyes partners. Close collaboration with Home Office policy and science teams is essential due to the ethical, legal and technical challenges involved. The role is responsible for day‑to‑day leadership and successful delivery of the programme, while also establishing the enduring biometric service that will succeed it. The Programme Director reports line‑management wise to the PPPT Portfolio Director and is accountable to the Senior Responsible Owner, working closely with senior leaders across PPPT, Migration and Border Technology, and DDaT Enterprise Services to deliver secure, high‑quality digital services that meet user and business needs.

Job description

Key responsibilities

• Lead a multi‑disciplinary workforce of ~120 civil servants, contractors and suppliers, setting clear direction, building capability, and recruiting and retaining critical skills.
• Provide clear senior reporting and assurance, keeping the HOB SRO and Director of PPPT fully informed of progress, risks and key developments.
• Build strong strategic partnerships across the Home Office (Migration and Borders, Public Safety, Homeland Security, Science, Data and Identity) and with policing leaders, PCCs, Chief Constables, NPCC and wider law‑enforcement partners.
• Support police forces through technology migration, ensuring effective consultation, adoption and maximised utilisation of new biometric capabilities.
• Deliver the programme to plan and strategic intent, managing milestones, scope and the transition to a sustainable successor organisation to operate and enhance live biometric services.
• Maintain strong programme control and governance, managing risks, dependencies and change; working with internal and external suppliers to deliver outcomes, share risk, drive innovation and ensure alignment with Home Office data and technology standards.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge, experience, capability and behavioural approach to a high standard against the following key criteria:

• A proven track record in delivering, high profile projects and programmes and managing large capital budgets.
• An inspiring and coherent leadership style enabling the HOB programme team to deliver.
• Experience with strategic programme and project management methodologies such as Merging successful programmes (MSP), Project Leadership Programme (PLP), and Prince 2 in addition to business case development, planning and application of good practice processes.
• Extensive experience in the design and development of IT systems and management of their successful transition into Live environments.
• Proven experience of senior stakeholder management in a political, pressured environment and evidence the building of credible and respected relationships.
• A sophisticated approach to commercial and supplier management within the context of technology change, able to establish and maximise effective working relationships with suppliers to stimulate innovation and guarantee successful delivery whilst delivering value for money from investment.

Desirable Criteria

• An understanding of UK Borders, Immigration and Citizenship, Policing and Biometrics.
• A graduate of (or clear willingness to complete) the IPA’s Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £100,000, Home Office contributes £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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

Online Application

Please follow the Job Advert instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply online, no later than 23:55hrs on Sunday 19th April 2026.

Provide some basic personal information;

1. A CV - setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years;
2. A Statement of Suitability – (limited to 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
3. Diversity Monitoring - as part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say'. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022 to 2025 (HTML) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

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.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 : HO Digital Recruitment Team
• Email : hodigitalscsrecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : SCSRecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk

Further information

The Commission publishes a guide that outlines its approach to handling a complaint under the Recruitment Principles. This can be accessed at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…. We would recommend you read this guidance before submitting a complaint.

Complaints should be sent in writing to: Civil Service Commission, Room G8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.

Attachments

DD Digital Home Office Biometrics - Candidate pack Opens in new window (pdf, 662kB)