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The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

zdnet.com

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Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#11

Post by smabie »

armagon wrote: post #4
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if no…

That's a quarter million USD per year. You are telling me that senior VPs make 2.5 million USD each year?

Yeah definitely, some even more. This is only applies to tech though, in finance VP/SVP is that senior of a role. A SVP in tech equals a MD in finance.

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#12

Post by fatnoah »

armagon wrote: post #4
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if no…

That's a quarter million USD per year. You are telling me that senior VPs make 2.5 million USD each year?

Absolutely. Director levels at many large tech companies certainly earn > $1M, even before stock appreciation.

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#13

Post by s1artibartfast »

jjeaff wrote: post #8
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if no…

It could be that. But if compensation is important, a high profile government job will usually give you your pick of high paying private sector jobs once you leave.

The role only makes sense as a stepping stone if you don't already have a high paying private sector job.

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#14

Post by gpm »

armagon wrote: post #4
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if no…

That's a quarter million USD per year. You are telling me that senior VPs make 2.5 million USD each year?

I make roughly 200k USD per year as a newgrad (once you count equity and bonuses, pre tax)... Of course senior engineers make way more, and senior VPs more than your average senior engineer.

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#16

Post by fatnoah »

armagon wrote: post #4
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if no…

That's a quarter million USD per year. You are telling me that senior VPs make 2.5 million USD each year?

At current exchange rates, that's $255K USD, per year. I manage a team of 11 people at a large US tech company. Level of experience ranges from 2-7 years. The lowest paid person on my team makes just under that amount. The highest paid makes about twice that amount.

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#17

Post by peterangular »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #10
charlieflowers wrote: post #3

Because it won't have any power. The person will just run around between meetings preaching about the right way to do things, while everyone else in the room rolls their eyes and ignores it. The _main_ problem is not that the govt lacks the _knowledge_ about what to do ... it is that they lack the _will_ to do it.

Entirely this. Don't demand a competent practitioner with the illusion of authority when you're hiring for a patsy to take the fall for failure to deliver due to politics.

Couldn't agree more with this statement.

Also, professionally, if you find yourself in this environment: GTFO yesterday. It's toxic, and will take it's emotional toll over time. Especially if you're technically talented there's always a market for your skill... keep bouncing until you find a place that respects you as a professional/person.

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#18

Post by Zenst »

jjeaff wrote: post #8
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if no…

It could be that. But if compensation is important, a high profile government job will usually give you your pick of high paying private sector jobs once you leave.

It's a step up on the CV for higher paid private sector work and yet the calibre required would be those already in high paid private sector work at the level of stock options that would pale this remuneration.

The type who would want this, would be those who want the kudos of working in that environment.

Now to get somebody good and also keen - that's very few people indeed.

Also working in government environments can be mixed, I've dealt with ministers with more common sense and ability to grasp the gravitas of a potential issue instantly and others who will kick any such can down roads of paperwork. Navigating all that is a skill that is needed on-par with the ability to tech. Knowing when to be blunt about an issue or when to pre-navigate the land mines of doubts. I can think of very few people who I've worked with who would be close to handling that. I know a fair few who could do the tech side, but the political/management navigation in government is a whole level of skill-set that you just can't get out of a book and whilst I know some good at that - both, a rare commodity indeed.

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#19

Post by baron816 »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #2

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if no…

For a reporter at znet, that mush seem like a fortune. But yeah, for someone who might be qualified for that position, it would be a pittance.

Governments really just need to be competitive with their pay if they’re going be successful in their missions. Though, for a lot of people, a successful government is undesirable...

Re: The UK's “Chief Digital Officer” job has been open for over a year

#20

Post by BitwiseFool »

I have some experience with government IT (state and municipal, not national). Anyone in this space knows that changing the bureaucracy essentially requires a legislative or executive mandate. My team once got intense push-back trying to change an extract file's date format from MMDDYY to MMDDYYYY.

I suspect the person in this role won't have the power or authority to do that. Clerks are notoriously protective of 'the process' and resist any changes to it.

This honestly sounds like a miserable job and anyone who's actually worked in this space would agree that this person has virtually no chance of succeeding.

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