Head of Digital Workplace

Job summary

Head of Digital Workplace

Salary: £70,752-£78,614 per annum
Band: UKRI Band G
Contract Type: Open ended
Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (Minimum 0.8 FTE)
Location: Swindon, Polaris House - Hybrid working available

Closing Date: Monday 6th April 2026

About the role

To provide visionary leadership to shape UKRI’s Digital Workplace strategy, ensuring technology-enabled transformation that enhances organisational agility, cross council collaboration, and employee experience. You will also act as a senior change leader within Technology Services, influencing decision-making across the UKRI executive, councils, and partners to ensure Digital Workplace initiatives contribute directly to strategic organisational outcomes.

This role will drive cultural and behavioural change across UKRI to maximise the value realised from Digital Workplace investments, ensuring adoption, engagement, and alignment to organisational modernisation ambitions.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Key Responsibilities

• Setting the long-term vision and multiyear strategy for the Digital Workplace, ensuring alignment with UKRI mission, workforce transformation priorities, and Group CIO strategic direction.
• Leading cross-UKRI strategic engagement to influence how digital tools shape future ways of working, productivity outcomes, and organisational culture.
• Acting as a senior advisor to UKRI leadership on modern workplace trends, future collaboration models, and digital employee experience strategy.
• Driving enterprise level adoption and behaviour change to embed Digital Workplace capabilities in UKRI’s operating environment.
• Representing Digital Workplace at internal and external forums.
• Providing inspirational leadership, developing a high-performing, outcomes focused Digital Workplace organisation that role models modern ways of working.
• Championing the continued adoption of communities relevant to areas of responsibility.
• Ensuring alignment with the security and architecture teams with respect to implementation of security controls and architectural principles.
• Deputising for Deputy Director Technology Services as required.
• Assessing emerging technologies and strategically positioning UKRI to benefit from digital innovation.
• Developing effective networking with peer group, UKRI Group IT colleagues, DSIT and wider agency community.
• Accountable for engaging the senior stakeholder community with outputs from the Balance Scorecard & KPI dashboard functional reporting.
• Determining strategic, operational and financial plans for area of responsibility.
• Leading commercial strategy, contract frameworks, and supplier governance for all Digital Workplace services.
  

Technology & Process Experience and Delivery

• Providing strategic oversight of asset and lifecycle management, delegating operational execution to appropriate delivery partners.
• Diverse experience in collaboration technologies & services.
• Experience of delivering process automation through digital change initiatives.
• Strategic leadership experience guiding the design and implementation of enterprise scale Digital Workplace ecosystems, ensuring modern, secure, user centred services delivered through effective operating models.
• Strong experience of Information security principles & best practice.
• Experience of delivering improved business productivity / efficiency from the effective exploitation of collaboration services.
• Experience of a federated IT delivery model.
• Proactively identify technology related risks, taking appropriate action to mitigate or resolve.
• Define, develop and iterate standard operating procedures, policy & processes that support the Digital Workplace function and wider Group IT.
• Demonstrate a proactive commitment to continual improvement.

Person specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Essential

• Strong understanding of digital workplace technologies and enterprise collaboration platforms (S&I).
• Experience of delivering & leading a technology orientated function, servicing multiple locations in a public, or private sector setting (S&I).
• Experience of budget management in excess of £3m (S).
• High level of professional credibility with the influencing skills required to develop strong alliances and partnerships both internally and externally (I).
• Working with strategic delivery partners to drive value and performance with respect delivery of enabling technology related services (S&I).
• Proven procurement and commercial skills (S).
• Proven change delivery, transforming the digital workplace experience and driving business value (S&I).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,752, UK Research and Innovation contributes £20,496 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.
  

Plus, many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

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

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact recruitment@ukri.org

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact recruitment@ukri.org

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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 : UKRI Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org