Maritime Technical Director

Technical Director Maritime DIGI2AL is an employee-owned defence-focused digital services consultancy. A vendor-agnostic UK Crown Commercial Services accredited supplier, we have delivered over 120 cloud-hosted digital services across the public sector, working in partnership with clients to research and develop outcomes and services spanning artificial intelligence, data science, low code and complex code software engineering, cyber security, cloud engineering, and user-centred design. At DIGI2AL, our technology values drive everything we do. We are committed to open, contemporary and secure solutions that put users first. We embrace cutting-edge technologies while ensuring interoperability, resilience and ethical innovation. By prioritising transparency, adaptability and security, we enable organisations to build future-proof digital services that deliver real impact. Summary DIGI2AL is seeking an experienced Technical Director to provide strategic technical leadership for the Royal Navy’s Data and Navy Applications software house. This is a senior leadership role within a large-scale, multi-year delivery environment supporting thousands of uniformed personnel and civil servants. The postholder will set the technical direction for the software house, ensuring that digital products and services are aligned to Royal Navy priorities, wider Defence policy and standards, and good practice in secure, modern service delivery. Scope The Technical Director will define and maintain the target technical architecture and roadmap for the software house. They will translate operational and business needs into a coherent technical strategy, ensuring that platforms, products, data, integration patterns and engineering approaches support long-term mission outcomes as well as immediate delivery priorities. The role will provide technical leadership across complex code, low-code, data and platform services, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, supportable and sustainable through life. A core part of the role is to establish a clear and repeatable approach to assessing technology demand. The postholder will work with stakeholders across Navy Digital, the Royal Navy and wider Defence to evaluate user needs, operational value, feasibility, security implications, whole-life cost and architectural fit, and to determine whether capabilities should be built, bought, configured, integrated, reused or retired. They will ensure that investment and delivery decisions are evidence-based, proportionate and aligned to enterprise principles, standards and value for money. The Technical Director will lead the software house’s approach to modern engineering and emerging technologies, including the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence. This includes identifying appropriate AI use cases, shaping the technical enablers required for AI-enabled services, and ensuring that any adoption of AI is safe, lawful, ethical, auditable and aligned to Defence security, data and governance requirements. The role will also reduce strategic dependency on individual suppliers and platforms by promoting open standards, modular design, interoperable interfaces, reusable components and data portability. The postholder will ensure that technology choices support flexibility, resilience and maintainability, and that the software house is able to evolve its services without unnecessary vendor lock-in. As the senior technical authority within the organisation, the Technical Director will provide governance, assurance and risk management across the delivery portfolio. They will work closely with product, delivery, security and architecture leads to improve engineering maturity, manage technical debt, strengthen DevSecOps practices, and maintain compliance with relevant Royal Navy, MOD and cross-government standards. The postholder will engage confidently with senior stakeholders across the Royal Navy, MOD and suppliers, providing clear advice on technical options, risks, trade-offs and delivery implications. They will foster a culture of technical excellence, collaboration and continuous improvement, and will support the development of a sustainable software house capability able to deliver enduring operational value. Essential experience Strategic technical leadership. Significant experience of setting technical direction, roadmap and architectural standards in a complex digital environment, ideally within Defence, national security, central government or another highly regulated organisation. Software delivery leadership. Proven track record of leading multiple technical teams across the full lifecycle of digital products and services, from discovery and investment decisions through to live operation, support and continual improvement. Architecture and governance. Experience of acting as a senior technical authority, providing architectural leadership, design assurance and governance across a portfolio of products, platforms and services. Demand assessment and prioritisation. Experience of assessing user and organisational needs and translating them into clear technical options and delivery priorities, including decisions on whether to build, buy, configure, integrate, reuse or retire capabilities. Modern software engineering. Strong understanding of modern software engineering and platform delivery, including cloud-hosted services, APIs, integration patterns, test automation, CI/CD and DevSecOps. Data and AI adoption. Experience of leading data-enabled services and introducing emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence or machine learning, with appropriate attention to governance, assurance, security and ethics. Commercial and supplier awareness. Experience of working with third-party suppliers and platform vendors, with the judgement to balance pace of delivery, value for money, operational need and long-term technical resilience. Senior stakeholder engagement. Strong experience of advising senior leaders and governance forums, including explaining complex technical issues, risks and trade-offs in clear and accessible language. Essential skills Technical strategy. Ability to define a coherent target architecture and technology roadmap which supports operational priorities, enterprise standards and long-term sustainability. Architectural decision-making. Ability to make and govern sound technical decisions across applications, data, integration, platforms and security within a complex and regulated environment. Open and interoperable design. Ability to promote open standards, modular architecture, API-first approaches, reusable components and data portability in order to reduce unnecessary vendor lock-in. Risk and technical debt management. Ability to identify, assess and manage technical risk, service risk and technical debt, and to take proportionate action to improve resilience and maintainability. AI and data governance. Ability to assess where AI can deliver operational benefit and to ensure adoption is safe, lawful, ethical, secure and auditable. Leadership and capability building. Ability to lead technical communities, develop senior engineers and architects, and foster a culture of collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement. Communication. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work credibly across technical, operational and senior stakeholder groups. Technical knowledge Experience of modern development ecosystems, with sufficient technical depth to lead teams using technologies such as Python, TypeScript, React and relational or non-relational database technologies. Experience of platform and delivery tooling such as Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, Tekton and associated DevSecOps toolchains. Working knowledge of enterprise and SaaS platforms relevant to the environment, including Microsoft Power Platform and Palantir Foundry, with the ability to judge where platform use is appropriate and where bespoke engineering or open approaches are preferable. Understanding of cyber security, identity, hosting, networking and service management considerations relevant to live Defence digital services. Desirable Experience of Royal Navy or wider MOD digital transformation, governance and assurance processes. Knowledge of DDaT capability frameworks, enterprise architecture practice and relevant cross-government digital standards. Experience of working in environments where services must balance innovation, pace, operational resilience and formal assurance requirements. Top 3 qualities needed for this role Technical Leadership Communication and collaboration skills MOD experience Start date: ASAP Mi security level: SC Location: Portsmouth Days on site: 3-4 Salary £120k 10% Bonus 25 days holiday increasing annually up to a maximum of 30 days Support for flexible working 2 paid charity days a year 16 weeks of full pay Maternity leave 2 weeks full pay Paternity leave Annual bonus - all employees are eligible (following successful completion of probationary period) - level varies by position and is dependent on company performance Discretionary bonus for exceptional performance 5% matched pension Healthcare Employee Ownership Trust - from day 1 employees share in the benefits of the company Support with your professional development including training and certifications and attendance at conferences Diverse and interesting projects which give you an opportunity to make a difference Choice of laptop and screen