Head of Adoption (Financial Services and Property)

Job summary

At DSIT we’re all about improving people’s lives by maximising the potential of science & technology.

We accelerate innovation, investment and productivity through world-class science, research and development.

We use technology for good by ensuring new and existing technologies are safely developed and deployed across the UK, with the benefits more widely shared.

We are driving forward a modern digital government which gives citizens a more satisfying experience and their time back.

We do all this to enable the Government’s 5 national missions: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, taking back our streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS fit for the future.

Above all, we focus on improving people’s lives. Whether it’s researching new treatments for disease, developing better batteries, reducing burdens through better public services, keeping children safe online, and much more, outcomes for citizens are at the heart of what we do.

Our Inclusive Environment

We offer flexible working benefits, employee well-being support and a great pension. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.

Please note

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

Job description

Digital identities underpin millions of transactions across the UK every day – from proving your age in a pub to buy alcohol, to proving your identity in order to open a bank account. This role sits within the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) (www.gov.uk/ofdia) which sets the standards, governance and legislative framework that allow organisations and individuals to use digital identities with confidence and leads the government’s work to enable the widespread adoption of digital identity solutions.

OfDIA sets the standards that determine what ‘good’ digital identity looks like, through the Digital Verification Services Trust Framework. This work is central to shaping how digital identity services operate, protect users, and defend against fraud. OfDIA also runs the UK’s official register of accredited Digital Verification Services, granting the UK Trust Mark to providers that meet the bar for trust, security and resilience, with cyber security built in by design.

OfDIA is a friendly and high performing deputy directorate and a great place to work. We welcome applications from people with different professional backgrounds and experiences. You do not need to be a technical specialist to succeed in this role. What matters is your willingness to learn, to help others develop, and to build the capability needed to deliver high quality work in a rapidly changing area.

Person specification

Key responsibilities:

You will lead one of two G7 teams in the Digital Identity Market Adoption team. Your objective will be to enable the widespread use of trusted digital identities in use cases connected to the financial services sector, sectors regulated by the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), and the property sector. We have a plan for how this can be achieved, but it needs refining, extending, shaping and delivering. You will also play a leading role in the coordination of OfDIA’s ambitious stakeholder engagement operation.

This is an exciting and fast paced role for a confident G7 which will offer plenty of opportunities to demonstrate and build leadership skills, as well as skills in policy development, working with regulations, and high impact external stakeholder engagement.

In this role, you will:

• Lead work to develop guidance for the 16 sectors governed by the MLRs which explains how they can incorporate the use of trusted digital verification services into their identity checking processes. This will involve work with OGDs, lawyers, regulators and external stakeholders like banks that are regulated by the MLRs
• Identify and develop other proposals to encourage adoption of the trusted digital verification services across the financial services sector. This could involve working with HMT, HMRC and others, and supporting legislative, regulatory or guidance changes.
• Lead work to explore how OfDIA can best influence the adoption of digital ID checking in the property-buying process. This will require working with the G6 and DD into OGDs, and with regulators and property sector stakeholders
• Work with the G6 manager to refresh OfDIA’s processes for delivering regular, impactful engagement across OGDs and into industry aimed at gathering insights on priorities and challenges for digital identity adoption and driving progress across OfDIA’s key portfolios.
• Line manage 2x SEO.

As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.

Essential Criteria

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to express complex information clearly and tailor content to the appropriate audience
• Strong networking and engagement skills that enable you to build and maintain collaborative and positive relationships with both internal and external stakeholders
• Demonstrable experience of working in a fast-paced environment, managing competing priorities and delivering high-quality work to challenging timelines
• Ability to evaluate complex information, including data, and use it to develop evidence-based policy
• It is unusual that all candidates will meet all the criteria. If your skills and experience look slightly different from what we have identified and you think you can bring value to the role and the team, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience or understanding of digital identity policy

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,850, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes

£16,469 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme , with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

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 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement.

F urther details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 750 words) to explain how your skills and previous experience make you suitable for this role.

Applications will be sifted on CV and Personal Statement.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement only.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

The interview will consist of behaviour and strength-based questions.

Interviewees will be asked to deliver a presentation; further details will be provided nearer the time.

Sift and interview dates

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest .

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website .

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply and can be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

I nformation about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our  DSIT Candidate Guidance . A  DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on