Job summary
The Government Digital Service (GDS), part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), is seeking a dynamic and visionary Government Chief AI Officer to lead our ambitious agenda on artificial intelligence across the UK public sector.
GDS sits at the heart of digital and data transformation in government. AI now plays a central role in reshaping how we design, deliver, and scale public services to be more efficient, responsive, and impactful. This will be a dynamic and changing brief, given the rapidly evolving nature of AI in government, and the enormous appetite for change from Ministers including the DSIT Secretary of State and the Prime Minister. This is an exciting and innovative team - we are looking for change makers who want to challenge how government operates, leading from within, and driving enormous impact through harnessing the power of AI for the public good
You will be at the forefront of AI adoption in the public sector, balancing cutting-edge innovation with the need for transparency, fairness, and public trust. You will influence across the public sector system, shape policy, and ensure that AI-driven initiatives are deployed responsibly and ethically. You will build a leadership community across government - drawing on their expertise and needs as a collective, including developing a sourcing framework for this group.
Job description
As the Government Chief AI Officer, you will lead the AI Group in GDS within the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology. The Group includes the AI Incubator (i.AI) and the Public Sector AI Adoption Unit. This is a large scale and dynamic leadership role designed to drive transformative change throughout government services through the strategic application of AI technologies. This role requires a dynamic and innovative leader to collaborate with government departments and agencies, stakeholders, and technology experts, using AI to solve complex challenges and enhance the delivery of essential public services.
This will be a dynamic and changing brief, given the rapidly evolving nature of AI in government, and the enormous appetite for change from Ministers including the DSIT Secretary of State and the Prime Minister. This is an exciting and innovative team - we are looking for change makers who want to challenge how government operates, leading from within, and driving enormous impact through harnessing the power of AI for the public good.
Primary responsibilities
Establish a central AI adoption unit to build and deploy AI into public services:
- lead the expansion of the work of the Incubator for AI (i.AI) to provide rapid prototyping and innovation, identifying and building solutions focused on public sector productivity which act as exemplars and show scalable impact
- accountable for building and expanding the existing Public Sector AI Adoption Unit, including the development of a ‘scan’ function to identify new opportunities and work across government to scale AI products
- lead the development and oversight of programmes such as the Frontier Exemplars announced at the Spring Statement, aimed at radically transforming how government delivers its services to enable better customer experience and simpler, more efficient service delivery
- support the building of a strong technical market intelligence capability to inform procurement and design decisions, recognising that AI and its uses are evolving rapidly
- support investment in the enabling infrastructure and common components for the public sector to use AI at scale, including data, development environment and tooling, compute, and generative AI models, and enabling support for private sector commodity tooling
Grow capacity and capability across government:
- be a thought leader on the practical use of AI technology in government and public services, taking a hands on approach to establish AI communities of practice across the public sector
- support practitioners across government by providing expert advice on AI and reusable technical solutions, working with colleagues across government to develop training and guidance for best practice AI adoption and usage
- lead the development of a sourcing framework for AI, including rapid procurement and mission- focused national tenders, and developing partnerships that enable government to procure from startups, scaleups, and established players but also seek innovative solutions from R&D agencies, academia, open source and competitions
Build trust, responsibility, and accountability into everything we do:
- accountable for the development of clear and actionable guidance to embed best practices and capability in trust and responsibility, building on the work of the Responsible Tech Adoption Unit
- establish and oversee the provision of specialist assurance support including a red-teaming service to test products before release
- be an active and engaged member of the GDS and DSIT leadership teams, accountable for delivering the public sector digital and data strategy and plans.
Person specification
We're interested in people who:
- have a track record of delivering complex transformation via new technologies in a mature enterprise environment which has large scale impact
- are thoughtful and empathetic in working with stakeholders. Ability to make important strategic calls from a position of curiosity and coalition building. Ability to be able to translate highly technical concepts into an accessible language for different audiences
- are a credible leader for highly technical teams – knowledgeable about what high-tech experimentation and delivery looks like and able to create an environment which enables it
- have experience in leading teams through significant periods of change.
