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>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformat

>the UK is recruiting a Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO), who will be working at the highest levels of the Cabinet Office to lead the digital transformation of public services in the country. All of this and more, for £200,000 a year. Maybe the reason they can't find anyone to do this is that they are underpaying for the position. The responsibilities described sound at least at the level of a Senior VP, if not higher, at a large tech company. Those positions typically pay more than 10x that compensation. In addition, being in government comes with its own unique set of headaches and scrutiny that people in the private sector would not have.

armagon 6y ago
That's a quarter million USD per year. You are telling me that senior VPs make 2.5 million USD each year?
- sarora27 6y ago
  Some do, yes
- codemac 6y ago
  Yes? Especially at large tech companies, it's largely in stock not cash. Most senior/staff engineering ICs at large tech companies make much more than 250k USD.
- smabie 6y ago
  Yeah definitely, some even more. This is only applies to tech though, in finance VP/SVP is that senior of a role. A SVP in tech equals a MD in finance.
- fatnoah 6y ago
  Absolutely. Director levels at many large tech companies certainly earn > $1M, even before stock appreciation.
  - user5994461 6y ago
    Not in the UK though.
    - fatnoah 6y ago
      True, that's a good point.
- gpm 6y ago
  I make roughly 200k USD per year as a newgrad (once you count equity and bonuses, pre tax)... Of course senior engineers make way more, and senior VPs more than your average senior engineer.
- fatnoah 6y ago
  At current exchange rates, that's $255K USD, per year. I manage a team of 11 people at a large US tech company. Level of experience ranges from 2-7 years. The lowest paid person on my team makes just under that amount. The highest paid makes about twice that amount.
- askafriend 6y ago
  Literally new grads make $200k+ at any respected Silicon Valley company. Senior individual contributors are probably making $350-500k a year. Directors easily hitting $500-1m a year. And we're not even at the VP level yet.
- mattnewton 6y ago
  Probably, some of my offers were well north of that as a swe with only 3 years of experience out of college. The role they are asking for sounds like it requires a deep understanding of software development, people management, and the UK government to be effective, for a entry-level compensation .
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- american_aurora 6y ago
  Looking at these other responses, I think there is a quiet dignity to working at a respectable GS grade (or whatever) that the "HN crowd" just does not understand.
- armagon 6y ago
  I'm amazed by these salaries. I thought I was making decent money but it is nothing like that. Do any of these sort of salaries exist outside of the US? How about outside of FAANG companies?
  - gpm 6y ago
    They exist outside of FAANG. I personally haven't seem them outside of the bay area. As mentioned elsewhere I'm a new grad with ballpark 200k usd total compensation. My base salary is ~2/3rds of my compensation.
- nvarsj 6y ago
  Not in the UK. Only in Silicon Valley, at a handful of companies, is this kind of comp normal. Seems silly to compare a government job to inflated stock-based salaries.
jamestimmins 6y ago
There's an unhelpful idea that government employees shouldn't make a lot of money. But if that person is the difference between a billion dollar project succeeding or failing, a $1-2 million salary is a worthwhile price for top talent.
- Nasrudith 6y ago
  I can see the issue as a circular trust one given precedent's magnified power in government that it multimillion dollar salaries would wind up proliferating and abused for ones who don't remotely have talent and any metric to try to limit it would get specification gamed to hell and back. It seems to be a Morton's fork of expertise and stakeholding separation. If they are of the bueracracy they may be tempted to use it to exfiltrate wealth to cronies. If done by a ballot initiative they by definition wouldn't be informed at large about specialist topics (if they were it would fail to be specialist) and would be outside the context. Being willing to pay a million for proper results would be a good deal but the devil is in the details for how to do it right systemically which is hard even before dealing with people in the system.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
  It also reduces corruption. One of the things Singapore did was to pay top salaries to government employees. Like others have pointed out, many times people see the government job as a stepping stone to a cushy private job where they will make the real money. Thus, government employees treat the big companies with kid gloves because they don’t want to jeopardize future employment. If instead, the government job actually paid a competitive salary, they would be more focused on their current position and not trying to make sure they kept their future private employers happy.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
jjeaff 6y ago
It could be that. But if compensation is important, a high profile government job will usually give you your pick of high paying private sector jobs once you leave.
- s1artibartfast 6y ago
  The role only makes sense as a stepping stone if you don't already have a high paying private sector job.
- Zenst 6y ago
  It's a step up on the CV for higher paid private sector work and yet the calibre required would be those already in high paid private sector work at the level of stock options that would pale this remuneration. The type who would want this, would be those who want the kudos of working in that environment. Now to get somebody good and also keen - that's very few people indeed. Also working in government environments can be mixed, I've dealt with ministers with more common sense and ability to grasp the gravitas of a potential issue instantly and others who will kick any such can down roads of paperwork. Navigating all that is a skill that is needed on-par with the ability to tech. Knowing when to be blunt about an issue or when to pre-navigate the land mines of doubts. I can think of very few people who I've worked with who would be close to handling that. I know a fair few who could do the tech side, but the political/management navigation in government is a whole level of skill-set that you just can't get out of a book and whilst I know some good at that - both, a rare commodity indeed.
- mattnewton 6y ago
  FAANG offers more money to some entry level employees, and at least after working as rank-and-file at a private company, every mistake of the organization isn’t publicly laid at your feet.
baron816 6y ago
For a reporter at znet, that mush seem like a fortune. But yeah, for someone who might be qualified for that position, it would be a pittance. Governments really just need to be competitive with their pay if they’re going be successful in their missions. Though, for a lot of people, a successful government is undesirable...
unfocused 6y ago
I'm not saying I don't agree with paying more, I'm just noting that it's not likely to happen. For the same reason that someone who is a lawyer can be Prime Minister, and only make ~$250K running an entire country, or go private and make millions as a top lawyer. Same deal here in Canada. The best that recent CIO of Canada did was bump his pay to a Deputy Minister level, still around the $200K CDN mark. He (Alex Benay) left after 2 years on the job. Also, this job's true description, is convincing people entrenched in the old ways, to convert. That's it. Forget about everything else. At this level, you are not technical, you are trying to sell value to higher ups. Some of these folks are not technical at all, and you will hit roadblocks.

