Head of Operations (i.AI) - CO - G6

Job summary

About the team

Government must seize the opportunity of AI to drive outcomes in the public interest. This is of critical importance now. Government needs innovation and must not sleep on the opportunity presented by AI to drive better services for taxpayers and citizens. 

In November 2023, the creation of the incubator for AI (i.AI) was announced, and following early successes, the team was expanded in March 2024.  Our mission is to harness the opportunity of AI to improve lives, drive growth, and deliver better public services. This is an AI product team that focuses on delivery of technical solutions to public service challenges, responding to ministerial steers about priorities and driving impact out into departments from the centre. 

i.AI delivers high impact products and is mission-led, delivering value and innovation within government. We are able to move fast and build things, and are set up specifically to pivot quickly towards priority use cases, and re-use technologies for future impact. 

You can see more about our work on ai.gov.uk  and on LinkedIn. We work in the open and our code can be found here: https://github.com/i-dot-ai 

The Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI) will be moving to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to form part of the new digital centre of government. If offered the position, you will be onboarded to, and initially employed by, the Cabinet Office, but will move with us to DSIT under the machinery of government change. This is expected to happen in April 2025, but this date is subject to change. If shortlisted, the hiring panel will be happy to answer any questions you might have. You're also welcome to reach out to us at i-dot-ai-recruitment@cabinetoffice.gov.uk  

Our team is based across Bristol, Manchester and London, and we work in a hybrid manner as default. This role is based in London. A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance. We will consider part-time and flexible working arrangements - we encourage you to discuss your needs with the hiring manager if you are offered the role.

Job description

About the role

The successful candidate will report directly to our Deputy Director, Strategy and Business Engagement, and provide support to make sure the technical work of the team is well managed. They will also work to support the Director in team operations. This includes, for example, leading on key operational processes for the team such as financial management, recruitment, staff development and other operational functions.

This is not a policy role. You will be working with a technical delivery team who are building real products to apply AI to public services. Your role is to represent this work and build relationships with partners across other Government Departments (OGDs), Delivery bodies, Ministerial offices, and some external organisations. This will require a strong understanding of the policy landscape, but this role is grounded in delivery. 

This is an innovation team, and we hire team members who are collaborative, energetic, and are motivated to “get stuff done”, as well as being optimistic big picture thinkers. This role is perfect for somebody looking to operate in a start-up environment, using their skills and experience to make things happen for the public good. You will be expected to take initiative, playing a convening function to bring together the whole team, and make i.AI the best it can be. Whilst this role may have a management span, we are looking for someone who is able to, and enjoys, delivering the work. This might mean working outside of your direct remit, for example getting stuck into AI projects, recruitment, strategy or management of the team - if this sounds exciting, we’d love to hear from you!

Information session

To give you an idea of working in i.AI and to answer any questions you might have, we encourage you to attend our information session on Wednesday 30th October at 14:00. Please email us at i-dot-ai-recruitment@cabinetoffice.gov.uk and we'll send you a link to join.

Role Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations of i.AI, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness, including collaborating with senior leadership to ensure operations aligns with strategy and delivery goals.
• Manage and lead a small team of operations staff, providing guidance and support as needed.
• Develop and manage budgets, ensuring financial stability and sustainability for the team, and compliance with all key processes.
• Manage recruitment and staff development, including managing OKRs, leading on performance management for the team and working with line managers to make sure staff are effective and well supported in their roles.
• Develop an effective framework for line management, technical mentorship and performance management within the team. The team is mainly technical, with very short spans of control, so maintaining quality line management for the team is a responsibility of this role.
• Anticipate and respond to operational challenges and opportunities, making timely decisions to ensure success for the whole team.
• Represent i.AI in senior meetings and other external communications as needed. This will include representing the team to very senior stakeholders across the civil service and beyond, building credibility and influence.
• Lead by example, role modelling high quality and effective operations in your work.
• Support the effective management and performance of the team by promoting diversity, inclusion, regular, honest and constructive feedback, and supporting continuous improvement.

Person specification

Essential skills:

• A background in operations and management and strong knowledge of how to run highly effective teams. This role is about the smooth operating of the team. You will be a senior person who is responsible for making the team work well - a background in a wide range of operational work is required, this must include finance, HR, management and leadership. 
• Excellent communication skills: You will have outstanding verbal and written skills, and a track record of delivering high quality outputs to communicate plans and make things happen. You will be able to flex your style to the nature of the task, and work with private offices and others to design commissions that work. 
• Ability to build relevant and wide professional networks quickly: You will have experience of engaging with senior decision makers and leaders across government or the private sector. You have existing professional networks that will get you started in this role (e.g. CO, AI in government, DSIT). You will have the ability to forge new relationships quickly, and collaborate well with others. 
• Project delivery at pace: You can deliver at pace in a complex environment, knowing how to balance competing priorities, upward manage, and collaborate effectively with others both within and outside of your team. You use your initiative to identify problems and proactively rectify them.

Experience of any of the following would be beneficial, though all we require is an interest in developing these skills in post:

• Experience working on technology, digital, innovation and/or AI: Familiarity with applications of AI in the delivery of public services will be very useful, and/or a track record of advising senior decision makers about issues relating to digital, data and innovation.
• Other digital skills: Any other digital skills you have will be very useful to the team; we want to work innovatively in all that we do, and so welcome ideas for how to improve our core ways of working to achieve that.

Strong candidates come from many different backgrounds, and we encourage a broad range of applications to ensure we have a well-balanced team. Studies show that talented people, especially those from groups underrepresented in their field, are more likely to doubt themselves and feel like an "imposter". Unique perspectives enrich teams, so we urge you to have confidence in your potential contributions. If aspects of this role resonate with you, please apply. We look forward to your application.

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £71,370, Cabinet Office contributes £20,675 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and a 750 word personal statement. Please ensure that your personal statement includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “essential skills” section above. At this stage we will assess experience and essential skills.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will be invited to attend a panel interview (further details below), during which you will be asked to bring your CV to life through questions based on your experience. You might consider preparing your examples in the STAR format. We will also be asking questions around the behaviours outlined above.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours: 

• Delivering at pace
• Seeing the big picture
• Communicating and influencing
• Leadership

If successful at sift you will be invited to a 90-minute in-person interview comprised of 3 parts:

1. At the beginning of the slot, you will be given a scenario-based question with some background context to read and will have 30 minutes to formulate an answer. 
2. Verbally present your answer to the panel. They may ask you some follow-up questions. This part will last no more than 15 minutes.
3. A 45-minute panel interview will follow to assess experience and behaviours.

Expected timeline (subject to change)
Expected sift date – TBC
Expected interview date/s – TBC
Interview location - Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional. 

Further information
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any of the attachments, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

Near miss offers may be made at a lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. 

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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) (opens in a new window)
• 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 (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).