Digital Services Manager

Ards and North Down Borough Council is currently recruiting for a Digital Services Manager.

The successful candidate will be responsible to the Head of Strategic Transformation and Performance for enabling Digital Transformation, effective leadership, technical and professional oversight, operational delivery, and management of the full range of IT Services offered within the Council's Digital Services function and to make decisions on IT related matters which will affect the future operating model of the Council.

Find out more about this role, including full job specification and application form, on our jobs portal: GetGot™ Portal - Home Page

You can also read what outgoing Digital Services Manager, Moira, (retiring after a long career with Ards and North Down Borough Council) has to say about the role with the short Q&A below.

Tell us more about Ards and North Down Borough Council

Ards and North Down Borough Council is an organisation with huge ambition, where we are passionate, progressive, and outward looking. We are committed to seeing sustainable progress on our priorities, innovation in our services and greater partnership with our residents and other key stakeholders. We aim to work strategically to build a stronger more balanced economy, to improve health, wellbeing, and community cohesion and to foster a cleaner, greener place.

The Council also has an ambition to become a digital leader, harnessing technological advances to provide services and improve how it works efficiently. We seek to embrace measured risk-taking and entrepreneurship, encourage sustainability, work collaboratively inside and outside of the Council, think creatively, and respond with agility to changing demands. It requires innovative services, partnership, customer focus and managed risk-taking in a more agile method of working.

Our aim is to empower innovation, enhance efficiency, and facilitate digital transformation. By doing so, Council will unlock the full potential of our people, to begin to use digital platforms to deliver services securely, effectively, and sustainably, transforming the culture to drive digital empowerment across our internal and external communities.

What does the average day look like for the Digital Services Manager?

What does a day in the life of ANDBC Digital Services Manager look like - the truth - no two days are the same. The role is a balancing act—part strategist, part problem-solver.

It's about understanding how our systems are performing and spotting opportunities to improve. It's about having conversations with stakeholders, and those chats shape the bigger picture - where we're heading and how technology can get us there.

But it's not all high-level planning. On the practical side, systems need monitoring, issues need fixing, and supplier contracts need managing - and there's a great team that support me on this. It's about keeping everything running smoothly while making sure quick fixes don't compromise long-term stability.

Collaboration is key. A lot of time is spent with project teams taking forward our digital transformation programme. We review progress, update governance policies, and dig into data to make processes better. It's a constant cycle of improvement.

You can't stand still in this role - continuous learning is part of the job, and it's vital to keep an eye on emerging tech trends.

What's the best part of this role and what advice would you give to somebody interested in working here?

Driving transformation. It's not just about managing technology - it's about shaping how the organisation and its people work and interact with digital services. That's what makes every day worth coming into work for.

If you are interested in working here, I would say go for it! This is a genuinely exciting time to be joining the Council, to be involved in truly transformative work that will positively impact staff and residents. The Council has loyal staff with many people, myself included, spending the majority of their careers here - there is a reason people stay!

Employee Benefits

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits at Ards and North Down Borough Council.

In addition to a competitive salary, the Council supports all staff in their career aspirations through learning and development opportunities.

Other key benefits include:

35 days of annual leave (including bank/public holidays), rising to 38 days after 5 years of service, and 41 days after 10 years of service.
Northern Ireland Local Government Pension Scheme (Council contributes 19% of salary).
Health benefits: Westfield Healthcare Scheme; Leisure Centre Membership; Cycle to Work Scheme.
Flexi-scheme and Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) for relevant suitable posts.
Homeworking and hybrid working options for relevant suitable posts.
Plus much more...