Role Description

Post: Executive Director of Technology and Digital Transformation
Directorate: Technology and Digital Transformation
Accountable to: CEO
Responsible for: Strategic and joint decision making as a member of the Executive Team. Providing ownership and accountability for the implementation of those decisions including supporting the CEO in the creation of corporate plans
For the specialist areas: Providing strategic leadership in leading and coordinating far-reaching and complex transformational change across the BFI, in our move towards digital-first – with the overall goal of improving audience access and experience, increasing our income-generation capacity, and creating greater agility and efficiencies in how we work. Providing visionary insight and application of new and emerging technologies to drive audience engagement, commercial revenues
Location: Our headquarters and BFI Southbank are in London

Main Aims

This is a key BFI leadership role, with collective responsibility across the Executive Board for co-designing and delivering strategic plans, collectively owning decisions, and role modelling our approach to collaborative working and people leadership.

The Executive Board are responsible for co-designing and delivering the BFI’s corporate plan, including our transformation into a digital-first organisation, embedding a collaborative working culture, and supporting the growth of our income generation.

This role leads on major initiatives related to technology and digital transformation across the BFI, including how we work together as an agile and innovative organisation, reflecting the BFI’s work encompassing film, TV and other moving image work including videogames.

As the BFI undertakes a ‘digital-first’ approach this role will work in a generous ‘servant-leader’ capacity to support teams and transformation projects across the organisation through good project-management, developing a consistent digital approach and enabling colleagues to innovate by showing them the art of the possible.

This role will lead a multi-functional team across:

A technology strategy and roadmap that sits at the heart of the BFI and supports a digital-first approach which drives end-to-end excellence in the use of technology across everything we do.
A strategy for the combined future of our digital estateto maximise income and identify new opportunities
Internal technology teams including software developers, IT and the technical services department – leading on the consolidation of legacy systems and the introduction of visionary brilliance in the way that we can work

To ensure that diversity and inclusion are centered within all responsibilities and activities across BFI teams

The role is responsible for maintaining a robust and effective compliance environment for all operational areas, ensuring the reputation of the BFI is not put at risk.

Key Responsibilities

To support the CEO in developing and delivering the BFI’s strategic plans.
As a key leadership figure, role modelling our approach to collaborative working and people leadership:
- Co-leading the organisation: managing change, setting vision and strategy, fostering organisational learning, providing clear direction;
- Leading yourself: demonstrating ethics and integrity, developing adaptability, innovative, openness to new ideas, listening, entrepreneurial;
- Leading others: building and maintaining relationships, communicating often and openly, valuing diversity and difference, actively committed to being anti-racist and anti-ableist, developing others, promoting belonging, managing effective teams. Dedicated to listening, engaging, empowering and developing teams and supporting managers to do likewise.
To demonstrate and implement the BFI’s new values and purpose across the Directorate. Reviewing progress and supporting new ways of collaborative working, sharing knowledge and good practice.
To represent the BFI at relevant Government and stakeholder meetings both nationally and internationally, acting as an ambassador for the BFI and maintaining a professional approach at all times.
To keep up-to-date with best practice thinking, developments and research and provide advice to the CEO and Board of Governors as appropriate.

Transformational Projects

Leading a cross-directorate technology group to coordinate the BFI’s technology needs, costs and transformation roadmap.
Working with directorates and departments across the BFI to lead and deliver transformational change projects that will create a ‘digital first’ organisation which reflects the BFI’s work encompassing film, TV and other moving image including videogames. Providing strategic leadership and support from planning to review of delivered projects – with the overall goal of improving user access and experience, increasing our income-generation capacity, and creating greater agility and efficiencies in how we work.
Working with the BFI Programme Office to identify and prioritise the technology and digital transformational change projects, ensuring that they are planned, sequenced and resourced effectively. This is while ensuring ‘business as usual’ work is still able to continue, co-exist and get delivered.
To develop a culture of openness to change, innovation and ideas, supported by learning and development to optimise outputs and impact of transformational change initiatives, such as a standard level of digital competence as a base for all
To lead and advocate an ethos of striving for continuous improvement across technology and digital, understanding that transformation is constantly evolving and not finite.

