Executive Director – Modernisation & Customer Delivery
Dorset is a place that rewards the curious and frustrates anyone who thinks running a modern council is simple. We’re working hard to become a genuinely modern, sustainable unitary council, one where technology, data and customer experience aren’t afterthoughts, but the infrastructure that holds everything together. This role is how we get there.
About The Role
You’ll be joining the Senior Leadership Team, reporting directly to the Chief Executive. Your directorate includes approximately 550 colleagues across Customer Experience, Technology, Digital and Data, Libraries, Revenues and Benefits, and the Transformation Management Office. The portfolio is broad and the work is real – this isn’t a strategy role that floats above delivery. You’ll be accountable for both.
What You’ll Be Doing
* Setting and delivering a modern, resilient digital strategy built around outcomes for residents
* Leading major transformation programmes with proper governance, honest benefits tracking and clear accountability
* Acting as the council's senior accountable officer for cyber security and information governance
* Championing user-centered design and ensuring our services work for everyone, not just the easy-to-reach
* Building digital confidence and practical capability across the workforce – including frontline teams who might not naturally identify as digital
* Representing Dorset at regional and national level in conversations about what modern public services should look like
* Overseeing significant technology and transformation budgets with real financial discipline
About You
You’ve done this before, or something close enough that you know where the hard bits are. You understand that technology is an enabler, not the point – and you know how to bring people with you when the change feels uncomfortable.
You’ll Also Bring
* A track record of shaping and delivering digital strategy at scale, across multiple service areas
* Expertise in data governance, interoperability and joined-up intelligence across partner organisations
* Hands-on experience embedding agile delivery, product management and service design in practice – not just on slides
* The political awareness to advise elected members and a Chief Executive with confidence and honesty
* A genuine interest in improving outcomes for communities, not just modernising systems for their own sake
Why this role, why now
Dorset Council has a clear direction – to become a modern, sustainable unitary council – and the investment and leadership commitment to back it. This role sits at the heart of that. You won’t be implementing someone else’s plan; you’ll be shaping what good looks like.
Further Information
If you’d like an informal conversation with the Chief Executive, Catherine Howe, please contact Jennifer Prince, Senior Executive Assistant, and we’ll get that arranged.
Benefits
We offer a generous relocation package of up to £8,000 (HMRC eligible elements) free of tax, including an initial advance of up to £2,500 on your start date, help towards buying or selling costs (up to £6,500), and support towards rent or mortgage costs in your first two years.
About Us
Dorset is a place of genuine beauty and strong communities. Our vision is straightforward: working together to create a fairer, more prosperous and more sustainable Dorset for people now and in the future. We’re looking for leaders who share that ambition and have the capability to turn it into something real.
We’re actively working to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation, and we know that bringing in people with different perspectives and backgrounds makes us better. We welcome applications from everyone.
We’re a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role, and we’re committed to making our interviews accessible. Let us know on your application if you need any reasonable adjustments.
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