Chief Digital Officer

Job Title: Chief Digital Officer

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Duration: 9 month Day Rate Contract with competitive rate D.O.E

Systems Accountants are working with a Unit4 customer in need of a Chief Digital officer to lead their next phase of work. The Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer are the organisation’s principal authority for all aspects of digital, data and technology. The postholder provides independent, system-level leadership and acts with substantial delegated autonomy to shape and deliver high‑performing services and organisational capability.

The Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer will:

• Set and lead a bold vision for digital, data and technology, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and leading collaboration at pace and scale to deliver successful outcomes within a complex, evolving organisational landscape.
• Provide influential and visible leadership across a wider multi‑agency system, shaping cross‑boundary strategies and enabling integrated, user‑focused services across multiple organisations.
• Champion innovation, emerging technologies and data‑driven decision‑making to transform services, improve outcomes and strengthen resilience.
• Represent the organisation at regional and national levels, influencing policy and investment and positioning it as a leader in ethical, inclusive and future‑focused digital and data practice.

• Act as the organisation’s most senior adviser on digital, data and technology, providing authoritative, independent strategic advice to the Chief Executive, senior leadership team and elected or appointed members.
• Exercise significant delegated authority in determining technology investment priorities, enterprise architecture, data governance frameworks and organisational risk posture.
• Shape and continually evolve the long‑term digital, data and technology strategy, ensuring it enables large‑scale transformation, efficiency, resilience and service redesign.
• Lead the organisation‑wide digital investment portfolio, ensuring coherence, ROI and alignment with corporate objectives.

• Provide strong system leadership across a multi‑agency ecosystem, influencing and enabling shared strategies, interoperable platforms and integrated delivery models across partners.
• Lead and/or act as Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for major multi‑organisation digital and data programmes with significant financial, operational and user impact.
• Represent the organisation at regional and national digital, data and cyber leadership forums, shaping policy, standards and funding opportunities.

• Champion the intelligent, safe and ethical adoption of emerging technologies (including AI and automation), ensuring they drive measurable improvements in outcomes, productivity and service quality.
• Ensure a resilient, modern, scalable and secure digital infrastructure that enables effective service delivery at organisational and system level.
• Drive a design‑led, innovation‑focused culture using agile methods to accelerate transformation and improve user experience.

• Define and lead an enterprise‑wide data strategy, establishing consistent standards, ownership, quality and lifecycle management.
• Oversee development of a modern data platform enabling secure, interoperable data sharing and advanced analytics across multiple organisations.
• Embed strong data ethics, governance and compliance frameworks ensuring lawful, transparent and trustworthy use of data.
• Build organisation‑wide data literacy and capability to empower staff at all levels.

• Provide strategic leadership on cyber security, ensuring robust arrangements to prevent, detect and respond to threats while supporting innovation and operational resilience.
• Ensure all digital and data practices meet legislative, regulatory and assurance requirements.

• Lead, inspire and develop the Digital, Data and Technology function, fostering a high‑performance culture and ensuring professional…