Meet the senior leadership team
Frank Purcell
Assistant Director, Operations
My role and what I do
I have over 30 years of experience within the IT industry, mostly in local government. I work with my team to ensure that staff and residents can access the IT systems that we provide. We also make sure that those systems have sufficient availability, capacity and resilience and are kept as secure as possible.
What my team does
Along with the other teams in Digital Services, we aim to implement technology right first time, ensure it is maintained and kept secure and fix any issues as quickly as possible. This includes:
- Unified comms: networking and telephony across the borough and the cloud.
- Platform and infrastructure: managing the Windows server platform and the associated infrastructure, on-premises and in the cloud.
- End user computing: responsible for understanding, deploying, managing and improving the user desktop environment for staff via M365, Exchange and SharePoint.
- User support: helping colleagues with hardware and software faults.
- Service desk: providing first line response and making sure calls are routed to the right support areas within Digital Services.
- Operational service relationship: Responsible for ensuring that we're aware of potential risks to service before they become issues for our users and focusing on operational services improvement.
- Technology adoption: Helping our users to maximise the benefits of the technologies that we introduce and keeping everyone up to date with enhancements and opportunities.
What I'm looking for
Following a recent reorganisation of the Operations Team I am looking for a Platform and Infrastructure (P&I) Support Team Lead. This is a hands-on technical role, reporting the Platform and Infrastructure Manager. You will have three support engineers in your team. The P&I Support Team Lead will be responsible for ensuring the day-to-day activities of the support team are completed and that any incidents are resolved within agreed SLAs. The successful applicant can expect a variety of tasks to come their way and should be comfortable working in a fast-paced technical environment. As well as working with third parties for services including backup and patching, we are working to automate as many services as possible and a keen interest in modern tools along with the ability to innovate BAU operations is key to this role.
Jack McGarrigle
Assistant Director, Digital Applications and Product
My role and what I do
I have over 20 years’ experience of managing applications across both central and local government, leading and managing strategic large scale digital transformational programmes. I am passionate about developing digital services that place our users at the heart of everything we do, working across teams to deliver first class accessible services that users succeed first time in using and will want to continue to use.
What my team does
We manage the lifecycle of over 150 applications as well as providing the technical capability for our website and front facing online services covering and underpinning every aspect of council operations. These applications and front facing services are used by our residents, businesses in the borough and thousands of Islington staff.
We provide sound technical advice and enable our users to achieve their goals through digital innovation. We deliver first rate online services that allow users to succeed.
My team covers:
- Digital products and services: content management system, customer relationship management, online form platforms and associated integrations
- Applications (people): social care, education and early years platforms
- Applications (housing): housing services platforms
- Applications (revenue and benefits/environment): revenue and benefits, planning, parking
- Applications (resources): finance, HR and reporting platforms
What I am looking for
We are seeking outstanding candidates across a range of disciplines. You will be passionate and committed to delivering first class services to our external and internal users enabling them to achieve the outcomes they need. You will be proactive in your approach, prepared to challenge the status quo and continually looking at ways to innovate and improve what we do.
Leila Ridley
Assistant Director, Information and Digital Governance and Data Protection Officer
My role and what I do
As the Data Protection Officer, I am responsible for all aspects of information governance including creating and delivering a strategy and overseeing the council’s compliance with relevant legislation. I am also responsible for the compliance framework for Digital Services, which includes ownership of Digital Service contracts register, the risk register, ensuring audit actions are implemented and that financials are managed against the budget.
What my team does
My team support the delivery of the information governance strategy and compliance with data protection legislation by providing advice and support to the council. This includes data protection impact assessments, data protection schedules in contracts and sharing agreements and investigations into data breaches. The team also manage all requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and UK General Data Protection Regulation.
What I am looking for?
I’m looking for a Commissioning and Commercial Planning Manager who can build strong relationships, has excellent collaboration skills and a strong understanding of procurement as well as the key challenges facing the public sector. The successful applicant will help develop the approach to contract management and provide local procurement and contract advice.
Mark Edridge
Assistant Director, Digital Strategy and Design
My role and what I do
I'm passionate about crafting exceptional digital experiences that make a positive impact on people's lives. With a proven track record of spearheading digital transformation initiatives and modernising public service technologies, I'm committed to enhancing the delivery of digital services.
What my team does
Our newly formed Digital Strategy and Design team is at the forefront of innovation. We collaborate closely with our directorates and service users to develop digital roadmaps and conceptualise ideas through a user-centred design process. We will be a beacon for user-centred design practices and principles and will focus on identifying and maximising the value of digital opportunities.
What I'm looking for
I am seeking candidates for several roles. Collectively they will inspire, advise and guide our organisation in developing high quality services and digital products. We're seeking imaginative candidates with the ability to inspire confidence across the organisation to embark on its digital innovation journey.
We have a range of roles linked to this new service area:
- Head of Innovation and Service Design: you’ll lead our service design and user research initiatives. You will also be adept at coordinating technology pilots and prototype tests to explore and demonstrate the value of new ideas.
