Submit your application here - Group Digital, Data and Technology Director, Manchester City Centre, Greater Manchester, North West England, Circa £140,000 plus benefits and pension


This is a career defining opportunity for a strategic, imaginative and collaborative digital leader to bring together the digital, data and technology capabilities across Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS). You will help make our organisation, and the wider Greater Manchester region, a go to destination for digitally minded professionals who care about public value and who want to shape the future.

Collectively, our organisations deliver transport, public safety, regeneration, economic development and essential public services for more than 2.8 million residents across the city region. We operate with a clear one team ethos and a shared commitment to creating a more prosperous, fairer and greener Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester is a place that does things differently. It has been a pioneer in devolution, a testbed for innovation, and a region defined by partnership, purpose and a deep belief in what can be achieved when people work together. Today, as the city region enters one of the most ambitious phases of transformation in its history, we are seeking an exceptional Group Digital, Data and Technology Director to help shape a future so this is the place for everyone to live a good life.

The Role

  • The Group Digital, Data and Technology Director will shape a new unified DDaT function that spans transport, fire and rescue and the core GMCA organisation. You will work with across our organisations to create the strategy and delivery roadmap that ensures the Group has modern, people centred yet resilient digital, data and technology services. You will also encourage the adoption of solid standards around governance and architecture to support consistency, security and value for money.
  • Lead digital, data and technology enabled transformation to improve outcomes across the Bee Network, Fire and wider Combined Authority. You will create a suite of digital products and services that deliver operational environments to support the mission critical 24 x 7 x 365 services on which our residents, commuters and communities depend.
  • Work in partnership with stakeholders right across the Group to create a unified data and insight capability that strengthens evidence based decision making, unlocks performance improvements and supports long term planning.
  • This is a highly collaborative, people-centred role meaning you will create deep relationships with senior leaders, elected members, GMCA, TfGM and GMFRS colleagues, our partners and our regulators. You will co-design digital solutions with frontline teams, ensuring that customer needs and place based priorities guide service improvement. Yet you will also have a voice regionally and nationally, ensuring that Greater Manchester continues to lead conversations on digital innovation, public service reform and system wide change.

The Candidate

  • You will be an influential collaborative digital, data and technology leader with experience of roles in complex, federated environments. You will bring a clear track record of shaping and delivering digital and data strategies, leading change and transformation at scale, and embedding contemporary digital disciplines across DDaT teams.
  • You will couple an understanding of complex digital operations and modern service management with cyber, financial and commercial capability. You will also be an excellent communicator who can simplify complexity, build trust and influence effectively across a disparate stakeholder landscape.
  • Most importantly, you will bring energy, imagination and openness. You will be an adept advocate for, and deliverer of, change with the belief that digital has a pivotal role in helping public services work better for everyone. You will be motivated by an impact that is measured not just in cost, but in safer streets, greener travel, closer neighbourhoods, better jobs, more opportunity and lives improved.

If you would like an informal and confidential conversation about the role, please contact our advising consultant; Alex Richardson at Berwick Partners on 0161 498 3409.




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Location

2 Piccadilly Place, , Manchester, M1 3BG, United Kingdom

Job ID

1498

Supporting You Through Every Step of Your Journey

We want every candidate to feel welcomed, informed and confident when applying for a role with us.

This section brings together everything you need to succeed - from guidance on writing an authentic application to understanding how to use AI responsibly.

You’ll also find information about our Greater Manchester commitments, including our inclusive employment schemes and standards, as well as tools to help you explore your potential pay, benefits and entitlements. We’re here to ensure you have the support you need at every stage.

Working for a local authority in Greater Manchester

Local authorities across Greater Manchester are proud to be part of a shared commitment to widening access to employment and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

These commitments span a number of long‑standing schemes and initiatives designed to open doors, remove barriers and ensure all applicants feel valued and respected throughout their employment journey.

Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter

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Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter

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Our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme

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Our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme

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Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment

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Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment

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Greater Manchester People Inclusion Standards

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Greater Manchester People Inclusion Standards

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Your Pay, Your Benefits, Your Future

Explore easy‑to‑use tools that help you understand your take‑home pay and how different employment situations may affect the financial support available to you and your household.

  1. Calculate Your Take‑Home Pay

    Use this salary calculator to estimate your net pay after tax, National Insurance, and pension contributions.

    Estimate your Income Tax for the current year (Gov.uk)

  2. Check Your Benefits Entitlement

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Applying Authentically With AI: Our Greater Manchester Approach

Across Greater Manchester’s local authorities, we want to hear your genuine experiences, skills and motivations, expressed in your own words.

To keep our recruitment process fair and inclusive, please complete your application personally and follow the instructions carefully. AI can be used to support you - for example, to help structure your answers or as a reasonable adjustment - but your application should still reflect your authentic voice.

Applications that depend too heavily on AI‑generated content may not progress to shortlisting.

This guidance outlines acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI, along with suggestions for using it in a way that supports you while keeping your application true to you.

  1. What Is AI and How Do We Use It Across Greater Manchester?

    AI refers to technology that can create or refine content, such as text, ideas, summaries, or planning. It can help improve productivity, problem-solving, and creativity.

    We’re open to using innovative digital tools where they can help us work smarter and deliver better services for our residents. However, every use of AI is carefully considered to make sure it is ethical, responsible, and aligned with public-sector values.

    When it comes to recruitment, we take a human-centred approach.

    This means:

    • A trained hiring manager reads every application

    • Shortlisting is based on objective criteria required for the job

    • Interviews are conducted in person or via teams by the hiring manager for the role

    • All hiring decisions are made by hiring managers, not algorithms

    AI does not make decisions in our recruitment process and our managers are being upskilled to spot AI in applications, particularly when this might have been used in a way that doesn’t feel genuine. If something in an application raises a question or concern, we will test this out with assessments or at the interview stage to confirm authenticity.

    Our aim isn’t to catch anyone out but to make sure we’re getting to know the real you, giving every candidate a fair chance and finding the right person for the role.

  2. Using AI in Your Application

    When it comes to job applications, what matters most to us is you. We want to see your personality, your experience, and what excites you about joining our team. 

    We recognise that AI can be a helpful tool to support accessibility during the application process. If you choose to use AI for support, please read the instructions carefully and make sure your application is written in your own words, reflecting your genuine skills, knowledge, experience and enthusiasm.

    We’re looking forward to hearing your story.

  3. How to use AI Effectively and Responsibly

    Your application is your chance to show us:

    • Who you are

    • What you can bring

    • The values you hold

    • Why you want to make a difference

    AI can help you organise your thoughts or improve clarity but it cannot express your unique voice, experiences, or motivations.

    AI is most helpful when used to:

    • Help you structure the information you are providing to evidence the criteria

    • Give examples of how to use STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result)

    • Proof-read to highlight grammar or spelling errors

    • Provide inspiration if you're finding it difficult to find the right words to explain something

    But remember: your honesty, lived experience, and motivations are irreplaceable.

  4. Do’s and Don’ts for Using AI in the Recruitment Process

    Do:

    • Use AI as a supportive tool, not a replacement

    • Ask AI to help tidy up your writing or clarify structure

    • Use it to brainstorm examples, then rewrite them in your own voice

    • Reflect on AI suggestions and adapt them to match your experience

    • Use AI to help with research, but express your understanding yourself

    Don’t:

    • Copy and paste AI-generated content directly into your application

    • Let AI exaggerate or invent experience you do not have

    • Rely on generic statements that don’t reflect the specific role requirements

    • Remove your individuality, we want to hear your voice