As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is already a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. But it’s where we go next that makes things really interesting. In our strategic vision: Archives for Everyone, we set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring. That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you. Job Overview Salary: £65k - £70k per annum Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment for 2 years Band: H / Grade 6 Closing date: Tuesday 18th February at midnight About Us: The National Archives is home to one of the largest collections of historical, government, and public records. We are dedicated to collecting, securing, preserving, and making these records accessible for everyone now and for generations to come. The Opportunity: We are on the lookout for a dynamic and visionary Service Owner to lead the transformation of our access service for large collections in high public demand. This is a brand-new role, giving you the autonomy and opportunity to shape its impact and value. You will be at the forefront of delivering a major new programme of work, backed by multi-million pound investment from His Majesty’s Treasury. Key Responsibilities: • Lead the Charge: Spearhead the delivery of a new digital access service for Ministry of Defence service personnel records, working closely with our in-house digital specialists. • Inspire and Influence: Provide senior leadership for the programme, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and user needs. Engage and influence stakeholders internally and externally, including wider government and the Information Commissioner. • Champion User Experience: Advocate for a user-focused approach to service development, ensuring high-quality digital products that meet the needs of diverse user groups. • Innovate and Optimize: Oversee the development, implementation, and optimisation of innovative, accessible, and sustainable digital access service solutions. • Manage and Mentor: Lead a small team, setting clear priorities, managing workload, and developing their capabilities to meet the challenges of project delivery. • Stay Ahead of the Curve: Monitor technology developments to inform and adapt our approach to digital records access. • Own the Budget: Manage the budget for the new service, identifying and securing areas for investment. Why Join Us? • Make a Difference: Play a pivotal role in transforming how we provide access to historical records, making a lasting impact on our digital presence and customer engagement. • Innovative Environment: Work with cutting-edge technology and a team of dedicated professionals passionate about preserving history. • Career Growth: Enjoy opportunities for professional development and career advancement within a supportive and collaborative environment. • Work-Life Balance: Benefit from a combination of on-site and home working, with at least 60% of your time spent working face-to-face, predominantly onsite. If you are a self-starting individual with a passion for service transformation and a desire to make a real impact, we want to hear from you Join us at The National Archives and be part of a team that is shaping the future of digital access to historical records. Willingness to obtain SC clearance is mandatory for this role and requires that you have lived in the UK for at least the last 3 years. The length of required residency may depend on individual circumstances. If you have any questions about the role the hiring manager, Lucy Fletcher, can be contacted at Lucy.fletchernationalarchives.gov.uk How to apply: To submit your application please click the 'Apply' button on this page. You will be asked to provide details of your work experience and write a personal statement, not exceeding 1200 words. In your statement please explain, using examples, how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification below. You may draw on knowledge, skills, abilities, experience gained from paid work, domestic responsibilities, education, leisure interests and voluntary activities. Please note selection for interview will largely be based on the information you provide in this section. We understand that you might use artificial intelligence (AI) and other resources to assist with your application; however, please ensure all information you provide is factually accurate, truthful, and original and doesn’t include ideas or work that isn’t your own. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice. Job Description Role and Responsibilities This role requires significant stakeholder engagement and delivery through others to he develop high quality digital products which meet user needs and delivers an efficient and compliant access service. Working with peers and your Director as part of the directorate senior leadership team the role holder will help create a thriving environment that enables successful programme and service delivery. The Service Owner will lead a small team, including service transformation manager and data analysts to: Engage, liaise with and influence stakeholders internally and externally Work closely and effectively with suppliers and/or in house digital specialists to build the new digital access service. Champion a user-focused approach to service development, engaging widely to understand the needs of diverse groups of users. Lead a programme of data collection, analysis, and research to inform service formulation and monitoring. Engage, liaise and negotiate with stakeholders (wider government, Information Commissioner) to represent The National Archives’ expert view and influence the development of policies, services or technology offerings for access to MoD records. Communicate effectively, reporting on progress, issues, opportunities, and risks to relevant internal stakeholders including the Executive Team. Audit and Risk Committee, ministers (where appropriate), Board, as well as the wider organisation. Negotiate, engage and collaborate with a diverse group of internal stakeholders, including