Successful candidates will be assigned to our office in Whitehall, although parts of this role can be conducted remotely.

The Information and Data Exchange (INDEX) sits at the heart of the intelligence assessment community, building innovative digital capabilities to ensure our national security assessments can maintain a technological and analytical edge.

We are seeking motivated, dynamic and capable individuals to join a growing and ambitious INDEX team. Candidates should be passionate about developing and delivering digital solutions to meet user needs and digital transformation in government. We are looking for people with the right approach, experience and willingness to learn. The INDEX team fosters a culture of innovation, champions accessibility and promotes inclusion and diversity.

INDEX is a digital initiative sponsored by the Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO). INDEX is a digital service which enables analysts to quickly find relevant, high quality government reporting (analysis and assessment) and publicly available material (open source). INDEX optimises advanced analytics and cloud technology to enable people working across HMG to quickly identify relevant, high-quality data and information from within and external to government.

We are looking for a Delivery Lead to oversee all aspects of the technical delivery of the project, working closely with the multi-supplier development team, and cross-government digital and security stakeholders. You will be empowered to be innovative, drive technical improvements and develop new relationships which are aligned with the INDEX vision. You will be responsible for motivating and leading the core INDEX team and wider supplier community.

About the JIO

The Joint Intelligence Organisation (JIO) primarily supports the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and the Foreign Policy and Security Council, the Prime Minister and other key decision-makers by providing authoritative, robust all-source intelligence assessment on a vast range of national security and foreign policy priorities.

Our work covers, and goes beyond, traditional national security topics such as geopolitical issues and threats to British interests. We apply a national security lens to issues such as emerging technology, economic and health security, climate change and horizon scanning (for example, identifying and monitoring countries at risk of instability).

The Professional Head of Intelligence Assessment (PHIA) was established in 2005. The post and associated team is part of the JIO and leads on the development of the UK intelligence communitys analytical capability.

You can read more about working for the JIO and INDEX in the information packs attached at the bottom of this advert.

If your application is successful, you  will:

• Lead a multi-disciplinary, multi-organisation agile delivery team driven by user needs;
• Foster a culture of learning and continuous improvement where innovation can thrive;
• Facilitate an inclusive team environment where innovation and challenge are welcomed from all colleagues;
• Lead on the development and maintenance of the product and functionality roadmap;
• Act as Technical Lead for the Cabinet Office INDEX team, including leading on IT integrations across different government systems, managing data pipelines and developing technical interoperability with other digital platforms;
• Lead proposals for the Cabinet Office Technical Design Authority;
• Work with the INDEX Security Lead on maintaining INDEX security posture;
• Oversea supplier resourcing, prioritisation and commercials;
• Champion best practice in alignment with CDDO service standards, as well as those of the national security community, as the service scales;
• Manage and mentor more junior members of the delivery team, and motivate the wider team;

You will be empowered to set up new initiatives, develop new relationships and try new ideas which are aligned with the INDEX vision.

Skills and Experience Required

The INDEX Delivery Lead role is aligned with the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (See https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/role/delivery-manager for more information on these skill levels). We would welcome applications from those with experience across some or all of the following:

Agile practices (Relevant skill level: expert)  

You can:

• coach and lead teams in Agile ways of working including leading ceremonies and mentoring others in Agile
• act as a recognised expert and advocate for the approaches, continuously reflecting and challenging the team
• create or tailor new ways of working and constantly innovate
• you have experience working with technical delivery teams through agile delivery.

Communicating between the technical and non-technical (Relevant skill level: expert)

You can:

• mediate between people and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels
• manage stakeholder expectations and moderate discussions about high risk and complexity, even within constrained timescales
• speak on behalf of and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of government   

Commercial Management (Relevant skill level: practitioner)

You can:

• take responsibility for complex relationships with contracted suppliers
• identify appropriate contractual frameworks and identify appropriate suppliers
• negotiate with contracted suppliers
• get good value out of contracts and suppliers

Financial Management (Relevant skill level: practitioner)

You can:

• negotiate, influence or set budgets in complex environments
• write or input into business cases and can communicate business-value propositions

Life-cycle perspective (Relevant skill level: practitioner) 

You can:

• apply experience in multiple parts of the product life cycle
• recognise when it is right to move forward and when it is right to stop
• recognise the appropriate deliverables and the right people to meet them
• work with other Agile delivery operations throughout the product life cycle
• plan and engage with the appropriate stakeholders at a particular stage in the project

Maintaining delivery momentum (Relevant skill level: expert)

You can:

• optimise the delivery flow of teams
• actively address the most complicated risks, issues and dependencies including where ownership exists outside the team or no clear ownership exists
• identify innovative ways to unblock issues

Making a process work (Relevant skill level: expert)

You can:

• identify and challenge organisational processes of increasing complexity and those processes that are unnecessarily complicated
• add value and can coach the organisation to inspect and adapt processes
• guide teams through the implementation of a new process

Planning (Relevant skill level: expert) 

You can:

• lead a continual planning process in a very complex environment
• plan beyond product delivery
• identify dependencies in plans across services and coordinate delivery
• coach other teams as the central point of expertise

Team dynamics and collaboration (Relevant skill level: practitioner) 

You can:

• identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them
• identify issues through Agile health checks with the team, and help to stimulate the right responses
• engage in varying types of feedback, choosing the right type at the appropriate time and ensuring the discussion and decision stick
• accelerate the team development cycle

We invest in upskilling our team members to enable them to thrive once they start working with us. As such, if you dont quite match these desirable skills, dont let it put you off applying as we will equip the successful candidate with them once you are in post.

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

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

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together

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

• Agile practices (Expert)
• Communication skills (Expert)

Alongside your salary of £58,800, Cabinet Office contributes £17,034 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Annual salary increases will depend upon individual performance and contribution to the organisations success. In addition there will be the opportunity to earn performance related bonuses.

Existing civil servants can take up the post on loan from their parent department for the duration advertised (permission from their parent department would need to be secured in order to take up the post). Those joining on level transfer will retain their current salary. Staff joining on promotion terms will receive up to a 10% increase of their current basic salary or the pay band minimum whichever is the greater. Staff joining on promotion will adopt the modernised terms and conditions of employment which came into force in 2013. 

Pension: There is a choice of excellent pension schemes. More information about pension provisions can be found at www.civilservice.gov.uk/pensions

Flexible Working: Flexible working including job-share arrangements may be considered for this role.

Leave allowances: 25 days' paid leave per annum rising to 30 days after five years' service. In addition, full-time staff receive eight public holidays and the Queens Birthday privilege day as well as competitive maternity, paternity, parental and adoption leave.

Crisis working: As the JIO and PHIA are at the heart of national security function for the UK, there are occasionally times where we need to respond to incidents of crisis or critical importance. Staff in any role may be asked to work extended or anti-social hours with little or no notice on such occasions.

Probation: Staff new to the Civil Service will be required to serve a six month probationary period.

Location: The post will be based in Westminster, London. No relocation costs will be available.

Equality and Diversity: The Cabinet Office is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all staff. We will not discriminate on grounds of gender, gender identity, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, those with caring responsibilities, part time workers or any other factor irrelevant to a persons work. We encourage a diverse workforce and aim to provide a working environment where all staff at all levels are valued and respected, and where discrimination, bullying, promotion of negative stereotyping and harassment are not tolerated.

Civil Service Code: All civil servants are subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Code which details Civil Service values, standards of behaviour, rights and responsibilities. Go to http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk for more information.

Open to UK nationals only.

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).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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Job contact :

• Name : Vacancy Enquiries
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]