Digital

To provide entrepreneurial leadership, expertise and professional focus to drive and implement our long-term digital strategy, including the BFI’s goal of ensuring the greatest possible public access to BFI programmes and assets – such as supporting the development of our online programmes & festivals, expanding access to our education initiatives and the BFI’s collections.
To lead on the development of the BFI’s digital platforms, including working closely with the BFI Player team in Public Programmes & Audiences to ensure the continued innovation and expansion of BFI Player to ensure income growth and user satisfaction, and to create a truly exciting, differentiated offer in the market.
Development of the BFI website and digital publishing to ensure that content design is customer-focused, supports programmes across the BFI, enables revenues, is appealing for our diverse users (general public, film lovers, the industry) and increases our charitable mission.
To be a digital advocate, championing the BFI’s digital expertise across the film industry, education sectors and others. Building strategic relationships/partnerships to create opportunities for the BFI within the digital and media marketplace, in government, policy and the commercial arena.

Information Technology

To ensure that the BFI’s information technology infrastructure – including our internal communication & productivity tools – are developed and maintained to support the needs of the BFI, in. This includes ensuring that our people are able to work safely but independently in an agile environment (current and future) and that our data management systems across all directorates are secure.
Identifying and addressing the BFI’s technology gaps – such as information assets management, rights management, single sign-on – to reduce manual processes, repetitions of data and spreadsheet-based solutions.
Working closely with colleagues in the Knowledge & Collections Directorate – including the Head of Data and Digital Preservations & Collections Systems Manager – to provide support for the operations and outputs of the BFI National Archive and Reuben Library, ensuring a joined-up approach to digital collections access infrastructure and security, including CID, DPI systems and network.
Provide an IT support system which is well maintained, develops and evolves along with the BFI’s needs and keeps abreast of technological advances.
To provide IT training to all staff enabling them to realise the efficiencies and agility of ‘Digital first’. This includes creating standard levels of digital competencies for all roles supported by training to achieve them.
To ensure that the BFI continues as a centre of excellence for film projection. Bringing all technology teams together to create a clear roadmap of support and development.

General

To lead and inspire all teams and team members within the Directorate, within a collaborative culture ensuring that they are informed, engaged, appraised and professionally developed.
To ensure the effective management of data and information for all responsible areas, meeting all statutory requirements such as GDPR.
To carry out all responsibilities in a way that supports BFI values and promotes our desire to become a consciously inclusive employer of choice. To support us in delivering our all our commitments to inclusivity, especially our identified areas of greatest under-representation, race equality and disability equality.
To be aware of and act in accordance with the BFI’s environmental sustainability plans and approach at all times.
The post holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the BFI’s Policies and Procedures.
To undertake any other duties that may be reasonably required.

Salary and benefits

Salary: £120,000 plus benefits

Senior salaries are reviewed annually by the BFI Board’s Remuneration Committee

At the BFI we offer a wide range of benefits to our employees including:

BFI pension scheme
28-33 days paid annual leave (excluding Bank Holidays) Support for working families: contribution to childcare costs; childcare vouchers; enhanced maternity,4 weeks paid parental leave and enhanced shared parental pay
We promote and support flexible working and are UK wide
Our Employee Assistance Programme provides advice and support for employees and their close family members across all life events
Free tickets to BFI Southbank screenings and events plus access to other BFI Events and Film Festivals (inc, the BFI London Film Festival and BFI FLARE)

Plus a range of benefits including season ticket and computer purchase loans, Ride to Work Scheme, £100 towards annual Health Club Membership, discounts on BFI merchandise and at our on-site food and beverage outlets.