Turnbull kicks off hunt for new Govt tech tsar

The Department of Communications has begun its search to recruit a chief executive officer for its new electronic service delivery hub, the digital transformation office (DTO).

The successful candidate will answer directly to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull - a line of reporting usually reserved for departmental secretaries - and will become arguably the highest ranking technology bureaucrat in Canberra, following in the footsteps on the now defunct Government CIO role.

Turnbull launched the new policy office in January. It will assume responsibility for all customer-facing digital service delivery in the federal government, taking those functions away from the Department of Finance and the work units that made up the former Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO).

The DTO, which is set to be staffed by around 100 policy thinkers, has been touted as operating “more like a start-up than a traditional government agency”.

A job ad released today calls for a CEO that will “will bring substantial credibility to the role through their passion, commitment and prior career endeavours”.

The job will include making government services “simpler, clearer, faster and easier to use” and redesigning electronic transactions to be “digital by default”.

The Government is looking for candidates from either the public or private sector, with government sector experience an advantage.

However, it is looking for some with a background dealing with large, high-transaction enterprises.