Head of Digital Transformation in Newport, Wales

Location: Crown Way, Cardiff, CF14 3UZ

Salary: £74,089 - £80,300. Successful candidates will be offered the minimum of the pay scale and in some circumstances salary negotiations will be dependent on the demonstration of skills and experience. All our roles come with an excellent benefits package, including the generous Civil Service Pension Scheme.

About the job

Join us to lead the digital transformation of one of the UK's most important public services! As Head of Digital Transformation at Companies House, you will be Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for our multi-year modernisation programme, setting the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) strategy that shapes services used by millions of people and businesses across the UK. Reporting to the Director of Digital and Technology, and working closely with senior leaders and key partners, you will turn a long-term vision into clear, deliverable plans, secure investment, champion user-centred services, and lead innovation across the organisation. You will influence change at scale while keeping governance, security and ethics at the core of everything we build.

This is a rare opportunity to own the digital and AI agenda of a national institution end-to-end - from strategy and investment to delivery and measurable outcomes.

Why choose Companies House?

At Companies House we take a proactive approach to wellbeing by promoting a welcoming culture, healthy work-life balance and supporting colleagues to be their best in work because we know people are the key to our success.

• Flexible working with no core hours (6am - 8pm flexible options)
• 30 days annual leave
• 8 bank holidays and 1 privilege day
• Enrolment into Civil Service Pension scheme average 28.97%

Give yourself the best opportunity to apply!

Join our Outreach team for an informal, drop-in 'find out more' session. No need to register - just click on the following link to join at the start time, listen, and gain tips to help you apply:

Monday 12th October - 12.30. It's a relaxed session with cameras and microphones switched off.

Please note:

• Interviews will take place in person at our Cardiff office.
• Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign.
• Security Clearance is an essential requirement for this campaign. You'll need to have been in the UK for at least 3 out of the last 5 years to be eligible to apply for SC.

Job description

Reporting to the Director of Digital & Technology you will develop, lead and maintain the organisation's Digital and AI Strategy, ensuring alignment with Companies House strategy and cross-government digital priorities.

You will:

• Lead strategic planning for modernisation across services and technology.
• Establish governance, assurance and ethical frameworks for digital transformation and AI adoption, ensuring compliance with legislation, government policy and recognised best practice.
• Lead stakeholder engagement with senior leaders, stakeholders, and external partners to drive engagement, buy-in, and adoption.
• Work with data, analytics, digital and technology teams to improve organisational capability.

As the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) you will lead the design and delivery of a multi-year modernisation programme, with a focus on the use of AI to drive improvements and deliver outcomes.

Main SRO responsibilities will include:

• Delivery of Modernisation programmes to time, cost and quality expectations.
• Turning long-term vision into clear, deliverable plans.
• Working with senior stakeholders to align priorities and secure investment.

What a day in this role may look like

This is a varied and strategic leadership role. On any given day, you could be:

• Shaping and maintaining the Companies House Digital and AI Strategy.
• Leading the Digital Modernisation programme, ensuring benefits, risks and outcomes are effectively managed.
• Working with senior leaders to agree priorities, secure investment and drive transformation.
• Overseeing the transition from legacy systems and processes to modern, resilient services.
• Establishing governance and assurance that enables innovation while maintaining public trust.
• Championing user-centred, data-informed decision making and responsible AI adoption.
• Building organisational capability and supporting teams to deliver shared outcomes.
• Using evidence and insights to track progress, measure benefits and inform executive decisions.

Success in this role will mean delivering a clear Digital and AI Strategy, a credible modernisation roadmap, stronger organisational capability, and improved services that create measurable value for businesses, the public and colleagues.

Person specification

You do not need to have worked in the Civil Service previously. We are interested in the scale, complexity and relevance of your evidence, the judgement you applied and the outcomes you achieved.

