In mid-March this year I will be starting a new job as Head of Digital at the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB).

I will be working on a combination of new digital projects and the more corporate web/social media side of things as well.

I will greatly miss my colleagues and work at the Cabinet Office. While I have only been with the Cabinet Office for 15 months, I have made some good friends and had the chance to work on some amazing projects.

I have delivered a new, mission critical system for parliament (in less than 6 months). Been involved in a large cross-government data collection system using Salesforce – which delivered Alpha and Beta’s on time and to budget.

These are just a couple of the many things I’ve been involved with, in a short period of time.

This is an exciting time in government to be involved in digital. It’s about the only part of government that’s getting serious investment, and increasingly the digital centre is beginning to move out into departments and even into local government (with GDS for local government a seriously discussed option).

But, the role at NCUB was interesting enough for me to take the plunge and leave government. 

The role brings me back into the higher education space, where I have significant experience. But it is also at the interface between universities and business, which isn’t an area I have worked in before so there’s plenty for me to learn and, hopefully, to bring some different perspectives to.

It’s a new organisation, which has been in existence since 2012 (in its current form – it was previously The Council for Industry and Higher Education). This means there’s real opportunities in shaping its future, especially around the use of digital and the web. The hierarchy is still pretty flat (I report directly into the CEO, for example) which means that there aren’t too many hoops to jump through to get stuff done.

Maybe most importantly, NCUB has an ambitious vision, with some strong projects both in production and ideas for future work. It sees digital at the centre of its work and the value it delivers to its partners and funders.

I am sad to be leaving my work and colleagues at the Cabinet Office, but I can’t wait to begin my new role as Head of Digital at NCUB.