A recruitment drive to fill the vacant post of Whitehall CIO and head of the e-Government Unit (eGU) by April 2006 has begun.
It has commissioned recruitment firm Odgers Ray and Berndtson to advertise the position and intends to draw up a shortlist of candidates between late February and mid March with a final interview at the beginning of April.
"We'd ideally like to make an announcement by the time of the next CIO council which is the first week of April," a Cabinet Office spokesperson told Government Computing News on 31 January 2005. "We never give an individual salary for posts but it is at senior civil service payband three."
This band goes from just over £90,000 to almost £200,000. The successful applicant will serve as head of the IT profession in government as well as CIO and official in charge of the eGU.
According to the recruiters, reporting to the previous incumbent and head of the Delivery Unit Ian Watmore, the new post holder "will play a pivotal role in realising the prime minister's vision for public service reform".
"He or she will be responsible for implementing a strategy to ensure that IT supports the sustainable transformation of government itself so that it can provide better, more efficient public services," the job ad says.
The first tasks are likely to involve pushing forward the Transformational Government action plan, driving the efficiency agenda across departments, and supporting major IT projects already under way.
Personal qualities required include "polished" communications skills, ability to "cope with ambiguity", and "strategic visioning". The post is for three years but a long term secondment is also considered.
Watmore was appointed to the prime minister's Delivery Unit in December 2005, vacating his CIO role early in January.
Quelle: KableNET, 31.01.2006
