JOB SUMMARY

DVSA is investing in the digital workforce we need to meet future challenges—building a more sustainable, skilled, and in-house capability that reduces our reliance on external contractors. As part of this work, we’ve created the Digital & Data Hub: a central team that brings together recruitment, onboarding, workforce planning, and governance to support the growth of a modern digital profession within the agency.
We’re now looking for a senior leader to head up the Hub. This role will focus on scaling up our recruitment of digital professionals, embedding consistent onboarding and capability support, and helping DVSA meet its ambitious workforce targets in line with government expectations.
You’ll work with colleagues across digital, data, HR, and commercial teams—providing direction, solving delivery challenges, and building the processes that support long-term workforce growth. This is a role for someone who can navigate complexity, influence at senior levels, and lead a team to deliver tangible outcomes that strengthen our internal capability.
If you’re energised by solving workforce challenges at scale and want to shape the conditions that help digital professionals succeed—we’d love to hear from you.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!
Find out more about what it’s like working at DVSA: Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency - Department for Transport Careers

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Head of Digital & Data Hub leads DVSA’s strategic approach to digital recruitment, onboarding, and workforce capability. You will be responsible for designing and running the processes that ensure DVSA can attract, develop, and retain the digital talent it needs—while also contributing to the government’s wider contractor reduction and efficiency targets.
This is a leadership role with both operational and strategic scope, sitting at the heart of the agency’s drive to build a more skilled, sustainable digital workforce.

Key Responsibilities:

• Digital Workforce GrowthLead end-to-end recruitment campaigns across digital and data professions, ensuring roles are advertised, assessed, and onboarded in a consistent, timely, and inclusive way.
• Onboarding & Capability SupportOversee the onboarding journey for all digital professionals, including apprenticeships, and develop mechanisms that support retention, development, and career progression.
• Contractor Reduction & Efficiency AlignmentDrive activity to convert and reduce external contractor roles where appropriate, aligning to Civil Service and Spring Budget targets for efficiency and workforce sustainability.
• Governance & ReportingEnsure the Hub maintains accurate oversight of digital workforce metrics—including headcount, vacancies, contractor usage, and diversity indicators—and reports effectively to DVSA and central government stakeholders.
• Cross-functional CollaborationWork closely with HR, finance, commercial, and digital leadership to coordinate workforce activity, unblock delivery risks, and provide senior-level assurance on progress.

For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We’re looking for an experienced leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, operations, and people. You’ll bring the credibility to influence at senior levels, and the focus to deliver at pace. Most importantly, you’ll be driven by a desire to create the conditions where digital professionals can succeed and grow within the Civil Service.

You will have:

• A clear, practical leadership style—focused on delivery, clarity, and collaboration.
• A commitment to inclusion, development, and building professional communities.
• Ability to model high standards while supporting others to grow in capability and confidence.

This post is offered on a Fixed Term Appointment (FTA) basis to complete a finite piece of work.
For permanent Civil Servants, this role is only available on loan, so you must have your home departments approval to return to them at the end of the loan before you apply. There is no opportunity for a permanent Civil Servant to take on this role as a fixed term appointment. OGD applicants will be appointed on an inward loan and subject to the terms of the agreed inward loan. Internal candidates will return to their previous post at the end of the loan period, which will need to be agreed with your line manager in advance.
If you’re employed by a non-departmental public body (NDPB) by moving jobs this will involve a change of employer and you may break the statutory rules on continuity of employment.
There could be the potential of permanency, subject to the role being available (and for those coming across on loan, your home departments agreement)

WORKING HOURS, OFFICE ATTENDANCE AND TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week. Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.
This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements. For more information on how this works for this role, please contact the Vacancy Holder (see below for contact details).
The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your principal workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, visiting stakeholders and colleagues, or carrying out detached duty in another DfT or agency workplace. The chosen principal workplace will be the designated place of work and any remote or home working arrangement does not constitute a change to the designated place of work or contractual terms and conditions. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation. Applicants can request further information on how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see below for contact details).
Occasional travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.
If you have questions regarding how hybrid working is practiced within the business area, or any reasonable adjustments or flexible working arrangements you may currently have or need in place if successful in your application, please contact the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details).

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)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for 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

Further information on nationality requirements

Key Responsibilities:

• Digital Workforce GrowthLead end-to-end recruitment campaigns across digital and data professions, ensuring roles are advertised, assessed, and onboarded in a consistent, timely, and inclusive way.
• Onboarding & Capability SupportOversee the onboarding journey for all digital professionals, including apprenticeships, and develop mechanisms that support retention, development, and career progression.
• Contractor Reduction & Efficiency AlignmentDrive activity to convert and reduce external contractor roles where appropriate, aligning to Civil Service and Spring Budget targets for efficiency and workforce sustainability.
• Governance & ReportingEnsure the Hub maintains accurate oversight of digital workforce metrics—including headcount, vacancies, contractor usage, and diversity indicators—and reports effectively to DVSA and central government stakeholders.
• Cross-functional CollaborationWork closely with HR, finance, commercial, and digital leadership to coordinate workforce activity, unblock delivery risks, and provide senior-level assurance on progress