IT Operations, Document Services and Record Copying departments, to deliver an improved user and employee experience. Lead the development, implementation and optimisation of a transformed access service to MoD Service Personnel Records Lead the end-to-end development, implementation and optimisation of innovative, accessible and sustainable transformative digital access service solutions as part of the transformation of TNA’s service to access MoD records, identifying opportunities and implementing technical solutions. Work with our in-house digital specialists to support the creation, development and operation of cloud-based digital services to provide access to MoD records. You will be accountable for service quality, effective governance and for clearly communicating service benefits realisation, risks and performance. Create secure mechanisms to manage access to MoD records, enabling trusted, fine-grained control of access rights for different audiences and managing risk Monitor technology developments in order to inform and adapt TNA’s approach to digital records access. Provide operational leadership for access to MoD Service Personnel Records Build and nurture relationships, including between departments to develop a ‘one team’ ethos that encourages collaboration, coordination, effective planning and delivery of the end-to-end process to ensure the successful implementation of the new service and its eventual integration to business-as-usual activity. Lead a small team of service transformation manager, data analyst and service delivery specialists, setting clear priorities, managing workload, coaching and developing them, and increasing capacity and capability to meet the challenges that come with project delivery. Identify and resolve blockers and dependencies across multiple workstreams and departments, acting as the escalation point for major operational issues. Understand the volumes and diversity of formats of the MoD Service Personnel Records that The National Archives currently holds, and those scheduled for future transfer and develop the service in line with expected demand and compliance standards. Own the budget allocated to developing and delivering the new service and working with the Director of Public Access and Government Services to identify and secure areas for investment. Person Specification Essential: Changing and improving: Proven track record of programme and Service Design and delivery including developing, scaling and optimising a transformational service within a government department or similar complex environment, including being a champion for accessibility and continual development of the service to realise value for money. Leadership: A self-starting individual, able to demonstrate strong stakeholder engagement, strategic leadership, and the ability to inspire, coach and empower teams to deliver technology transformation, innovation, and continuous improvement even when ownership exists outside of your direct team. Leadership: Strong negotiation and interpersonal skills, with the confidence and ability to build relationships and networks with a range of audiences, including at senior levels. Making effective decisions: Experience of leading teams that manage complex data, undertake data analysis and an appreciation of how crucial data is in identifying trends, issues and opportunities to inform decision making and in identifying strategic solutions, including future service development and overcoming operational, policy and technology constraints to deliver a successful service. Making effective decisions: Experience of managing budgets and resources, including developing business cases to secure funding; accurate planning and reporting; prioritising spending in line with strategic intent; ensuring value for taxpayers’ money. Managing a quality service: Experience of service design – analysing and optimising processes to improve user outcomes. Ability to manage and understand stakeholder expectations across a variety of channels, developing solutions in a high-risk, complex, constrained timescale environment that provide the best service for the end user. Delivery at pace: Able to apply Agile / lean approaches to rapid delivery of work, user-centric digital products and services, working closely with operational and product delivery teams and digital specialists in a fast paced, evolving environment. Seeing the big picture: Ability to anticipate problems and mitigate against them, successfully articulating strategic challenges that might hamper meeting the project objectives and/or the wider organisational context, encouraging and supporting others to do the same. Desirable: Good understanding of the FOI regime in government and/or other information rights issues (such as GDPR). Familiar with Service Standard - Service Manual - GOV.UK principles The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy. Benefits Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development. Annual leave entitlement of 30 days per calendar year and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum. Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk ; (opens in new window) Selection process details Reasonable adjustments If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact The National Archives via careersnationalarchives.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks. (opens in new window) Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in new window) relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals Further information on nationality requirements (opens in new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. (opens in new window) The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. (opens in new window) Contact point for applicants Name: The National Archives Recruitment Team Email: careersnationalarchives.gov.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact The National Archives via email: careersnationalarchives.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/ (opens in new window)