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Head of Digital Services
Department for Infrastructure (DFI)


About the Department for Infrastructure

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) every day connects people safely, supports opportunities and creates sustainable living places. It delivers a wide range of essential services to people living and working in and visiting Northern Ireland.

Its responsibilities include oversight of our planning system, policy and delivery in the areas of water and drainage, transport and road safety. It manages and maintains our road network and is the sponsor department for two major Arm’s Length Bodies - NI Water (a publicly owned company) and Translink (a public corporation); for the Driver and Vehicle Agency; and, together with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, for Waterways Ireland, one of the north-south bodies.


The Role – Head of Digital Services

The Head of Digital Services is a permanent ICT level 8 post within the Corporate Support Services Directorate leading and directing the provision and delivery of all DfI line of business ICT services, as well as contributing to the strategic direction of DfI. The overall purpose of the job is to provide strategic vision and leadership in the development and delivery of innovation in ICT to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and service delivery within the DfI family

The post holder is responsible for the design, integration, development and implementation of key line of business information systems within the Department.

The post holder is also responsible for delivering DfI's Digital Strategy. This supports digital innovation in the delivery of our public services and for driving innovation within the Department to improve how we deliver key services and major projects through the application of digital and information technology.

The Strategy encompasses key areas such as the application of technology to improve asset management, predictive maintenance, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence, and DfI is currently leading several research projects in collaboration with the public and private sectors and academia.

The post holder represents DfI’s interests in relation to digital transformation programmes across the NI Civil Service to ensure that shared systems are workable for the Department’s needs.

The post holder provides professional guidance and leadership, particularly in relation to procurement, contract management, ICT development and the implementation of enterprise ready ICT and digital solutions, leading 56 staff across 5 teams:

  • Development Team
  • GIS Team
  • IT Operations
  • IT Security
  • Project Management Office

This is a key role in DfI and the post holder is required to work collaboratively across the Department and its ALBs.

It is a great opportunity for an experienced ICT professional to drive innovation and change in the delivery of a range of key public services.