We are looking for the following skills and experience, which will be assessed throughout the recruitment process. The successful candidate will have:

• Proven leadership of digital transformation programmes delivering measurable organisational change.
• Significant experience developing and delivering digital strategy.
• Experience influencing senior executives and managing complex stakeholder environments.
• A collaborative, inclusive leadership style that brings people together.
• Experience developing AI, automation or emerging technology strategies.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £74,089, Companies House contributes £21,463 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. We believe that our success is driven by the well-being and satisfaction of our team members at all levels of the organisation. At Companies House we're committed to providing a comprehensive benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary, ensuring your career journey with us is not only fulfilling, but also rewarding. We pride ourselves on offering a quality work-life balance with our employee wellbeing being central to our working practices.

We celebrate diversity...

As an equal opportunity employer, we celebrate diversity, being committed to ensuring we're representative of the citizens we serve and creating an inclusive environment. Everyone in Companies House brings something different, and so will you. To fulfil our commitment to recruiting and attracting diverse talent we welcome applications from underrepresented groups. We also welcome applications from Welsh speakers.

We are proud to be a disability confident leader. Our recruitment process is fully inclusive and we can make adjustments as needed through our process. These could include having an interview buddy, extra time at interviews/assessments and receiving interview questions in advance, to name a few.

If you require any reasonable adjustments at application stage, or if you'd like to discuss any person-centred adjustments, please contact us by emailing.

Where will you be working?

You will be aligned to our Cardiff office, where you will be expected to attend on a regular basis. We are currently using a hybrid approach to the way we work which provides opportunities for you to be adaptable in the way you work so that you can achieve a healthy balance between your work and home life. The degree of choice you have will depend on your role and your day-to-day work activities. Your manager will agree regular patterns of attendance with you, however you may be required to make yourself available to attend the office more frequently when required to meet business needs.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Key Dates (dates are indicative only and could be subject to change)

• Drop in webinar: Monday 12th October 2026 12.00pm - 12.30pm
• Closing date: 25th October 2026
• Sifting: w/c 26th October 2026
• Interviews: 11th November 2026 in person in our Cardiff office

What will the process look like?

Stage 1 - Sift

An initial sift of applications will be carried out to create a shortlist. This will be based on the evidence provided for the following Success Profile element: Experience.

In your application form we'd like you to:

• Write a CV: tell us about your employment history, including key responsibilities and achievements.
• Write a Personal Statement of 1000 words: tell us, using examples, how you meet the Experience criteria from the Person Specification.

We're committed to being diverse and inclusive, so please make your application anonymous by removing all identifying personal information (such as your name and age) from your personal statement.

Please note: In the case of a large number of applications, before conducting a full sift as described above, the panel may conduct a pre-sift assessing all applications against the following Experience criteria: proven leadership of digital transformation programmes delivering measurable organisational change.

Once the advert has closed, we will sift applications - this involves reading through them all, please bear with us as this can take some time. We may raise the score required if we receive a high number of applications. At sift we may choose to take through the highest performing candidates to the next stage.

Stage 2 - Interview

Companies House uses a blended interview technique, allowing us to find out more about you. We use the Success Profile framework and at interview we will use Success Profiles assessing the Behaviours and Experience listed in the advert.

Successful candidates from the sift stage will be invited to an in-person interview at our Cardiff office. There will be an activity as part of the interview process. This will be a presentation which will assess the following Experience criterion: significant experience developing and delivering digital strategy. Candidates who are invited to interview will be provided with further details.

The lead criteria to distinguish between tied candidates will be the Behaviour: Seeing the Big Picture. A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles. All offers will be made in merit order.

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of recruitment based on fair and open competition with decisions made on the basis of merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Principles.

Security Clearance

Successful candidates must pass a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check before they can be appointed. BPSS is an entry level security check. It uses the Police National Computer (PNC) to make sure a candidate has no convictions. The check returns evidence of any current criminal record and unspent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements for Security Check (SC) before they can be appointed. The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

Sponsorship

Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. Companies House holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify. Should you apply for this role and require sponsorship, your application may be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment withdrawn.

Pre-Employment Checking

In line with Government guidance, successfully appointed candidates will need to provide documents for our Right to Work checks. From June 2026, applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). Your personal details (name, National Insurance number, and date of birth) will be checked against the Civil Service Resourcing Extract IFD. This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. If your details appear on this database, you will not be offered employment unless you can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.

Please note: You are not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

Nationality requirements

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)
• 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

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.