Chief Information Officer (Assistant Secretary)

Job title: Chief Information Officer (Assistant Secretary) Employer: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Location: Dublin Closing Date: 3pm, Thursday, 22nd October 2026 Starting Salary: €171,517 About the Employer: The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s vision is of a sustainable, innovative and competitive agri-food, forestry and seafood sector. The Department’s mission is to lead, enable and regulate the sector in a way that optimises its contribution to social, economic and environmental sustainability, ensuring food safety, public health and animal health and welfare. In carrying out its mandate the Department undertakes a variety of functions including: - Policy advice and development on all areas of Departmental responsibility; - Development and implementation of national and EU schemes in support of agriculture, food, sea fisheries, forestry and rural environment; - Regulation of the agriculture, fisheries, forestry and food industries through national and EU legislation; - Regulation and controls on animal and plant health and animal welfare; - Regulation and controls on aspects of food safety and food authenticity; - Operating as the EU’s Accredited Paying Agency for EU Common Agricultural Policy Funds and as Competent Authority for European Maritime Fisheries Funds; - Representation in international - especially EU - and national negotiations; - Control and audit of public expenditure under its responsibility; - Operating public good and regulatory laboratory services; - Direction and oversight of State Bodies engaged in areas such as research training and advice; market development and promotion; sectoral development; professional and market regulation etc. The Department is a multi-functional and multi-disciplinary organization, which provides a wide range of services and applies regulatory controls both directly and through specialist state agencies which operate under its aegis. It has a wide and diverse customer base which includes farmers, taxpayers, consumers, food processors and other agri-sector commercial operators, those involved in sea fishing, forestry, bioenergy and research. With just over 4,000 staff, the Department operates from six large regional locations across the country, with a presence also in a further sixteen regional operational offices, six fishery harbour centres, and a large number of other locations countrywide. In 2026, the Department is responsible for a gross budget of some €3.54 billion of national and EU funds.ICT is a key element of the Corporate Development function of the Department, supporting all these internal functions. The Department relies on technology to deliver essential public services, including administering agricultural payments, managing animal identification and traceability, supporting disease surveillance, enabling import and export certification and providing secure digital services to farmers, food business and citizens through platforms such as MyAgfood. About the Role: The role of Chief Information Officer is a Senior Management position in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). Reporting to the Secretary General, the person appointed will be a member of DAFM's Management Board and will have overall responsibility for the strategic development and management of the Department’s ICT and digital systems and strategy that support new and better ways of improving ICT service provision to all its stakeholders. Please see the Department’s ICT strategy document on the publicjobs advertisement page for reference. ICT underpins the integrity of billions of euro in payments, ensures compliance with Irish and EU regulations, and provides the resilience needed to respond rapidly to issues such as animal disease outbreaks or supply chain disruption. As CIO, the appointee will ensure that the technology estate is secure, resilient and modern, and that it directly supports the Department’s strategic goals of sustainability, competitiveness and excellent customer service. ICT plays a critical role in enabling the Department to achieve the objectives set out in its Statement of Strategy. The Department has invested significant resources in the development of state-of-the-art systems and must continuously maintain and develop them in order to meet its statutory requirements and the business challenges it faces. The appointee will play a major role in continuing the current high quality of service and determining future business strategies and will lead a multi-disciplinary team of approximately 300 employees located in Dublin, Backweston (Celbridge), Portlaoise and Wexford. The CIO will focus on improving Departmental processes through the strategic, innovation and effective use of technology. It is important that the CIO can lead the building of relationships with suppliers and vendors and support the usage of these relationships to maximise the Department’s return on investments while minimising costs. The CIO will be responsible for championing digital transformation in the Department to improve the digital services provided to all its customers and stakeholders. Specifically, s/he will have responsibility for: - Contributing effectively, as a member of the Management Board, to the overall corporate leadership, management and development of DAFM in accordance with its Statement of Strategy; - Leading and directing the creation and maintenance of the systems and processes that provide the necessary agility to enable the Department to respond to national and EU changes that impact on the sector. In particular the successful candidate will be expected to lead the rapid delivery of a significant programme of change arising across a variety of new and existing ICT systems, in order to support new Common Agriculture and Fisheries Policies (CAP and CFP), and measures arising from new Programme for Government commitments. - Overseeing the major programme of development of applications and delivery of strategic systems which support animal health and welfare and give assurance to the sector in respect of food traceability, food safety and food authenticity. - Acting as the senior strategic advisor for the Department on ICT, cyber security, digital and digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI); - Providing