Home Office seeks three CTOs to keep borders, passports, and core IT ticking

Public Sector

Roles span eGates, passports, visas, asylum applications, and enterprise services – yours for up to £105K

The Home Office’s digital division
is recruiting three chief technology officers (CTOs) for
migration and borders and enterprise services, each paid
£81,000 to £105,000 a year.

It is looking for two CTOs for
Migration and Borders Digital, which runs passport control eGates and
electronic travel authorizations, which people notice when they go down or start working differently. The unit’s other high-profile systems include those
supporting passenger data services, digital identity, visas, asylum
applications, and immigration status.

“Applying for a passport is now a
seamless, self-service experience where renewals are printed and
dispatched in just 48 hours,” writes Mike McCarthy, the
department’s director general for digital and innovation, in
material published with the job ad. “Our airport eGates support 76
million UK border crossings each year, with digitally assisted
electronic travel authorisation decisions made in just 45 seconds.”

“These aren’t just technical
achievements. They are real, measurable changes to improve millions
of people’s lives, and we’re extremely proud of the difference
we’ve made so far,” he adds of Home Office Digital, the name the department has adopted for its IT function.

McCarthy is himself a recent recruit,
having joined the Home Office in January after working for consultancy McKinsey and spending eight years in the British Army’s Corps of Royal Engineers. According to the job ad from last September, he is paid £160,000 and
oversees 4,000 people with a budget of £1.8 billion.

Home Office Digital is also looking
for a CTO for its enterprise services unit, which designs, builds, and
operates core services including networks, end user services, and
operational support for more than 35,000 users. McCarthy writes that
the department has “moved most of our technology services into the
cloud, saving money while boosting efficiency.”

The department expects successful
applicants to agree to serve for at least three years, although this
is not a contractual requirement, and undertake the Security Check
level of national security clearance. They can be based in Cardiff,
Croydon, Glasgow, Manchester, or Sheffield. Applications close at 11:55pm BST on Sunday, May 24, with interviews expected to take place in early July. ®