Job Description

Details

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Reference number

433732

Salary

85,850
85,000 per annum. Rising to 85,850 per annum on successful completion of probation.
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP

Job grade

Grade 6
Principal Officer (PO)

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

Digital and Operations

Type of role

Architecture and Data

Digital

Other

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

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Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information

Location

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2 Rivergate, Bristol, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, Piccadilly Gate, Manchester or Loxley House, Nottingham

About the job

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Job summary

Are you passionate about delivering high-quality digital services that make a real difference? Ofsted is looking for experienced and driven Digital Service Owners to lead the development and continuous improvement of our digital products.


As a Digital Service Owner, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Ofsted's digital landscape. You'll lead a multi-disciplinary team of digital specialists--including product managers, developers, user researchers, designers, and delivery managers--to deliver best-in-class services that meet user needs and align with the Government Service Standard.


This is a fantastic opportunity to further your experience in Ofsted's well-established team. The post holder will work with high-achieving professionals at all levels, surrounded by a friendly and supportive team. They will have access to amazing benefits, such as flexible working hours, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, and 32.5 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays. We offer a hybrid working model, so you may also choose to spend a proportion of time working from home.

Job description

Please refer to the job specification for further information.

Person specification

Please refer to the job specification for further information.

Qualifications

Suitable qualification e.g. Professional Scrum Master, Agile PM, Certified Scrum Product Owner or equivalent experience with a commitment to gain formal qualifications.

Behaviours

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


Seeing the Big Picture Managing a Quality Service Making Effective Decisions Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

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


Experience of managing end to end delivery and live service performance of complex digital services, to cost, quality and time. Experience of creating, leading and coaching multi-disciplinary teams who develop and manage complex, high-profile, user-centred, reliable digital services. Excellent influencing and communication skills, with proven ability to secure agreement and manage the competing priorities of a range of senior stakeholders, whilst maintaining good relationships. Experience of using design, technology and data principles, including the Government Service Standard, to deliver high quality products and services.

Benefits

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Alongside your salary of 85,850, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills contributes 24,870 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Full details of the benefits available can be found in our Offer brochure.


Ofsted is devoted to equality, diversity and inclusion. Within our Ofsted Strategy 2023-2027 we have stated that we will improve the representation of under-represented groups across the organisation and publish our progress on this annually. We are always looking to expand on our diverse workforce by recruiting candidates from varied backgrounds and differing experiences. We are proud to be a Disability Confident - Leader, we continually engage with our 5 staff networks for protected characteristics, and highlight the work of our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Group. We ensure all candidates are treated with fair and open competition, with all appointments being made on merit and we use our Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) to provide assurance to all candidates of this.

Things you need to know

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Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Application and Shortlisting:

The selection panel will assess your application based on your evidence you have provided against the essential criteria as set out in the person specification.


You will also be asked to provide information within the "Employer/Activity History" section of the application form. This information is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV setting out your career history (this may be used in the sifting process).


Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Assessment and Interview:

Candidates who pass the benchmark at the shortlisting stage will be invited to an assessment and interview where they will be assessed against a mixture of the Civil Service behaviours and the experience/technical skills set out in section 3 of the job specification.


We will invite the most suitable candidates to attend an assessment and interview on

week commencing Monday 24 November 2025

at 2

Rivergate, Bristol, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, Piccadilly Gate, Manchester or Loxley House, Nottingham.

The location will be confirmed nearer the time.



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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
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) 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

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .
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 and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

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This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

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Job contact :

Name : People Services Delivery Team Email : Jobs@ofsted.gov.uk Telephone : 03000 131 487
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Recruitment team

Email : Jobs@ofsted.gov.uk

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles, which can be found at:





If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email Ofsted recruitment at jobs@ofsted.gov.uk in the first instance.