leadership, vision and direction in exploiting ICT, digital and AI in the development and implementation of the Department’s business strategy, within a culture of continuous improvement; - Leading the implementation and update of the Department’s ICT and Digital Strategy based on application and technical architectures capable of supporting changing business requirements and incorporating emerging advances in technology while safeguarding the significant investment in systems and infrastructure; - Working with senior managers to promote an integrated organisation-wide ICT and digital strategy within a framework of sound governance and good quality assurance and risk management arrangements; - Leading and managing a high-performing ICT and digital team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and professional development. - Leading and directing the work of the team. including external resources and partners, and operating an effective senior management team in the business area to support the work of all staff across the Department; - Ensuring appropriate engagement and delivery structures and processes are in place to support the Department to maximise the use of digital, ICT and AI; - Leading and directing the Information Management & Technology (IMT) Group with the implementation of appropriate technology, structures and processes to safeguard departmental data and systems against evolving cyber threats. - Promote user-centric digital service design and delivery using agile development practices to deliver high-quality accessible, inclusive and literacy-friendly services. - Leading the implementation of the Department’s Digital, AI and ICT Governance Framework to support all business areas of the Department including expansion of the Department-wide Programme Management Office (PMO) to support the implementation and operation of projects, and the development of PM skills, across the Department. - Working closely with other Government in the provision of significant ICT shared services. - Working with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services Reform and Digitalisation and with colleagues in other Government Departments as a senior member of the CIO Advisory Board, in the development and implementation of the National Digital and AI Strategy, the Digital Public Services Plan 2025-2030, Public Service Data strategy and other related strategies; - Overseeing the business area’s adherence to all regulations, circulars of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, in particular Circular 14/2021, as well as best practice related to procurement, business continuity, disaster recovery, ICT oversight and spending, and ICT operations. - Maintaining and further developing relationships with other key stakeholders across Government, the Oireachtas, suppliers, academia, technology companies/partners. - Representing the Department in relation to ICT, digital and AI policy and management issues in other inter-departmental and EU fora. In conjunction with the Department’s senior management team, s/he will play a key role in leading the delivery of objectives of the Better Public Services 2030 and the Digital Public Services Plan 2030 as they relate to the Department. About You: - A successful track record at senior level of leading and delivering significant technology transformation and of significant achievement and best practice in the management of large ICT projects; - The ability to lead the provision of modern, cost efficient and secure ICT systems and services for the Department and its agencies, other Government Departments and DAFM‟’s broader client base, including infrastructure support to Public Sector shared services projects; - A proven track record in at-scale business technology and solutions delivery in particular enabling high-quality, innovative and effective public services delivery and digital transformation. - Proven senior ICT leadership in delivering innovation using leading edge solutions to challenging deadlines in a complex environment and in a way that supports data driven decision-making; - A good understanding, supported by relevant qualifications and/or experience of current ICT developments, of the forces encouraging business change and of the pivotal role that ICT can play in meeting business objectives in a way that maximises value for money; - Agility, flexibility and the ability to effectively lead teams operating under significant time pressure with the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships both internally and externally and have demonstrable skills in persuading and influencing with multiple complex stakeholders; - Excellent leadership, negotiation, communication, management and teamwork skills, with an ability to express him/herself orally and in writing, clearly, concisely and persuasively; - A proven ability to build and develop capability and capacity across the ICT function; - A demonstrated proven track record of providing strong strategic leadership to large diverse teams, supporting and giving direction to the building of capability, capacity and organisational culture so that the IMT group delivers to a consistently high standard of performance, accountability and integrity, assured by robust governance and oversight controls; - Familiarity with, or the capacity to acquire quickly an understanding of, the range of farming and wider national stakeholder interests involved in this environment, including an ability to operate effectively in EU and international fora; - A demonstrated ability to lead and govern significant technology programmes, managing large-scale ICT budgets in complex environments and involving a range of diverse stakeholders; - Familiarity with or the capacity to acquire quickly a good working knowledge of the Department’s wide range of responsibilities and business requirements at national and EU level to be immediately effective in the post; - Be capable of contributing to all aspects of the work of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Further information including details on how to apply for this position is available on www.publicjobs.ie. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 3pm on Thursday, 22nd October, 2026. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.