Delivery Lead - Central

Dorset Council UK; Dorchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Dorset Council is seeking an experienced Delivery Lead for Central to drive large-scale transformation across the organisation. You will enable agile, product-led delivery and service design to improve how we work, serve residents, and use digital, data and technology effectively.

In this fast-paced role, you will shape the Transformation Management Office, lead senior stakeholders, and develop the capability to sustain change beyond programmes.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading large-scale transformation across multiple services, organisations or sectors.
• Experience delivering organisation-wide change through agile, iterative and product-led approaches.
• Strong understanding of product management, service design and digital transformation.
• Experience designing operating models and modern ways of working.
• Proven ability to turn strategic ambition into measurable outcomes through incremental delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead and enable a diverse portfolio of transformation, digital and organisational change initiatives across Dorset Council.
• Drive delivery through agile, iterative and product-led approaches, enabling teams to test, learn and adapt.
• Lead discovery, design and delivery of cross-council transformation initiatives focused on user needs and evidence.
• Champion product management, service design and continuous improvement disciplines across activity.
• Create conditions for experimentation, learning and innovation and rapid value delivery.
• Develop product roadmaps balancing long-term ambition with incremental value.
• Oversee governance, resources, risks, dependencies and benefits realisation.

Skills

Transformation leadership

Agile delivery

Product management

Service design

Change management

Job description

Help design the future of Dorset Council.

Few transformation roles offer the opportunity to shape organisation-wide change at this scale. As Delivery Lead for Central, you'll enable and drive some of the council's most significant transformation opportunities, helping create a modern, sustainable, unitary council. Working at the heart of our Transformation Management Office, you'll drive the design and delivery of changes with service leads, that improve how we work, how we serve residents and how we make the best use of digital, data and technology.

At Dorset Council, we're delivering an ambitious programme of transformation that is reshaping how we support communities, deliver services and operate as a modern, sustainable unitary council. We're looking for an experienced and inspirational leader who can turn strategic ambition into practical delivery, bringing together people, technology and innovation to create lasting change.

This role is different from traditional programme delivery. We believe the best transformation happens through continuous improvement, not one-off projects. We are looking for someone who can embed a culture of testing, learning, adapting and delivering value early and often. Someone who can help teams move quickly from ideas to action, using agile and product-led approaches to learn what works, improve services and achieve measurable outcomes.

Working across multiple directorates including corporate services, you'll lead enable change spanning organisational redesign, digital transformation, customer experience, workforce modernisation and new ways of working. You'll work alongside senior leaders, elected members, partners and colleagues to create the conditions for innovation, experimentation and continuous improvement at scale.

As a key member of the Transformation Management Office Leadership Team, you'll help shape Dorset Council's future model, champion product thinking and agile delivery, and build organisational capability that enables change to be sustained long after programmes have been delivered.

This is a fast-paced, highly visible leadership role with real influence over the future direction of the council. If you're motivated by solving complex challenges, bringing people together around a shared vision and delivering meaningful outcomes for residents and communities, we'd love to hear from you.

What You Will Do

• Lead and enable a diverse portfolio of transformation, digital and organisational change initiatives that support Dorset Council's strategic priorities.
• Drive delivery through agile, iterative and product-led approaches, enabling teams to test, learn and adapt as programmes evolve.
• Lead the discovery, design and delivery of cross-council transformation initiatives, ensuring solutions are shaped around user needs, evidence and insight.
• Champion product management, service design and continuous improvement disciplines across transformation activity.
• Create the conditions for experimentation, learning and innovation, helping teams move from ideas to tested solutions quickly and effectively.
• Develop product roadmaps and delivery approaches that balance long-term strategic ambitions with the incremental delivery of value.
• Lead complex transformation programmes, managing governance, resources, risks, dependencies and benefits realisation.
• Oversee the implementation of digital technologies, products and modern ways of working that improve customer and employee experience.
• Use data, insight and feedback to inform decision-making, measure impact and drive continuous improvement.
• Provide strategic leadership, support and challenge to senior stakeholders across the council and partner organisations.
• Lead, support and develop teams of programme, project, product and change professionals, ensuring resources are focused on the highest priorities.
• Build organisational capability in agile delivery, product thinking and change leadership through coaching, mentoring and sharing best practice.
• Work closely with the wider Transformation Management Office Leadership Team to ensure transformation activity is connected, coherent and aligned to Dorset Council's long-term ambitions.

About You

You'll be an experienced organisational change leader with a proven track record of delivering large-scale change in complex environments.

You'll Bring

• Significant experience leading large-scale transformation across multiple services, organisations or sectors.
• Experience of delivering organisation-wide change through agile, iterative and product-led approaches.
• A strong understanding of product management, service design, organisational development and digital transformation.
• Experience of designing and implementing operating models, organisational structures and modern ways of working.
• A track record of turning strategic ambition into measurable outcomes through incremental delivery and continuous improvement.
• The ability to balance long-term vision with practical delivery, creating momentum through tangible and achievable change.
• Experience of working in environments that use testing, experimentation and learning to improve outcomes and reduce risk.
• Strong programme leadership skills, including governance, risk management, financial oversight and benefits realisation.
• Experience of building productive relationships and influencing senior leaders, elected members, partners and stakeholders.
• Excellent communication, facilitation and engagement skills, with the ability to align diverse groups around a shared vision.
• A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, with a passion for innovation, learning and public service.
• The resilience, curiosity and systems-thinking mindset needed to navigate complexity and deliver lasting change.

Why join us?

• You'll be joining a progressive Transformation Management Office that is helping Dorset Council rethink how local government works. You'll have the opportunity to influence organisation-wide change, work with talented and committed colleagues, and help build a council that is simpler, smarter, more responsive and better equipped for the future.
• If you're excited by product-led transformation, continuous improvement and delivering meaningful change at scale, we'd love to hear from you.