Job summary
About Infected Blood Compensation Authority
In recognition of the hurt caused by the infected blood scandal and highlighted by the Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI), the government has accepted the moral case for a compensation scheme to pay compensation to those infected and affected.
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will ensure payment is made in recognition of the wrongs experienced by those who have been infected by HIV, Hepatitis B or C, as well as those who love and care for them. They have been frustrated and distressed by the delays in achieving proper recognition, and we must help put this right.
Opportunities to move to the new Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). At the moment all IBCA roles are hosted by Cabinet Office within the Civil Service. However, once IBCA becomes operational, it is anticipated that most of these roles will transfer to IBCA, which is a new Arms Length Body (ALB) separate from the Cabinet Office. Roles that transfer to IBCA from Cabinet Office will maintain the same or substantially the same terms and conditions of employment that are overall no less favourable. It is anticipated that employees who move from Cabinet Office to IBCA will be able to continue to participate in the Civil Service Pension arrangements with no break in their pensionable service. Roles commencing after IBCA has become operational will be with IBCA itself on similar terms and conditions. All successful candidates will receive full details of the terms and conditions of employment for their role with their formal job offer.
Please note that the mission of IBCA means that it is likely to be fully operational for a period of approximately 5-7 years, after which IBCA will become a smaller residual service. When IBCA’s work begins to wind down, IBCA employees will receive support and practical guidance to find a new role, whether in the Civil Service, another Arms Length Body (ALB), or an external employer.
Job description
The Digital Directorate
The Digital Directorate leads on service ownership and digital accountability for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority.
The team manages and develops an effective service design for the payment of compensation.
The Director of Digital will provide inspiration and leadership to a range of highly-skilled, multi-disciplinary teams, to design, develop and deliver the service in challenging timescales and support across the organisation to embed agile, user centred ways of working.
The role will be a key member of both the Executive Committee (ExCo) and the Board providing operational and strategic direction to the development of the scheme delivery and the organisational management of IBCA.
As service owner, accountable for the service design and the development choices for the end to end compensation service. Developing a comprehensive digital strategy that ensures technical quality and robustness in a way that meets user needs and demonstrates compliance with GDS service standards.
Accountable as part of a combined Executive Committee (ExCo) for the overall development and running of the Authority as a whole and with a specific accountability for ensuring access for all to effective IT infrastructure and tools.
Key Responsibilities
- Service Ownership: Drive the design, development, and delivery of the compensation service, ensuring it meets user needs and complies with policy objectives while balancing strategic tensions for timely execution.
- Leadership: Provide inspiring leadership to a multidisciplinary digital and service team, fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and high performance.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate actively with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring a shared vision and clarity on plans. Influence crucial aspects of the service design, gaining support from diverse representative groups.
- User-Centered Design: Champion user-centered design methodologies within the organisation, ensuring that services are tailored to the needs of victims and stakeholders affected by the infected blood scandal.
- Strategy Development: Develop a comprehensive digital strategy that safeguards the integrity of compensation funds, upholding compliance with Government Digital Service (GDS) standards.
- Operational Oversight: Ensure that all organisational infrastructure meets user requirements in a secure, cost-effective, and maintainable manner. Oversee the administration of compensation payments.
- Agile Methodologies: Lead the adoption of agile approaches across the organisation, embedding flexibility and responsiveness into service development and delivery processes.
- Accountability: Act as a key member of the Executive Committee and Board, responsible for strategic and operational choices related to the compensation scheme, enhancing transparency and public accountability.
Person specification
It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.
Essential Criteria:
- Proven experience in leading the development and delivery of large-scale digital services.
- Strong knowledge of agile project management methodologies and user-centered design principles.
- Solid understanding of digital service standards, particularly GDS, and experience ensuring compliance.
- Exceptional leadership and people management skills, successfully leading peers and multi-disciplinary teams With a demonstrated ability to inspire and motivate diverse teams.
- Ability to think strategically and devise actionable plans that align with organisational objectives and user needs.
- Excellent negotiation and influencing skills to engage stakeholders across multiple levels and sectors.
- Strong analytical and judgement skills, able to assess complex situations and make sound, data-driven decisions.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £98,000, Cabinet Office contributes £28,390 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Benefits
Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.
This includes:
- 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays.
- This will be complimented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday;
- A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
- Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
- Childcare benefits (policy for new employees as of 5 April 2018): The government has introduced the Tax- Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers, so please check how the policy would work for you here;
- Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
- The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable); and occupational sick pay.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Application process
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process outlined below. This should be completed no later than 23:55pm, Monday 11th August
1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
2. A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 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. Please click here for further information: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/how-to-write-your-ps/
Failure to complete both sections of the online application form (CV and Statement of Suitability) will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.
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 particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for more information.
Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with us via: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Shortlist
Your application will be acknowledged when it is received.
A panel, chaired by a Civil Service Commissioner, and including David Foley CEO, the vacancy holder, will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the ‘Person Specification’ section. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.
The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decision is expected to be made, and all longlisted and shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.
Assessment
If you are shortlisted, you may be asked to take part in a series of assessments which could include psychometric tests and/or a staff engagement exercise. These assessments will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. For more information about the assessment process, please follow this link: https://scs-assessments.co.uk/
If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to attend a panel interview, in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. We will be assessing against the success profile Behaviours at interview.
You will also have the opportunity to speak to David Foley prior to the final interview to learn more about the role and organisation. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process.
Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates. If you are required to prepare a presentation for the final interview you will be given the subject in advance.
Offer
If we receive applications from more suitable candidates than we have vacancies for at this time, we may hold suitable applicants on a reserve list for 12 months, and future vacancies in the Civil Service requiring the same skills and experience could be offered to candidates on the reserve list without the need for a new competition.
Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible.
We will send you a copy of any report for any assessment that you may have undergone as part of the recruitment process (if requested).
Indicative Timeline
We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for assessments or interviews. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, in order to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates may be subject to change.
The anticipated timetable is as follows:
Advert Close Date: 23:55, Monday 11th August 2025
Shortlist: Week commencing 25th August 2025
Assessment: Week commencing 1st September 2025
Interview: Week commencing 22nd September 2025
Reasonable adjustments
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact Government Recruitment Service at: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
- Complete the ‘assistance required’ section in the ‘personal information’ page of your application form to provide information we should be aware of that will enable us to support you further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Reserve lists
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitable vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview.
Further Information
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact: scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Any move to Cabinet Office 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.
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.
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 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 :
- SCS Recruitment Team
- Email :
- scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email :
- scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
Civil Service Commission Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.
In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance you should contact; scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk and more information can be found at www.civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk
Attachments
Digital CIP_commissioner sign off
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(pdf, 497kB)407115 - Director of Digital - Accessibility Pack (1)
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(docx, 25kB)