armagon 6y ago

That's a quarter million USD per year. You are telling me that senior VPs make 2.5 million USD each year?

sarora27 6y ago
Some do, yes
codemac 6y ago
Yes? Especially at large tech companies, it's largely in stock not cash. Most senior/staff engineering ICs at large tech companies make much more than 250k USD.
smabie 6y ago
Yeah definitely, some even more. This is only applies to tech though, in finance VP/SVP is that senior of a role. A SVP in tech equals a MD in finance.
fatnoah 6y ago
Absolutely. Director levels at many large tech companies certainly earn > $1M, even before stock appreciation.
- user5994461 6y ago
  Not in the UK though.
  - fatnoah 6y ago
    True, that's a good point.
gpm 6y ago
I make roughly 200k USD per year as a newgrad (once you count equity and bonuses, pre tax)... Of course senior engineers make way more, and senior VPs more than your average senior engineer.
fatnoah 6y ago
At current exchange rates, that's $255K USD, per year. I manage a team of 11 people at a large US tech company. Level of experience ranges from 2-7 years. The lowest paid person on my team makes just under that amount. The highest paid makes about twice that amount.
askafriend 6y ago
Literally new grads make $200k+ at any respected Silicon Valley company. Senior individual contributors are probably making $350-500k a year. Directors easily hitting $500-1m a year. And we're not even at the VP level yet.
mattnewton 6y ago
Probably, some of my offers were well north of that as a swe with only 3 years of experience out of college. The role they are asking for sounds like it requires a deep understanding of software development, people management, and the UK government to be effective, for a entry-level compensation .
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
american_aurora 6y ago
Looking at these other responses, I think there is a quiet dignity to working at a respectable GS grade (or whatever) that the "HN crowd" just does not understand.
armagon 6y ago
I'm amazed by these salaries. I thought I was making decent money but it is nothing like that. Do any of these sort of salaries exist outside of the US? How about outside of FAANG companies?
- gpm 6y ago
  They exist outside of FAANG. I personally haven't seem them outside of the bay area. As mentioned elsewhere I'm a new grad with ballpark 200k usd total compensation. My base salary is ~2/3rds of my compensation.
nvarsj 6y ago
Not in the UK. Only in Silicon Valley, at a handful of companies, is this kind of comp normal. Seems silly to compare a government job to inflated stock-based salaries.

