Director – Digital Inclusion and Skills

As Director (SCS2) for Digital Inclusion and Skills, your key responsibilities will include: ​

• Set the strategic direction for digital inclusion, building on the 2025 Digital Inclusion Action Plan and the evidence from its first year. Drive a long-term, place-based approach that improves access to devices and connectivity, skills, confidence and trust, and the accessibility and usability of digital services.
• Deliver the Digital Communities Fund working with Mayors, local leaders and delivery partners to fill gaps in support and scale approaches that work, while ensuring robust evidence, value for money and measurable impact.
• Drive Digital Inclusion work across Whitehall, joining up with other departments, notably CO, HMT, DHSC, DWP and DfE, to ensure that the most vulnerable in society are supported to maximise benefits of the digital transformation.
• Deliver the Women in Tech agenda, working with the Women in Tech Taskforce and its Chair to improve workplace culture, support women to start and scale technology businesses, and partner with the right group of organisations to lead wider change.​
• Coordinate and deliver skills and talent work across DCMS, developing a shared departmental approach to issues including migration and talent, building on existing sector and tech-specific work.​
• Deliver the £250m TechFirst programme, building a stronger domestic technology talent pipeline, supporting regional growth and widening access for young people and women to high-value careers in frontier technology sectors. Maintain strong partnerships with employers, schools and regional organisations and ensure effective programme delivery.
• Lead a high-performing directorate, bringing teams and portfolios together around a clear purpose, developing capability and an inclusive culture, and maintaining momentum across a broad, high-profile ministerial agenda.

Key Challenges for the Role

• Delivering through complex stakeholder environments, including across a wide range of government departments and local government, civil society, and industry, including supporting the work of the Women in Tech Taskforce.​
• Translating high ministerial ambition into a coherent, prioritised and deliverable strategy across digital inclusion, technology skills and diversity in tech, while maintaining a clear focus on outcomes for people and communities. ​
• Design and deliver a series of interventions to have a material difference to the digital inclusion of the most vulnerable in society.​
• Ensuring the successful delivery of high-impact programmes. Expand and deliver the TechFirst Skills Programme, which aims to reach 1 million students by 2030, and builds on the success of CyberFirst. Coordinate with others across DCMS to provide oversight and coordination for the full range of talent and skills activities taking place.​
• Playing a full role as part of the Digital Foundation Group’s SLT and the wider DCMS senior leadership group, including leading teams through the machinery of government changes.​

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)

SHORTLIST

When applying you will need to submit a two page CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements, along with a statement of suitability (Max 1250 words).

Applications will be sifted to select those demonstrating the best fit with the post against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please ensure you keep this in mind when writing your CV and supporting statement.​

The timeline further down this page indicates the date by which a decision is expected to be made, and all candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

ASSESSMENT

If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a Staff Engagement Exercise in advance of the final panel interview. This assessment will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, it is designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.

Shortlisted candidates can request an informal conversation about the role with the vacancy holder, Sarah Connolly .This discussion does not form part of the assessment.

Shortlisted candidates may also be invited to an informal discussion with a minister from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Full details of the assessment process will be provided to shortlisted candidates at the earliest opportunity.

For further information regarding the assessments please visit - https://scs-assessments.co.uk/.

INTERVIEW

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview 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.

As part of the process there may be assessment of skills either by a presentation or simulated exercise with follow up questions. Full details of the requirements will be given to shortlisted candidates ahead of their interview.

SELECTION AND FEEDBACK

Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible, and will offer the opportunity to discuss feedback for all candidates who reached the interview. A reserve list will be held for up to 12 months, which we may use to fill future suitable vacancies.

EXPECTED 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, to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates are only indicative may be subject to change. If you anticipate any difficulties attending, please alert scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk upon application

The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Advert Closing date: 23:55, Sunday 4th October 2026

Shortlist: Thursday 15th or Friday 16th October 2026

Assessments: Monday 26th or Tuesday 27th October 2026

Panel Interviews: From 3rd November 2026

It is expected that interviews will be conducted in-person in London, however this will be confirmed during the shortlisting process and successful candidates will be informed accordingly.

Reasonable Adjustment

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

Information 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.

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

Complaints

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

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