Director of Digital in Manchester

Responsible for leading digital products and platforms. Lead major digital change.

About Our Client: Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We help people in every corner of the country to experience and benefit from creativity. We do this by investing in artists and organisations that make and deliver exceptional, inspirational work for our communities. We set out our strategic vision in Let's Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from the Government and the National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.

Job Description: Reporting directly to the Chief Digital & Information Officer, you will lead Arts Council England's digital products and platforms, including Grants Management, CRM, Museum and Cultural Property services, the digital workplace and new AI-enabled capabilities. You will be accountable for the strategy, investment decisions and governance that ensure these services are reliable, secure, accessible and meet public-sector requirements. These services are essential to how we fund and support the sector, meet our obligations, and serve applicants, funded organisations, staff and partners. You will work closely with the Technology Director to align product direction with architecture, operational resilience and service performance, and you will be the senior voice representing business needs in digital delivery decisions.

Key accountabilities:

• Set a clear vision and strategy for digital products and platforms.
• Lead and govern delivery across "run and improve" services and major transformation programmes.
• Ensure services meet standards for value for money, accessibility, security, data protection and assurance.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders, the Executive Board and delivery partners.
• Develop a high-performing team, and create an inclusive, values-led culture.

Key responsibilities:

• Own the digital product and platform portfolio, setting priorities and balancing day-to-day service needs with longer-term change.
• Set direction for product roadmaps and investment, based on user needs, evidence and organisational priorities.
• Provide clear governance for design and change decisions, ensuring the right controls and pace of delivery.
• Be accountable for service performance, resilience and risk management, working with Technology to meet agreed service levels.
• Lead major digital change, including modernising legacy systems and improving integrations and data quality.
• Sponsor innovation where it adds value (including AI and automation), running controlled trials and scaling what works.
• Manage budgets and suppliers, ensuring strong contract performance, good commercial discipline and value for money.
• Lead, coach and develop the Digital team, planning capacity and building succession for key roles.
• Represent digital at senior forums, building alignment across Operations, Funding, Data & Insights and corporate functions.

Key relationships:

• Chief Digital and Information Officer
• Technology Director and Digital, Data & Technology leadership team
• Chief Data Officer and Data & Insights colleagues
• Executive Board, transformation governance groups and peer Directors
• Operational leaders across Funding and corporate services (e.g., Finance, HR, Procurement)
• External suppliers and delivery partners

The Successful Applicant: About you:

• You are a strategic, credible leader who can work at the executive level and stay close enough to delivery to remove barriers and make good decisions.
• You communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical colleagues and can explain complex issues in plain English.
• You understand modern digital product and platform delivery, including user-centred design, integrations, data and good service management.
• You can lead and improve supplier performance and contracts, and you take a disciplined approach to value for money, risk and assurance.
• You lead collaboratively and invest in building a high-performing, inclusive team.

Essential requirements:

• Strong evidence of strategic leadership, delivery and commercial judgement.
• Senior leadership experience owning a portfolio of digital products/platforms across live service, improvement and transformation.
• Proven people leadership, including developing leaders and building a high-performing, inclusive team.
• Experience setting strategy and turning it into clear roadmaps, priorities, governance and measurable outcomes.
• Strong stakeholder management, able to influence Executive and Board-level decisions and build trust across the organisation.
• Commercial and financial management experience, including managing significant budgets (typically up to £5m) and leading supplier/partner performance.
• Good working knowledge of modern delivery and service approaches (e.g., agile/hybrid delivery, DevOps, continuous improvement) and when to use them.
• Experience ensuring services meet security and data protection requirements, with a working knowledge of recognised standards (e.g., ISO 27001 / NIST and UK GDPR).

Desirable requirements but not essential:

• A relevant degree or equivalent experience.
• Relevant professional qualifications (e.g., programme/project delivery, enterprise architecture or service management).

What's on Offer:

• Salary: The role will pay a competitive salary up to £85,000 per annum.
• Pension scheme: The Arts Council retirement plan is a final salary scheme with contributions on a sliding scale.
• Annual leave: 25 days, plus bank holidays and an additional three days leave at Christmas. All staff also earn one additional leave day per full year of service (up to five days), and we offer a scheme to buy and sell annual leave. There is also a winter closure of three days between Christmas and New Year for all colleagues. We offer generous sick pay, paid maternity, paternity and adoptive parental leave, as well as up to five days a year for personal and religious reasons.
• Hybrid working: 1 day per week in the Manchester Office (factoring in flexibility when required).
• Life assurance: All staff members are automatically provided with life assurance cover.
• Wellbeing support: Our internal wellbeing strategy launched in 2021, and colleagues have access to a range of resources to support their wellbeing, including: Unmind: a workplace mental health platform. The Employee Assistance Programme: a confidential 24/7 telephone counselling service which offers impartial external advice and support on personal, legal, financial and line management issues, plus up to six counselling sessions per year. A fully trained team of internal Mental Health First Aiders.
• Learning & development: We invest in the growth and development of all our staff, including professional qualifications, in-house and external training courses, conferences, e-learning, apprenticeships and more. We encourage individuals and teams to keep learning and developing - as a gold standard Investor in People, we provide flexible and adaptable learning and development opportunities for staff at all levels.
• Shopping discounts: Exclusive savings on high street and online shops, holidays, cinema tickets, gym membership, dining out and more.
• Relocation support: Newly appointed staff who need to move residence are eligible to apply for up to £5,000 support.
• Travel loans: Interest-free loans for travel season tickets, as well as bicycle, car and motorbike loans for those who regularly use them for commuting.
• Disabled, D/deaf and/or neurodivergent people and those from Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse backgrounds are underrepresented in our workforce, so we particularly encourage applications from people in these groups.
• If you are disabled and your application meets the essential criteria for the post, we guarantee you an interview. Candidates who wish to apply under this scheme should indicate this on their cover letter under 'Candidate Personal Information' and then demonstrate within their cover letter how they have met the essential criteria for the role.