Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO)

Chief Digital and Information Officer – National Police Service (NPS) Location: London, Croydon, or Manchester (regular travel to London will be required) Salary: SCS 2 - £150,000 - £174,000 Please note: Appointment is subject to successful security clearance before commencement of role, with a willingness to undertake DV clearance once in post. The National Police Service (NPS) is being established as part of the Government’s ambitious police reform agenda, bringing together national capabilities to strengthen the response to serious, complex and cross-border crime. This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of digital policing across all 43 police forces in England and Wales. We are supporting the Home Office in appointing an exceptional Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) to drive national technology reform, unite a fragmented landscape and build the secure, sustainable and future-ready digital capabilities that policing needs. With an estimated £850m–£1bn in budgetary oversight or influence, significant investment programmes and critical live services, including three designated components of critical national infrastructure, this is a role of exceptional scale, complexity and public impact. The role During the initial two-year appointment, you will work at the highest levels of policing and government, reporting through the agreed National Policing Digital Tripartite leadership group and working closely with senior Home Office leaders, the NPCC Lead for Digital Data and Technology, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and the Police Digital Service. Line management is expected to transfer to the NPS Commissioner at a mutually agreed point. You will lead the strategic direction, delivery and operation of national policing digital services, products, platforms and enabling capabilities. Your priorities will include: - Lead innovative digital, data and technology strategies that deliver the organisation’s objectives and support the successful delivery of police reform outcomes. - Identify and respond to the changing landscape of digital, data and technology, ensuring police IT remains forward-looking, adaptive and equipped to meet emerging operational needs. - Enable the responsible use of innovative approaches and emerging technologies, while ensuring inclusivity, security, resilience and ethical practice in their adoption and application. - Oversee the delivery, management and maintenance of sustainable digital solutions, products and services that meet strategic goals, operational requirements and user needs. - Ensure data and technology architecture decisions support scalability, reusability and interoperability across policing, law enforcement and (where appropriate) wider government. - Provide executive accountability for policing’s cyber security posture, ensuring national police technology capabilities remain safe, secure and resilient to cyber threats and attacks. - Negotiate and secure investment in digital, data and technology, making the case for change and ensuring resources are aligned to strategic priorities. - Advise on investment priorities across competing demands, balancing risk, affordability, benefit realisation and delivery confidence to maximise outcomes and value for money. - Ensure national police technology capabilities anticipate and adapt to changing capability needs, including leadership, skills, operating models and organisational capacity. - Act as a trusted adviser to the tripartite leadership group and senior leadership on all matters relating to digital, data and technology. You will need to establish a credible national vision amid complex governance, competing priorities and established ways of working, combining strategic ambition with sound judgement, negotiation and the ability to turn plans into tangible results. What we’re looking for We are seeking a mission-led digital leader who understands how technology, data and digital services can strengthen policing, create safer communities and deliver public value. You will: - Provide visible strategic leadership for digital, data and innovation across the national police technology landscape, ensuring technology is fully integrated into service design, operational delivery and organisational reform. - Oversee the safe, secure and effective operation of critical live services, ensuring resilience, reliability, performance and continuous improvement across the service estate. - Sponsor and lead major transformation and modernisation activity, including product, platform and service redesign, technology renewal, and the reduction of legacy risk and technical debt. - Set and maintain strong governance for digital investment, enterprise architecture, cyber security, data management and delivery assurance to support long-term sustainability and public trust. - Build alignment across policing organisations, government departments and delivery partners, driving coherence, interoperability, standardisation and innovation where these improve outcomes and value for money. - Lead and develop high-performing multidisciplinary teams and multi-organisation teams and create the conditions for innovation, accountability, inclusion and delivery at scale. - Champion Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, ensuring inclusive leadership, culture and workforce practices are embedded across national policing digital, data and technology functions. Policing or law enforcement experience would be advantageous, as would experience contributing to cross-sector programmes in complex stakeholder environments. We welcome exceptional leaders from other sectors who can demonstrate the relevant experience, credibility and ambition to lead transformation at this scale. An opportunity to make a national impact This initial two-year fixed-term appointment offers the chance to shape a new national capability at a pivotal moment in public service reform. You will help define how digital policing can work across organisational boundaries, improve the services on which policing depends and establish foundations for the future. We are looking for a leader with the vision to redefine what national digital policing can achieve, and the influence, judgement and determination to bring people together to make it happen. The successful candidate may be required to obtain Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance. If you are interested in applying for this vacancy or wish to have an informal conversation about the role, please reach out to Lauren O’Brien or Ben Tuckfield on 020 8253 1806, or via email at HO-DCDIO@global-resourcing.com.