Director of Digital and Systems in Southampton

A newly established regional public sector organisation is creating its digital, systems and data environment from the ground up. This is not a role maintaining an established technology estate. You will decide what the organisation needs, lead its implementation and build the capability required to support significant growth and organisational change.

The opportunity

The organisation currently relies on systems, infrastructure and support provided by partner organisations. Over the next two years, six organisations or functions will transition into the new authority, while it establishes its own offices, operating model and internal capability. You will take ownership of the digital and systems strategy behind that transition. Starting with a largely blank slate, you will determine which platforms should be retained, replaced or introduced, how they should work together and how data can be moved safely from existing arrangements.

The immediate challenge is to create a secure and stable foundation that allows the organisation to operate independently and grow rapidly, without introducing unnecessary complexity or long-term technical debt. This is a senior leadership role, but the initial team will be small. You will need to move confidently between strategy and delivery, remaining close enough to the detail to assess technical options, challenge suppliers and make informed architectural decisions.

What you will lead

• Define the digital, systems and data vision, roadmap and investment priorities.
• Design the enterprise architecture and establish the technical standards the organisation will operate against.
• Assess and implement core platforms across areas such as ERP, finance, HR, CRM, Microsoft 365, collaboration, data and integration.
• Lead data migration and systems integration across multiple organisations, recognising that common platforms may contain very different processes, configurations and data structures.
• Plan live service transitions, cutovers, readiness activity and stabilisation while protecting operational continuity.
• Establish appropriate standards for cyber security, information governance, accessibility, assurance and secure-by-design delivery.
• Manage suppliers, procurement activity, contract performance and value realisation.
• Build the team, service management arrangements and governance needed to support the organisation over the longer term.
• Act as a trusted adviser to senior leaders, explaining technical choices clearly and ensuring digital implications are considered in wider organisational decisions.

During your first 6 to 12 months, success will mean providing confidence that the organisation can stand on its own. You will establish the target architecture, create a realistic delivery roadmap and put the foundations in place for the first major organisational transitions. The aim is not simply to implement new technology. It is to create an integrated, scalable and resilient environment that supports the people using it and allows the wider organisation to deliver effectively.

What you will bring

You will need a strong record of building or significantly reshaping digital and systems capability within a new, growing or transforming organisation. Your experience should include:

• Designing and implementing an integrated enterprise systems landscape.
• Leading ERP and CRM implementation or transformation.
• Managing complex data migration, systems integration and legacy transition.
• Delivering major technology programmes involving multiple suppliers and stakeholders.
• Managing live service change without disrupting critical operations.
• Making sound architectural decisions across applications, data, integration, infrastructure and security.
• Communicating effectively with technical specialists, senior executives and non-technical decision-makers.

Experience gained within wider public services, higher education, regulated organisations or businesses supplying technology into the public sector would be beneficial. You will need to understand the standards, scrutiny and responsibilities associated with delivering public services. An ITIL or similar service management qualification would be useful, as would previous experience bringing several services or organisations into a single operating environment.

Leadership and culture

The people joining now will influence how the organisation operates for years to come. You will need to be open, collaborative and professionally credible, with the confidence to set direction while listening carefully to the expertise of others. The right person will be comfortable working across organisational boundaries, leading and developing a small team and building trusted relationships with external partners. You will welcome constructive challenge, communicate honestly and focus on achieving meaningful outcomes rather than following process for its own sake.

Salary and benefits

The package includes:

• Salary of £100,000 to £115,000.
• Hybrid working, with a minimum of two days per week in the Southampton office.
• Defined benefit pension scheme with an employer contribution of 18.1%.
• 32 days' holiday, rising to 34 days after five years' service, plus bank holidays.
• Death-in-service lump sum of three times pensionable pay.
• Investment in professional development and leadership growth.

This is an opportunity to create something rather than inherit it. You will have the mandate to make decisions that matter and leave a visible, lasting impact on how a new public service organisation operates.