The UK’s Ministry of Defence is looking for a new Chief Digital Technology Officer (CDTO) to take responsibility for a budget of £140.7 million ($188 million) and 400 staff.
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The successful candidate will also work across civil servants, military personnel, and contractors in a department responsible for overall spending of around £4.6 billion annually.
As well as the annual salary of £162,500 ($217,000), the MoD will contribute £47,076 to membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension.
The online job ad for the vacancy says the individual will work with “high-profile, external stakeholders” including industry and those in NATO and the Five Eyes (FVEY) Anglo-sphere intelligence community – whose members include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the US.
The job ad says the role will have a “particular focus on accelerating AI adoption across defense.”
“As the senior functional lead, the post-holder will drive and evolve common technology architecture and standards to support the realization of [the MoD’s] strategic intent. They will oversee strategy, transformation, design, and implementation, ensuring supporting architecture, standards, and compliance processes are maintained… As an advocate for emerging game-changing technologies, including AI, the CDTO will provide leadership to ensure these innovations are integrated into solutions that deliver lasting military and business value,” the job ad states.
The winning application will also “lead innovation efforts to access and integrate emerging technologies, such as AI and Quantum, to support Defence Strategy at pace,” it adds.
The opening comes hot on the heels of the search for a Director General Defence Chief Digital & Information Officer – or DG DCD&IO — with a salary of between £270,000 to £300,000 on offer.
A certain digital backwardness has become an embarrassment to the MoD in recent years. In February, a senior official was forced to blame legacy IT issues for hampering key technical measures designed to prevent highly sensitive data leaks. In 2022, the MoD twice exposed the details of Afghans who assisted British forces during the Taliban conflict. Around 19,000 applicants for the UK’s resettlement scheme had their details compromised via the classic CC-not-BCC email blunder. ®
