Cunnington, who has also previously worked as interim chief of digital IT at Lebara, an international mobile service provider, started his newly created role this week.
He said: “The work of the DWP is incredibly important and the role of digital services is vital to delivering reform, improving the quality of services to the public, and saving the tax payer money through greater efficiency.”
Cunnington’s early career was in IT consultancy working for PwC, before he joined Goldman Sachs where he held various technology roles over eight years.
He moved to T-Mobile as executive vice president in their product and services division in 2000, and moved to 'app' builders Refresh Mobile in 2005, before starting at Vodafone in 2008.
DWP permanent secretary Robert Devereux welcomed his appointment, adding: “Kevin has a wealth of experience in transforming digital services and successfully delivering web and mobile services. These skills and experience will prove invaluable to the department.”
Other recent appointments into government from Vodafone have included HM Revenue and Custom’s new chief digital and information officer Mark Dearnley, who was appointed in August. Having previously worked as chief information officer at Vodafone, he is due to take up his post this month.