- have the ability to lead thinking and practice in AI across large and complex organisations in the public, private or third sector, working with multiple stakeholder groups, often representing, or holding multiple viewpoints
- have in-depth knowledge of AI technologies (machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, etc.), their practical applications and what they can offer public services
- have experience in developing and implementing AI governance frameworks and policies that prioritise fairness, accountability, and transparency, with a strong understanding of ethical considerations, data privacy and regulations in AI
This role will play a significant role in the future of AI use across UK Government, improving services for every citizen the Civil Service serves.
If you are passionate about leveraging AI for societal good and excited about the opportunity to drive change at a national scale, this is the role for you.
Benefits
There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:
- flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
- a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
- 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
- an extra day off for the King’s birthday
- an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
- career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
- paid volunteering leave
- a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
- job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
- advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
- death in service benefits
- cycle to work scheme and facilities
- access to an employee discounts scheme
- 10 learning days per year
- volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
- access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning
Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 60% of the time over the accounting period
Things you need to know
Selection process details
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the application process though our chosen executive search provider, Global Resourcing, accessed via the following email: Should you like to discuss the role in more detail before submitting an application, please contact our chosen executive search provider, Global Resourcing, by emailing CAIO@global-resourcing.com before the closing deadline of Monday 7th July at 11:59pm
As part of the application process you will need to submit:
- an up-to-date CV setting your career history with responsibilities and achievements
- a statement of suitability explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the criteria in the person specification. This should be no longer than 2 sides of A4
Town Hall Event
Emily Middleton - Director General for Digital Centre Design, DSIT & Joanna Davinson Chief Digital Officer, DSIT, will be holding an informal information session via MSTeams on 26th June between 10am and 11am for potential applicants to find out more about the roles and Department.
If you would like the opportunity to attend this session and ask any questions you may have about it before applying, please contact CAIO@global-resourcing,com before 26th June.
Longlist / Shortlist
- The panel will assess and select applicants who demonstrate the best fit with the role by considering the evidence provided against the criteria set out in the Person Specification. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.
Preliminary interview with Global Resourcing
- candidates selected for longlisting will be invited for a preliminary interview with Global Resourcing to explore their skills and experience. Following this, the panel will further assess longlisted candidates, using the insight provided and will agree a shortlist for final panel interviews
- a longlist decision is expected to be made on Monday 14th July followed by a shortlist decision on Friday 1st August. All candidates will be notified of the outcome shortly afterwards
Staff Engagement Exercise
You will be invited to attend a short virtual Staff Engagement Exercise prior to the interview. The SEE allows us to observe how you engage with and inspire others, demonstrating respect for diverse perspectives and fostering a collaborative environment. This will not result in a pass or fail decision; it is designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. Further information on what to expect and how to prepare will be provided to all shortlisted candidates.
GDS chats
You will have the opportunity to speak with a member of the leadership team prior to the panel interview to learn more about the role and the organisation. This is not part of the formal assessment process
Final Panel Interviews
The final panel interviews will be held in person. Please note, you may be asked to deliver a presentation as part of the panel interview, or you may be given an unseen scenario-based exercise in advance of your interview to which you will respond. More information will be issued on invitation
Interview panel
Chair: Sarah Pittam (Civil Service Commissioner)
Emily Middleton Director General for Digital Centre Design at DSIT
Joanna Davinson – Government Chief Digital Officer, DSIT
Matthew Postgate – Non-Executive Director, MoD
Jade Leung – Chief Technology Officer, AI Security Institute
While we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write cover letters without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.
In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.
For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:
- seeing the big picture: Understand how your role fits with and supports organisational objectives. Recognise the wider Civil Service priorities and ensure work is in the national interest
- leadership: Show pride and passion for public service. Create and engage others in delivering a shared vision. Value difference, diversity and inclusion, ensuring fairness and opportunity for all
- communicating and influencing: Communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm. Respect the needs, responses and opinions of others.
- working together: Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources and support.
Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
Sponsorship
DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.
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 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.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil 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 :
- caio@global-resourcing,com
- Email :
- caio@global-resourcing.com
Recruitment team
- Email :
- caio@global-resourcing.com
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact gds-recruitment-complaints@dsit.gov.uk in the first instance.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: info@csc.gov.uk Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.
