Chief Information Officer (Assistant Secretary)

About the Role

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) leads the Change, Technology and Innovation (CTI) Division in the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and is responsible for the successful delivery of the Department’s Digital Strategy. This includes oversight of enterprise ICT services across the Department and its shared service agencies, ensuring full alignment with Government-wide priorities such as Connecting Government 2030, the Public Service Data Strategy, Cybersecurity frameworks, and emerging EU digital and AI regulatory requirements.

Main Duties of the Job

The Chief Information Officer will oversee a multi-disciplinary team to drive innovation, strengthen digital capabilities, and ensure technology enables the Department to meet current and future challenges. The CIO has end-to-end responsibility for driving digital transformation across the Department and its wider sectoral ecosystem. Working in close partnership with An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service, the Irish Prison Service and other key bodies, the role is central to delivering more integrated, data-driven and user-centric services, with a clear focus on improving access to justice, operational effectiveness and cross-agency collaboration.

Requirements

The successful candidate will have:

• Excellent leadership and people management skills and a successful track record of leading teams and delivering results in a high-performing, fast paced digital environment.
• Significant recent management experience at an appropriately senior level, including leading and managing technical/multidisciplinary teams driving significant ICT/digital enabled transformational change in a dynamic and complex environment.
• Demonstrated success in building organisational digital capability and developing high-performing multidisciplinary digital professions.
• A proven record of delivering innovation and business process change using leading-edge, large-scale ICT solutions to challenging deadlines.
• Proven ICT leadership in delivering innovative and improved outcomes via online service delivery methods.
• Ability to persuade and influence at a senior level, including Government, key Sectoral Stakeholders and Department Management Board.
• Demonstrated capacity to provide strategic direction on digital and technology solutions, ensuring alignment with corporate priorities and identifying opportunities to improve services, enhance organisational capability and support the delivery of the Department’s strategic objectives.
• A deep understanding of current information technology solutions and strategic trends.
• Experience and proven ability to analyse and improve existing or planned business processes including by using technical solutions.
• Experience of managing large-scale budgets, delivering returns on investments and managing relationships with external suppliers/partners.
• Familiarity with or have the capacity to acquire quickly a good working knowledge of the Department’s wide range of responsibilities, strategic objectives and business requirements at sectoral, national and EU level.
• A qualification at Level 8 on the NFQ major award (i.e. Honours degree), or higher, in a computing, computational discipline or other discipline relevant to this role is desirable.

Ideally, applicants will meet at least two of the following criteria at a senior level:

1. Experience in more than one organisation
2. International experience (e.g. working abroad or significant engagement with international organisations and processes)
3. Experience outside the Civil Service; and
4. A variety of experience (e.g. policy, strategic planning and operational)

Details

This is a Top-Level Appointments Committee (TLAC) position. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 3pm on Thursday 12th November 2026. If you feel you would benefit from a confidential discussion about this opportunity, please contact Karan Nesbitt at [email protected]. Further information on this significant opportunity including details on how to apply, is available on www.publicjobs.ie.

Location: Dublin