About Softwire
Softwire is one of the UK’s leading digital technology consultancies, offering services in software engineering, design, innovation, cloud, mobile and data.
Softwire was founded on one simple idea: if we can create the best possible culture and working environment then everything else will fall into place. And it seems to be working – we were recently voted number 1 company to work for in the UK at the Best Company awards, and we are a successful and growing supplier to the UK public sector with a great track record creating high quality services that cater for everyone.
We’ve worked across government, in Trade (UKEF), Healthcare (OHID), Climate Change (DESNZ), National Security, Elections, and Grants (DLUHC). We deliver full-lifecycle projects from Discovery, through Alpha, Beta, and long-term support.
We focus on creating a great culture and working environment and we are looking for people who share our core beliefs about what makes a great place to work:
- That if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.
- That work should be both fulfilling and fun.
- That kindness matters and should be extended to employees and clients alike.
- That by being trusting and trustworthy as an organisation and as individuals we can dispense with tedious bureaucracy and rules.
When you work with Softwire, you’re not only becoming part of a team with in-depth technical skills and delivery expertise – you’ll be working in a high-trust environment alongside skilled, kind, fun people who are passionate about creating amazing services and experiences that solve real problems.
The role
We are looking for a Client Director – Central Government to grow our central government sector. The Head of Central Government will be accountable for the success of our Central Government practice, and overall revenue and profitability.
You will form part of the Public Sector Senior Leadership Team, working alongside the Delivery Director-Public Sector. You’ll report to the overall Director of Public Sector to input in to and execute on our Public Sector strategy. Collectively, this team is responsible for a portfolio of £25m+ per year.
We have a mature and successful offering with strong relationships across several departments and successful £multi-million engagements delivering high quality outcomes for citizens and government. We plan to expand both our capabilities and our scale, and we are looking for someone to lead this exciting opportunity for growth.
We are currently on the Digital Outcomes and Specialists (DOS) framework, GCloud, TS3 (via a partner), and the DALAS framework (HMRC). We plan to expand to other frameworks in the future.
You Will Be Responsible For
Portfolio approach and execution
- Maintaining and expanding our access to the market via frameworks and partnerships, including proactively mapping and identifying new opportunities and leading application processes.
- Working with the Director of Public Sector to define our strategy for expanding and extending our capabilities and service offering in response to market opportunities and changes in buyer needs.
- Agreeing and delivering on overall performance targets, including maintaining a substantial pipeline of upcoming work
Relationship development and thought leadership
- Building our network within target departments and agencies, up to Deputy Director and Director level. Leveraging this network and contacts to deliver better value, improve Softwire’s reputation and ultimately to win more work.
- Leading our thought leadership and brand building efforts in the central government sector.
Bid strategy and major account management
- Leading cross-functional bid and pitch teams. Being the focal point for our bid and pitch strategy, win themes, overall content and quality, and the success of the bid.
- Overseeing presales including supporting training, capacity planning, and day to day management.
- Owning senior relationships at major accounts and taking personal responsibility for client spend, loyalty and growth. You may also lead and support others to do the same.
- Working alongside Delivery Director-Public Sector on account management to ensure clients receive a great service and experience.
- Monitoring and hitting our margin and profitability goals, including leading strategy for rate cards.
You will be measured against the scale, growth, and profitability of the Central Government portfolio.
About You
- You have 8+ years of experience in client commercial roles and at least 5 years experience working with central government clients in a commercial role. You have a strong empathetic understanding of key ways-of-working, problems, and trends within government and can have peer level conversations about what ‘great’ looks like.
- You have strong bid and pitch skills and have a track record of leading and winning £1m+ bids and pitches for design and technology services in central government.
- You are comfortable leading bid teams to identify win themes, envisioning what great looks like for this client, tailoring our services and offering to them, and then creating compelling narratives that explain how we will help and why they should choose us.
- You have demonstrated that you can build relationships with government stakeholders based on trust and credibility up to Deputy Director level and beyond.
- You are collaborative and your default approach is to work as a team, openly sharing information, resources and comms. You are comfortable in a culture which values and rewards collective success over personal attribution and that takes a “One Team” approach to everything we do.
- You take a can-do approach and don’t mind getting your hands dirty and leaning into issues and opportunities that you identify. You don’t need a perfect environment to thrive and where there are problems, you take a positive approach to making them better.
What We Offer
Package
Softwire operates transparent pay scales and a profit share scheme based on role and overall company performance.
- Highly competitive base salary based on experience in a similar role and ranges based on experience.
- You can expect to receive a substantial profit share based on company performance.
- Pension: Additional 5% of salary.
Additional benefits
- 25 days annual leave (with the option to buy 10 and sell 5)
- 3.5 days additional days off for company-wide morale activities
- AIG income protection
- Travel card loan scheme
- Zero emission car scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Enhanced maternity/paternity pay
- Time off for charitable activities
- Sabbatical available on request
- Payroll charity donations
- Headspace plus
- Free annual eye test
- Long service awards
Flexible working options and patterns
- (Flexible Working: The role is suitable for people who want to work 4dpw)
- (Hybrid Working: Generally able to work at least 2dpw from home)
Flexibility
We are a flexible employer who understands that being committed to a job is not the same as sacrificing everything for it: a holiday is a holiday; if you need flexibility for life stuff that’s not a problem; and we don’t expect (or want) long hours – we believe in a good work/life balance.