Director of Digital and Technology

About the Borough :
Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two.

Kingston and Sutton councils have a number of shared services serving both authorities, with some teams and roles more focussed on one council than the other, but the majority are shared across both, meaning you get multiple opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies.

We work flexibly in both Kingston and Sutton offices, and support working at home or flexible working patterns that enable you to tailor your working and personal life. We provide the equipment and tools to enable you to work flexibly, and in return ask you to use that flexibility to be creative and ambitious in the services we deliver.

There are some really exciting things happening in both boroughs. In Sutton, we are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. Over in Kingston, we are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in the borough, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact.

You should choose Kingston and Sutton if you are looking for an opportunity that will challenge you to deliver more, support you to achieve personal ambitions, and expect you to put borough residents at the heart of what you do.

Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as Richmond Park and Bushey Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor Kings and Queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a council plan "Greener, Fairer, Safer, Together", that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London.

Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan "Ambitious for Sutton", that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government.

About the Service and Team :
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and London Borough of Sutton offer thriving places to live, work, study and visit. Our communities are a vibrant cross-section of society and, for the most part, are thriving. But like all communities, we have those who require a larger range of services in order to ensure their health, safety and prosperity. Our diverse resident groups mean that we must deliver to a broad range of customer needs, in an increasingly challenging financial environment. As a result, our digital and technology functions and our future transformation have never been more important.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate :
As Director of Digital and Technology of our inter-Borough shared service, you will be responsible for shaping and delivering digital transformation for Kingston and Sutton. This role will require an individual who can build relationships and develop and deliver complex digital change projects across services and alongside senior leaders in the organisations. You will be expected to provide inspirational leadership to those for whom you are directly responsible as well as to wider stakeholders through your influence and leadership impact. Innovation, creativity and collaboration are key to driving the transformation required, discovering the art of the possible by pushing at boundaries and overcoming barriers, whilst managing risk so there is responsibility and accountability at all levels across both organisations.

As an experienced digital and technology leader, you will drive delivery and digital adoption, and oversee key technological advancements to cement our future, including AI, cybersecurity, data strategy, and business system renewals. With a new strategic focus on data and AI, including the recruitment of a new Head of Data and the implementation of a new data strategy, you will play a key role in maximising the impact of these initiatives. Additionally, you will provide strong management oversight of your team, ensuring a well managed and responsive technology function, not only for efficiency, but to deliver advancements in service delivery to our residents. Artificial Intelligence and data analysis will be central to this role, particularly in transforming how the councils use data to improve services for our residents.

This role offers a high profile opportunity to drive change with the passionate support of both councils, and the chance to build on and invest in our digital capability. You will have the opportunity to network externally and build upon our existing London-leading work, in particular relating to automation and IOT, to cement our position as a key member of the London Office of Technology and Innovation.

To succeed in this role, you will be a visionary leader with a strong track record in digital and IT transformation within a complex organisation. You will have:

• Significant experience in leading IT and digital strategies at a senior level, preferably within the public sector.
• A deep understanding of emerging digital technologies, AI, and data strategy, and their application in local government services.
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with the ability to inspire and develop high-performing teams.
• Proven ability to push AI and data capability while maintaining strong relationships across both councils and external partners such as LOTI and GDS.
• Experience consolidating IT estates, managing legacy tech migration, and driving innovation and creativity in service delivery.
• Experience in improving portfolio management, pipelining, and delivery, ensuring digital initiatives align with council priorities.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, fostering trust and confidence at a senior level, and the ability to operate externally as a high profile representative of our organisation.
• A strategic mindset focused on balancing the needs of both councils while driving efficiency and delivering measurable outcomes as part of a digital and technology transformation.
• Proven ability to drive delivery, capacity, and capability within teams while leading large-scale transformation initiatives.

Our Offer to You :
The world of local Government has never been more exciting or transformational, and your success in this role will secure the delivery of critical and innovative services to thousands of residents. This is a challenging role, but in return you will benefit from a competitive package, flexibility, investment, executive-level support, a motivated team and a platform for building your career profile across London, Local Government, and beyond. Your delivery in this role will mean the security of our organisations for years to come and, in doing so, the safety, health, and prosperity of thousands of people who need us.

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we're committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We're constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. We operate hybrid working, a flexible working model which allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. It enables staff to achieve a work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston or Sutton
• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process :
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application. Please note that Global Resourcing are working as our Recruitment Partners for this role, if you would like to learn more about the role of the recruitment process please contact Callum Randle:

Phone: 020 8253 1806
Email: KS-DD@global-resourcing.com

Hiring managers are encouraged to ensure that their interview panel is diverse, and representative of a range of protected characteristics, to help remove unconscious bias and ensure candidates are treated fairly during the selection process. Some characteristics may not be obvious, but our panels are diverse wherever possible. We have a number of measures in place to inform and support our approach, including mandatory EDI and unconscious bias training for all staff, safer recruitment training for diverse panel members, engaging with our staff networks and encouraging allyship. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information :
We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough. Our aim is to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and staff feel a sense of belonging. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government's minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.