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Government slammed for £160,000 digital-czar job posting

by Dan Leahul, Brand Republic 23-Feb-09, 09:00

LONDON - The government has been accused of wasting a "grotesque amount of public money" as it seeks to hire a digital guru, whose job will be to help MPs connect with voters online using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Read Gordon's Republic blog post -- Obama's digital guru says it can work for Labour.

A Whitehall vacancy has been posted on the Government's cabinet website, calling for a "director of digital engagement" with an annual salary between £81,600-£160,000.

The job ad reads "In recognition of the huge increase in the use of the internet, digital communities and social media, the Cabinet Office seeks to appoint a highly credible digital communicator to be Director of Digital Engagement across Government.

"The post will work across Government departments to encourage, support and challenge them in moving from communicating to citizens on the web to conversing and collaborating with them through digital technology. This is a great opportunity for a leading light in the use of digital technology to transform the way Government engages citizens and make their mark in a very high profile environment."

Conservative shadow ministers have blasted the posting, saying: "It defies belief that ministers are faffing around on Facebook and Twitter.

"It is a grotesque amount of public money to waste on a pointless job."

The three-year contract calls for a new digital-czar who will direct how government engages with voters and sells its policies online, leading a small team who will also optimise government's digital spend.

The job follows recent attempts of the Conservative and Labour parties to increase their presence online.

Earlier this month, Labour launched a new campaign, created by their digital agency Tangent One, which enables MPs to upload communication targeted at their constituents on Facebook, Twitter and through email.

Thomas Gensemer of Blue State Digital, who led Barack Obama's online campaign has been rumoured to be making a bid to take over Labour's digital account from Tangent One.

Meanwhile, there are around a dozen Labour MPs who use Twitter, including David Lammy, Kerry McCarthy and Tom Harris.

In January, the Labour Party unveiled LabourList.org, a social network for Labour members and Labourspace.com, an online Party soapbox, as part of its new digital strategy.

Conservative leader David Cameron keeps a regularly updated blog on the Tory website and the Party recently hired frontbench MP David Hunt to lead its digital campaign for the next election.

A number of Tory MPs also use Twitter, including Cameron Rose and Ken Norman.

Read Gordon's Republic blog post -- Obama's digital guru says it can work for Labour.

Comments

Carl Martin - 23/02/2009

It just shows you how bloody naive they are if they consider this to be a pointless job! Because of course, social media didn't play any role whatsoever in the American presidential elections....oh wait...

Carl Martin - 23/02/2009

Mind you, £160k might be a bit steep!! :)

Tom Barnes - 23/02/2009

There is a massive opportunity to re-enfranchise the British public. If someone can implement this successfully then £160k is great value for money. If it's an empty PR exercise like much of the current activity by Labour and Conservative, then it won't be.

John Gallen - 23/02/2009

It's too much money, end of story.

David Willis - 23/02/2009

It's arguable whether this should be a governent post, but this is certainly a position that all credible political parties should have. MP's probably don't have the time to learn everything about the digital world, but failiure to comprehend it's impact would be very short sighted. So they need help to communicate in the digital world and they need to pay for that help - big deal, just make sure the results are measurable. In the digital world everything can be measured and the results will rightly reward those who are successful!

dano - 23/02/2009

surely a job for a marketing exec not a senior position? raising/maintaining profile and engagement with social networking/ugc sites is a job normally done by lower levels of the marketing departments or am i wrong?

sara chapman - 23/02/2009

The government communications will have more clout this way - people will actually take notice rather than walking past and ignoring another large print ad on their way to work. Communications strategy always eats into a massive amount of budget for any political campaign. it just so happens that this budget is being spent online rather than on a large piece of print which somehow makes it less understandable and less easy to justify.

Tom Watson - 23/02/2009

Slightly misleading headline given that the job is advertised between £81K to £160K, depending on experience. After all, it's advertised in your jobs section. Did you ask the Cabinet Office for a quote or just take a straight lift from the Mail on Sunday? http://jobs.brandrepublic.com/job/348344/director-of-digital-engagement

anton rush - 25/02/2009

Looks like a good step forward from the old surgery style dialogue with constituents. anything that makes MP's more accessible \(and following on from that more accountable) is a good move. If this is not just a clever piece of Pr then it will be worth every penny.

CF - 02/03/2009

A top digital creative can earn this much in the commercial sector - as can other marketing people with the right digital skills. So if the government pays below market rates, they're hardly going to attract the digital brain power they need - or, in short: pay peanuts, get monkeys. I think, as has been said above, that if this works it could be a really good move for govt.

I Scream Man - 03/03/2009

Love it - according to Jeremy Hunt, Shadow minister for Culture Media and Sport - the Tory party will lead the digital way during the coming years - and yet MPs would be "faffing" if using Twitter, facebook etc to engage. Big Fucking Fail