Head Of Innovation

HMRC is transforming the way it does business with its customers, and CDIO Strategy, Design, Architecture and Innovation is at the forefront of much of this change. Around us the technical landscape is rapidly changing, with new innovative emerging technologies offering significant improvements to the way that HMRC works. These new technologies are changing the way customers engage with services and have moved customer expectation in terms of how they want to engage with HMRC services. The Innovation team works closely with HMRC partners and industry leading SME’s to identify and evaluate technical opportunities that offer significant potential in HMRC, conducting proof of concept and proof of value exercises, which can then help inform decision making and future strategies.

The role will involve understanding and translating technology advancements in to an HMRC concept, building the evidence via a user centred approach to demonstrate how technology can shape and transform policy or ways of working in HMRC.

Working directly with senior leaders across HMRC, you will understand business problems, challenges and how technology can transform policy or ways of working to meet strategic objectives. Exploring how the economy and working practices are changing, working collaboratively with policy, strategy futures and OGD colleagues to bring together user needs, design and technology that demonstrate how HMRC can transform. Ensuring Innovation team deliveries are value-focused, with a clear, prioritised backlog to achieve the vision of each initiative.

Providing direction to rapidly deliver and using agile methodology to adapt to user needs. Leading multi-disciplined teams, investigations, research and analysis i.e. through proof of concepts, hackathons, etc to demonstrate how technology solutions (including new and unconstrained) can be applied in an HMRC environment. Leading engagement with HMRC IT partners and industry leading SMEs to get a solid understanding of the value offered by emerging tech, being able to expertly communicate this potential to influence Excom, directors, strategy and policy makers.

Demonstrating an understanding of the strategic direction and the key challenges facing HMRC and customer needs as the economy develops and ways of working change, identifying and proving that technology can provide appropriate solutions enabling HMRC to continuously adapt and stay up to date with technology advancements.

Promoting a shared understanding by simply translating between business requirements and the technology solutions to influence business counterparts by providing evidence-based recommendations to decision making that shapes the direction of the department and how we deliver solutions and services. Acting as the single point of contact for senior leaders and directors within customer and functional units in CDIO, corralling innovation engagement that develops an environment to foster innovation and provides access to resources and tools that can develop ideas and prove the art of the possible.

Moving proven innovations into realised benefits via the appropriate delivery teams.

We are seeking an excellent leader and manager with a strong customer ethos and a demonstrable track record of vendor management in a multi-supplier environment, demonstrating an understanding of market pressures and realities. We want to hear from candidates who are an expert and thought leader in the specific technology or business domain. We require someone who can demonstrate understanding of compliance within a complex data driven environment.

The successful applicant will need to demonstrate relevant experience and effective delivery of the following essential criteria.

Essential Criteria:

• Ability to capture and translate user needs into deliverables, defining the minimum viable product and prioritising accordingly.
• Demonstrable experience of working with a range of specialists in multidisciplinary teams with an excellent understanding of user need and why data-led change matters; developing relationships with key internal stakeholders and technology service providers with the ability to communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries.
• Understanding the range of available technology choices and the ability to make informed decisions balancing user need and value for money. Understanding the variety and complexities of digital contexts and the ability to design services to meet them; with demonstrable knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology.
• Experience of agile ways of working and a user centred design approach.
• Proven experience of leading a technical innovation team at a large scale
• Thriving in a fast-paced, evolving environment and using an iterative method and flexible approach to enable rapid delivery.

Desirable qualifications and professional memberships:

• Educated to degree level in relevant area.
• Knowledge of HMRC tax regimes. Knowledge across tax regimes will help identify and suggest opportunities where technology solutions can be applied.

As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes:

• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to your public holidays.
• This will be complemented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday.
• Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle.
• Flexible working patterns and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours. You will also be allowed to work from home for 40% of your working hours.
• A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join and where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contribution comes out of your salary before any tax is taken and will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire.
• Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers.
• Use of onsite facilities (where applicable).
• Occupational sick pay.

Job contact :

Name :
Sarah Hawes
Email :
scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email :
scs.resourcing@hmrc.gov.uk