Deputy Director - Digital Products & Platforms

[What the role is] As a senior leader for the SMEs Go Digital (SMEGD) platform, you will sharpen and deliver the overall product and platform direction, translate organisational and policy objectives into clear digital strategies, and ensure that Product, Engineering, UX, Data and Delivery capabilities work together effectively to deliver measurable outcomes for SMEs, vendors and internal stakeholders. You will be responsible for strategic portfolio, technology, investment and organisational decisions while balancing user needs, business outcomes, delivery, operational resilience, governance and risk. You will work closely with other leaders to align priorities, establish clarity and remove organisational blockers; whilst driving clear accountability across teams. [What you will be working on] Product Strategy & Portfolio Leadership – Define and drive the multi-year product and platform direction for SMEGD, translating policy and business objectives into portfolio priorities, strategic roadmaps and measurable outcomes. Portfolio Governance & Investment Prioritisation – Make informed trade-offs across products, capabilities and initiatives, ensuring resources and investments are aligned to organisational priorities and expected outcomes. Strategic Product Oversight – Provide portfolio-level direction and constructive challenge across the product portfolio, ensuring teams remain focused on user needs, outcomes, adoption, measurable impact and long-term product sustainability. Technology & Platform Leadership – Work closely with Engineering and Architecture leaders on platform strategy, APIs, system integration, cloud and platform choices, technical debt, cybersecurity, resilience, scalability and build-versus-buy decisions. Platform Modernisation – Set strategic priorities for platform modernisation and technology investment, ensuring SMEGD remains scalable, maintainable, secure and fit for future needs. AI, Data & Innovation – Set the strategic direction for AI-assisted services, GenAI, data platforms, analytics and experimentation, while ensuring appropriate governance, responsible adoption and alignment with organisational priorities. Outcome & Performance Management – Establish portfolio-level outcome measures across adoption, service performance, user experience and operational effectiveness Stakeholder & Ecosystem Leadership – Work across IMDA leadership, policy and programme teams, DTO, ESG, industry partners and external stakeholders to align priorities, resolve competing needs and drive cross-organisational decisions. Operating Model & Organisational Design – Define effective ways of working across Product, Engineering, UX, Data, Operations and Delivery, with clear roles, responsibilities and decision rights. People & Leadership Development – Coach and develop other senior digital leaders, build leadership capability and create a culture of accountability, collaboration, constructive challenge and continuous improvement. Delivery Health & Risk Oversight – Provide portfolio-level oversight of delivery health, major dependencies, risks and escalations, while empowering product and delivery leaders to own day-to-day execution. Vendor & Commercial Leadership – Provide strategic oversight of technology vendors, system integrators and delivery partners, including commercial performance, delivery accountability, capability transfer and major escalations. Budget & Resource Management – Manage portfolio-level budgets and resource allocation, ensuring investment decisions maximise value and support organisational priorities. Growth, Partnerships & Ecosystem Development – Set strategic direction for SME and vendor adoption, ecosystem development and external partnerships, ensuring these priorities are translated into coordinated initiatives and measurable outcomes. [What we are looking for] Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field. 10+ years in digital product, platform, or technology roles, with experience at senior leadership level. Proven track record delivering complex digital platforms or transformation portfolios in large organisations. Deep understanding of modern product management — spanning strategy, discovery, UX, experimentation, analytics, and lifecycle management. Hands-on familiarity with Agile and product delivery practices (Scrum, epics, sprint planning, release management) and tooling such as Jira and Confluence. Strong technology fluency across software architecture, APIs, system integration, cloud, cybersecurity, and technical debt management. Working knowledge of AI/GenAI, data platforms, and analytics, with the ability to evaluate strategic opportunities and investment trade-offs. Commercially astute, with experience managing strategic delivery partners and major technology relationships. Sound judgement in balancing user outcomes, delivery, governance, risk, and organisational priorities. Effective at influencing and managing senior stakeholders, government agencies, industry partners, and vendors. Experienced people leader with a track record of developing senior talent and building high-performing multidisciplinary teams. Experience in complex or regulated environments is a plus; public-sector related experience is preferred