Digital Director

Thebusiness

We’rean AI-native, human-led business built to help clients reimagine, reinvent, and lead their markets into the AI era. We bring the imagination, intellect and market insight, execution smarts, and adaptive approach to collaborationrequiredto help leaders deliver real change.

We work with clients in four closely interdependent markets: central Government, including departments, agencies, and strategic, commercial suppliers; health and care, including national bodies, trusts, place-based partners, and commercial and digital suppliers; education, including national bodies, awarding organisations, and front-line institutions; and, the FTSE - principally leveraging our expertise in AI and associated capability building.

Through A WORKS we collaborate with thought leaders, innovators, and AI-specialistdevsto build products which tackle the biggest problems we see in the markets we support – setting aside the consulting commercial model to work in whatever ways best solve the problem.

For example, through ProjectShybird, we’re building an AI-powered platform and apps which reimagine the learning value chain: conducting epic capability research, supporting rapidhigh-qualityqualification and programme definition, enabling course design and content creation,personalisation of learning experiences – and new levels of insight for the future.

We’re a business powered by the passion, grit, insight, intellect, and execution-smarts of our people: a tightly knit team of experts, willing to challenge market convention, and our colleagues, in pursuit of the transformational change we believe is possible through the dawn of the AI era.

The role

We’re looking for Digital Director who will:

(1) Sit on Avencera’s senior management team

(2) Act as the senior owner of digital, i.e. be our de facto CTO

(3) Lead A Works – our product ideation and development function

(4) Oversee, lead, and support, digital consulting engagements

This is critical, senior, role – remunerated as such. We’re looking for someone who can translate our strategic market positioning and point of view on the dawn of the AI era into exceptional consulting engagements and product development for our clients, and for internal use.

As a member of our senior management team, you’ll have a genuine voice on how we execute our 2030 strategy – and will be expected to lead fulfilment of the many digital and AI seams of that strategy, both conceptually and practically.

You will own all of our digital and AI partnership and supplier relationships including our existing offshore dev capability and any new / additional design and development partnerships we agree to establish – as well as any product partnerships we establish.

You will build out and own our digital environment, including e.g. our approach to requirements definition, development oversight, user and product acceptance testing, and GDS compliance. The suite of methods and tools you own will form part of our overall delivery framework.

As the leader of A Works, you will work closely with our founder, and senior management team, to create and prioritise our investment pipeline – including how we take forward Project Shybird, what further products we should build and take to market on a software (vs. consulting) basis, and how we should take forward the tech-enablement of our consulting and internal work.

You’ll oversee the full product cycle end-to-end, including ideation, customer consultation, requirements definition, development – in-house and / or externally, testing, and support for colleague and client adoption. This will include oversight of client implementation and use.

As our software revenue grows, you will need to build out the A Works team into a fully-fledged software business – from the recently-established product function that it is today. On start, you’ll take over leadership of a team of around five colleagues who are currently working direct to the founder. Your relationship with him will be crucial as you realise our vision for A Works.

With respect to consulting, you will be the de facto owner of our innovation proposition. Whilst our go-to-market colleagues will lead the sales process, you will be tagged into conversations as our seniormost digital leader – giving client CTOs the confidence they need to engage us. You’ll have a strong voice in consulting recruitment of digitally focussed colleagues, such that we establish the engagement delivery capability required to support digital revenue growth.

Over time, and likely very quickly, we should assume that you will need to recruit principal consultant level colleagues to support you – both in consulting, and A Works. The growth of your team will be a clear marker of the success of our growth plans, given our focus on AI as a driver of both consulting and software revenue growth. We want you to bring a target hires list.

Personspecification

CTO-credible leader of data, digital, and AI adoption work.

Experience leading digital strategy, transformation and / or product work.

Experience overseeing substantial on and offshore digital development activity.

High levels of ambition, energy and resilience, consistent with the firm’s plans for growth.

Enjoyment working in an entrepreneurial, commercial, high-performance environment.

Strong communication and presentation skills, internally and externally, at all levels.

High levels of precision and presentational pride across all your work

Working location

At leastthreedays per week in the firm’s Farringdon office.

Package

Basic salary of£125-175kdepending onexpertise.

Up to40% bonus based on firm and individual performance.

Structured route to growth equityas postholderdemonstratesreal value.

27 days’ annual leave, excluding bank holidays, rising to 30 based on performance.

Private medical and dental insurance.

4% pension contributions.