- Digital Transformation Lead: you’ll set the tone for Digital Services engagement across our organisation. Successful candidates will form effective relationships as they develop the digital roadmaps for our services and take innovative ideas and/or business requirements through the discovery and definition phase. Please note this role will initially be advertised to internal candidates.
- Service Designer: you will collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams to conceive, design and deliver end-to-end digital services. You will also be responsible for advocating for the needs of our residents and ensuring that our services meet their expectations.
- User Researcher: you will play a critical role providing insight and championing the user experience in the design of services and digital solutions. You will conduct user research to inform the design, development, and improvement of services and associated digital products.
If you're passionate about shaping the future of digital services and making a tangible difference in people's lives, we encourage you to apply. Embark on a journey with us as we revolutionise the delivery of services and transform the lives of our staff and residents.
Marta Pocztowska
Assistant Director, Digital Change Programme
My role and what I do
The Digital Change Programme group is dedicated to strategically shaping the future landscape. As an integral part of the Resident Experience Programme, our primary objective is to craft a comprehensive technology portfolio delivery plan. This involves seamlessly integrating various components of technology and process changes essential for the development of a coherent and achievable investment strategy in transformation.
In close collaboration with the Digital Strategy and Design team and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), my role is to guarantee that the IDS Strategic Change and Transformation team receive well-funded projects precisely when needed, equipped with the necessary deliverables. This concerted effort is aimed at facilitating business transformation outcomes that directly benefit and enhance the experiences of our residents. Our focus extends beyond mere planning; we actively contribute to the execution of strategic initiatives that propel our organisation into a digitally transformed and resident-centric future.
Mobeen Zafar
Chief Technology Officer
My role and what I do
My vision is to create a secure, robust, data-driven and connected digital estate that enables us to deliver effective public services to our residents. My main responsibility is to guide the technology vision, strategy and delivery.
What my team does
- Establishing and maintaining technology standards and the technology stack, ensuring the consistency, reliability and scalability of the systems and platforms.
- Planning and implementing the technology strategy and roadmap, anticipating future needs and opportunities and ensuring alignment with business objectives and user needs.
- Managing budget and resources, optimising costs and benefits and delivering value for money and return on investment.
- Making sure residents are at the heart of technology decisions and solutions, understanding their pain points and expectations and enhancing their satisfaction and engagement.
- Simplifying and streamlining users’ and residents’ experience, through designing and developing easy-to-use and intuitive solutions and refining the workflows and processes.
- Implementing the use of technology through automation and integration to improve efficiency and productivity of the workforce and services. Reduce manual and repetitive tasks and increase the speed and quality of the outcomes.
- Using data and analytics to support decision making, service improvement and innovation.
- Collecting, storing and processing data securely and ethically and providing insights and recommendations.
- Improving threat prevention practices by identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in our systems and implementing measures to prevent attacks.
- Adopting a proactive mindset and a culture of security by educating and training our colleagues on best security practices and behaviours.
Key projects/initiatives
- Digital transformation: the council is undergoing a digital transformation to modernise its public services, enhance the customer experience, and boost the efficiency and productivity of its staff. The Resident Experience programme will use agile, user-centric, cloud, and automation technologies to launch and improve various online services, such as payments, bookings, reporting, feedback, waste management, housing, and social care.
- Innovation: fostering the innovation culture and capability for the council, encouraging the exploration and experimentation of innovative ideas and solutions, as well as the collaboration and learning from other Councils.
- Data practice: we are creating a new data practice within our council. This data practice will consist of a team of talented and passionate data professionals, including data developers, engineers, analysts, and scientist. They will work together to leverage the data sets we have, as well as acquire new data sources, to create innovative solutions for our council and our community. The data practice will be a key driver of innovation and excellence for our council. It will help us achieve our mission of delivering high-quality services and outcomes for our community.
- Infrastructure transformation: we are moving more services to cloud. This is a strategic decision that will help us improve our operational efficiency, agility, and performance. Moving more services to cloud is a significant and exciting change for the council. It will enable us to deliver better services and outcomes for our residents and stakeholders.
What I'm looking for
Experienced and visionary individuals who can lead and support the delivery of technology services to a diverse range of council departments. You will have the skills and knowledge to design and implement efficient and secure IT solutions aligned with the council's goals.
Safia Khan
Assistant Director, Strategic Change and Transformation
My role and what I do
I am Safia Khan, Assistant Director Strategic Change and Transformation. I am passionate about reshaping the future through technology-driven change.
What my team does
Known as the ‘Delivery Powerhouse’, we're responsible for overseeing and managing digital transformation programmes and projects. We act as the central hub for coordinating, standardising, and optimising digital projects. We make sure that projects are delivered efficiently, within budget and on schedule.
We facilitate communication among different departments, stakeholders and project teams to improve collaboration and ensure we achieve our objectives.
The team comprises of delivery leads, programme/project managers, analysts, and experts in PMO and technology adoption.
What I'm looking for
Dedicated individuals who can lead our digital initiatives into the future.