jamestimmins 6y ago

There's an unhelpful idea that government employees shouldn't make a lot of money. But if that person is the difference between a billion dollar project succeeding or failing, a $1-2 million salary is a worthwhile price for top talent.

Nasrudith 6y ago
I can see the issue as a circular trust one given precedent's magnified power in government that it multimillion dollar salaries would wind up proliferating and abused for ones who don't remotely have talent and any metric to try to limit it would get specification gamed to hell and back. It seems to be a Morton's fork of expertise and stakeholding separation. If they are of the bueracracy they may be tempted to use it to exfiltrate wealth to cronies. If done by a ballot initiative they by definition wouldn't be informed at large about specialist topics (if they were it would fail to be specialist) and would be outside the context. Being willing to pay a million for proper results would be a good deal but the devil is in the details for how to do it right systemically which is hard even before dealing with people in the system.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
It also reduces corruption. One of the things Singapore did was to pay top salaries to government employees. Like others have pointed out, many times people see the government job as a stepping stone to a cushy private job where they will make the real money. Thus, government employees treat the big companies with kid gloves because they don’t want to jeopardize future employment. If instead, the government job actually paid a competitive salary, they would be more focused on their current position and not trying to make sure they kept their future private employers happy.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

jjeaff 6y ago

It could be that. But if compensation is important, a high profile government job will usually give you your pick of high paying private sector jobs once you leave.

s1artibartfast 6y ago
The role only makes sense as a stepping stone if you don't already have a high paying private sector job.
Zenst 6y ago
It's a step up on the CV for higher paid private sector work and yet the calibre required would be those already in high paid private sector work at the level of stock options that would pale this remuneration. The type who would want this, would be those who want the kudos of working in that environment. Now to get somebody good and also keen - that's very few people indeed. Also working in government environments can be mixed, I've dealt with ministers with more common sense and ability to grasp the gravitas of a potential issue instantly and others who will kick any such can down roads of paperwork. Navigating all that is a skill that is needed on-par with the ability to tech. Knowing when to be blunt about an issue or when to pre-navigate the land mines of doubts. I can think of very few people who I've worked with who would be close to handling that. I know a fair few who could do the tech side, but the political/management navigation in government is a whole level of skill-set that you just can't get out of a book and whilst I know some good at that - both, a rare commodity indeed.
mattnewton 6y ago
FAANG offers more money to some entry level employees, and at least after working as rank-and-file at a private company, every mistake of the organization isn’t publicly laid at your feet.

baron816 6y ago

For a reporter at znet, that mush seem like a fortune. But yeah, for someone who might be qualified for that position, it would be a pittance. Governments really just need to be competitive with their pay if they’re going be successful in their missions. Though, for a lot of people, a successful government is undesirable...

unfocused 6y ago

I'm not saying I don't agree with paying more, I'm just noting that it's not likely to happen. For the same reason that someone who is a lawyer can be Prime Minister, and only make ~$250K running an entire country, or go private and make millions as a top lawyer. Same deal here in Canada. The best that recent CIO of Canada did was bump his pay to a Deputy Minister level, still around the $200K CDN mark. He (Alex Benay) left after 2 years on the job. Also, this job's true description, is convincing people entrenched in the old ways, to convert. That's it. Forget about everything else. At this level, you are not technical, you are trying to sell value to higher ups. Some of these folks are not technical at all, and you will hit roadblocks.