Department for Work and Pensions offers £180,000 salary for new chief digital and information officer

The Department for Work and Pensions is seeking a replacement for its outgoing chief digital and information officer Mayank Prakash, who will step down this month.

The department is offering £180,000 for the role – slightly less than Prakash’s salary, which has between £195,000 and £200,000 since he arrived at the department in 2014. However, the application pack says more may be offered “for exceptional candidates”.

The CDIO will be responsible for designing and delivering DWP’s digitalisation strategy, building digital capacity and promoting new ways of working using IT, and ensuring strategic risks are identified and dealt with.

“This role is critical to our transformation as a department servicing around 20 million citizens each year. The role aims to drive transformation by driving digitalisation of the business by using the potential of modern online technologies and data,” the job advert said.

The successful candidate will also work with other government agencies including the Cabinet Office, the Treasury, and the Government Digital Service to tackle the most complex issues in technology.

And they will "contribute to and actively participate in the executive leadership of DWP as [it delivers] unprecedented change to the welfare system, and to the products and services it delivers", the job advert said.

The successful candidate must be “an exceptional, innovative technologist and leader who has the ability to connect with people at all levels”, according to the application pack.

“Your proven strategic and technical capabilities, combined with significant experience of working at the highest level in a large multi divisional private or public sector organisations, will form a solid foundation to build on within this digital innovation role,” it added.

Prakash – who is moving to a role at British Gas parent company Centrica - announced his plans to leave the civil service in September. He is set to step down at Christmas, and his permanent successor is likely to be in post a few months later as interviews are not expected to take place until March.

Simon McKinnon, DWP’s children, health and pensions services technology director, will act as interim chief information officer in the intervening months.