Head of ICT and Digital Services

Job Description

Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) is passionate about providing high quality services to our communities, residents and businesses and this means we need to employ and retain the most talented and dedicated people. Situated within the heart of the Cambridge-PeterboroughGrowth Area, Huntingdonshire is a beautiful district that boasts thriving market towns and many attractive villages, each with its own identity. We are an innovative and forward-thinking Local Authority whose residents are at the heart of our decision making.We are looking for an innovative Head of ICT to lead and inspire a team delivering a shared IT service across three local district councils. You will develop the next phase of the ICT roadmap, supporting the councils to increases efficiencies and improvetechnology for three communities across Cambridgeshire.Working directly with the Directors of all three councils, you will have the operatingexperience, management skills, strategic mindset and vision to lead the organisation into anincreasingly digital future. Able to convey technical concepts to a wide audiencewithvarying technical knowledge, youll be skilled in influencing and engaging at all levels. Using your well-honed leadership skills, you will manage a large, multi-skilled team of 60 across eight IT functions ranging from Information Governance to Infrastructure.Being a big-picture thinker, youll thrive in challenging the norm and be passionate aboutbringing high-quality technological capability to drive real business transformation, putting theneeds of users first in everything they do. You will promote a cultureof excellence and learning across the organisation, enhancing performance and utilising the latest digital and social technologies to deliver the organisations aims.Key to success, you will excel in three core areas:Leadership

• Ability to inspire, motivate and engage colleagues to work to a shared vision, building a cohesive, high-performance team that embraces change and seeks innovation.
• Experience of leading, managing and delivering major IT business change and continuous improvement projects and programmes to deliver cost savings and service improvements for customers.
• Ability to work under pressure and to respond quickly to changing circumstances and to tight timetables.
• Financial/business acumen with the ability to deliver successful and profitable commercial activities.

Strategy

• Ability to manage senior stakeholders, both internally and externally, and confident in dealing with, and influencing, senior managers and directors, and producing clear and non-technical advice on complex issues.
• Experience of working in a commercial environment and developing new models andapproaches to working.
• Evidence of strategy and policy development and implementation.
• A high degree of market awareness, with demonstrable experience of innovative approaches to procuring services and of managing relationships with suppliers.

Technology

• Experience of maximising the use of new technologies to improve business efficiency and effectiveness.
• Digitally literate and capable of effectively engaging with technical staff, suppliers and stakeholders to define and convey the best approach to service design.
• Experience of current agile project management practices, open source, cloud platforms and digital services.
• Awareness and understanding of industry standard security issues and processes.

Key requirements

• Ability to travel locally, regionally and nationally as required.

• High levels of emotional intelligence, outstanding communication and interpersonal skills.

We want to employ staff who embody our icare values (Inspiring, Collaborative, Accountable, Respectful, Enterprising) all of which support our ultimate purpose of putting our customers first.TO APPLY A full job description along with details of how to apply can be downloaded from our website, search Current Vacancies at Huntingdonshire District Council.Should you have any additional questions regarding submitting an application, please contact our Recruitment team using the contact information available on our website.Closing date for completed applications is 28 October at midday and interviews will be take place week commencing 7 November.Please note that the official closing date is as above and will be the correct date. Some third party websites may have different dates so please always refer to the HDC website for the official closing date to ensure you do not miss out on applying.For many of our roles (and where it is possible) we are currently working remotely and anticipate in the future returning to a hybrid office model on a flexible basis. This will still include work from home and flexi-time opportunities in order to providea good work life balance whilst still ensuring that teams benefit from in person interaction. Candidates should therefore be within commutable distance of our offices in Huntingdon, and our partners offices across Cambridgeshire or able to attend meetingsas required if further afield.Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our recruitment and along with our values we are committed to creating an inclusive working environment, where diversity is valued and there is equality of opportunity. We therefore welcome applicationsfrom all sections of the community and we offer a range of benefits, including flexitime, to encourage a work life balance.To view our great range of employee benefits please visit our website - Huntingdonshire District Council