Deputy Director for Productivity and Technology - SCS PB1

Job summary

Immigration Enforcement (IE) is at a pivotal moment. As we embark on a multi-year transformation programme, technology and productivity sit at the very heart of our ambition, not as enablers on the margins, but as core drivers of operational performance. This is a rare opportunity to shape that agenda from the front.

Job description

We are seeking a dedicated and proactive Deputy Director for Productivity and Technology to join the organisation and assist in the delivery of modernisation of the IE team. The Deputy Director for Productivity and Technology will lead a team of approximately 50 people and hold responsibility for a transformation budget of around £100 million. You will own and drive forward IE's contributions to the Home Office 2030 Digital Strategy, overseeing the modernisation of digital infrastructure, the redesign of operational workflows, and the deployment of emerging technologies including AI-enabled case progression, digitised embarkation checks, and enhanced cross-government data sharing.

Person specification

You will operate at board level, advising the Director General and senior Home Office officials, and work across organisational boundaries with partners including the Ministry of Justice, HMPPS, policing and the FCDO. This is a role for a leader who can translate strategy into measurable impact, build credibility quickly, and inspire teams to innovate with purpose.

We are looking for candidates with proven experience in complex programme delivery, a strong grasp of technology and data systems, and the political judgement to navigate a high-scrutiny environment. Relevant qualifications in programme management and technology or AI fields are essential.

If you are motivated by solving complex problems and driving transformation that genuinely matters, we want to hear from you. Please reach out to Archer Mac for a discussion about the role or application process.

stephanie.robinson@archermac.co.uk 07513 221028
adam.davidson@archermac.co.uk 07513 461925

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Home Office contributes £23,465 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

Essential Criteria

Strategic Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated ability to build and sustain trusted relationships across organisational boundaries, using personal and professional credibility to influence and gain the confidence of senior stakeholders. Skilled in navigating complex and often challenging stakeholder environments, including managing and influencing senior leaders and individuals with difficult or conflicting priorities, through strong interpersonal, persuasion and negotiation skills.

Programme Management: Proven track record of leading the end-to-end delivery of complex, high value programmes in a large, multifaceted organisation, with a focus on managing interdependencies, navigating risk and driving delivery through effective governance, while engaging constructively in challenging stakeholder environments.

Technology and Productivity Expertise: Demonstrated ability to lead productivity focused programmes that deliver tangible operational benefits, with experience in applying technology to drive productivity improvements in complex organisational settings, with a strong understanding of AI, technology systems architecture, data governance and operational process design, preferably possessing relevant qualifications

Political Judgement: An understanding of the political context and what is required to operate in evolving and ambiguous environments, negotiate and influence key decisions, manage risk and reach sound judgements on a range of strategic and reputational issues.

Strategic Thinking and Analytical Skills: Strong analytical skills and the ability to communicate clearly and compellingly in a complex, politically demanding environment, with an ability to think strategically and respond quickly to complex changing circumstances and high-pressure situations, maintaining integrity and a clear view of overall project priorities. Comfortable making decisions and setting direction without having the full picture and able to refocus as detail emerges.

Communication and Leadership: Excellent communication, interpersonal and presentational skills to inspire people, educate colleagues and influence technological progress and the ability to lead, manage and inspire staff at all levels to give their best and demonstrate expected standards of behaviour and integrity, and to create an inclusive culture.

Desirable Criteria

Some knowledge of the borders and migration system and the operational environment.

Understanding of productivity measurement frameworks and their application in public sector transformation and knowledge/or experience of the product ownership and management.

Qualification/Certifications

The successful candidate will be expected to hold at a minimum at least one qualification in programme and project management. You will also be expected to hold at least one qualification within a technology, data and AI field.

Technology and Digital Leadership:

Chartered IT Professional (CITP)

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

Certified Enterprise Architect (e.g., TOGAF)

AWS/GCP/Azure Cloud Certifications

Programme and Change Management:

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP)

PRINCE2 or AgilePM

Lean Six Sigma (Green/Black Belt)

Data and AI:

Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP)

AI/ML Certifications – such as those from Coursera, edX, or vendor-specific (e.g., Microsoft AI Engineer).

Public Sector and Policy:

Government Digital and Data Profession Framework (DDaT) – alignment with this framework is expected.

Public Policy or Strategic Leadership qualifications – such as those from the Civil Service Leadership Academy

Online Application

The Home Office have partnered with the Archer Mac recruitment consultancy to manage this integral campaign.

Please view the application process below to apply online and 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) for more information.

It is essential that in your written application you give evidence, using examples, of proven experience. These responses will be developed and discussed with candidates invited for interview.

Failure to submit both a CV and Supporting Statement will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.

Please apply via this linkno later than 23:55hrs on Sunday 7th June 2026

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 2 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 : stephanie robinson
• Email : stephanie.robinson@archermac.co.uk
• Telephone : 07513 221028

Recruitment team

• Email : scsrecruitment@homeoffice.gov.uk

Attachments

Home Office, Deputy Director for Productivity and Technology, Candidate Information Pack 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 1005kB)