Chief Operations Information Officer, Band 8c

Job description

Job responsibilities

The Post Holder must:

- Demonstrate significant seniorlevel operational leadership experience within a complex healthcare or publicsector environment.

- Hold a relevant first degree and postgraduate (Masters-level) qualification in a subject such as digital health, informatics, operational management, or an equivalent discipline (or have equivalent experience).

- Possess a recognized leadership qualification or have equivalent experience with clear evidence of effective organisational leadership.

- Have extensive operational management experience within healthcare services

- Have strong knowledge of organisational pathways, workflows, and service delivery models, along with a detailed understanding of current digital and information systems used across the organisation.

- Demonstrate proven experience in implementing, optimising, and championing clinical or operational information systems.

- Have a strong understanding of the national NHS digital and informatics landscape, including current programmes, standards, and strategic developments.

- Possess highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence, negotiate, problemsolve, and lead engagement with diverse operational and clinical teams.

- Provide evidence of ongoing continuing professional development relevant to digital transformation, operational leadership, or informatics.

- Demonstrate substantial experience in leading complex change programmes and transformation initiatives.

- Possess a strong understanding of governance frameworks, particularly those related to digital risk, information assurance, and operational safety.

- Be able to effectively engage operational and clinical teams in new initiatives, developing improvement programmes that embed digital solutions into everyday practice.

- Have excellent organisational and planning capabilities.

- Demonstrate the ability to prioritise workload for themselves and, where required, for wider teams or programme areas.

- Possess strong digital literacy and a thorough understanding of national, regional, and local strategic priorities related to digital transformation and operational performance.

- Hold demonstrable project and programme management skills, with experience leading multidisciplinary initiatives

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Key Objectives

- Use technology and information to enable smarter, safer, and more efficient working

- Digitise operational and health records and workflows so that information can be shared quickly, appropriately, and securely to improve outcomes

- Provide public-facing digital services where appropriate

- Understand our data and its context to make informed decisions that improve service delivery and organisational performance

2. Key Accountabilities

- Provide expert operational direction and advice to the design, evaluation, implementation, and development of identified digital solutions and change programmes, strategies, plans, and activity to ensure they deliver safe, effective, evidence-based, and accessible services and systems

- Challenge current practice, promote innovation, and champion the development of an information-driven culture across the organisation

- Identify opportunities for standardisation and best practice across operational areas, focusing on the use of Health Tech, telehealth, decision support, workflows, and pathways to drive improvement

- Lead the operational workforce in developing new ways of working with digital solutions, including negotiation, process mapping, and implementation of changes in operational practice while ensuring service quality and safety

- Actively strive to unblock resistance to the implementation of digital operational solutions, including leading on key design inputs of those solutions and workflows

- Lead on changing the culture of the operational workforce to enbrace digital as an intrinsic component of their working lives

- Lead on developing a digitally literate operational workforce that leverages technology to support improved practice and enable better decision-making

- Support, train, and develop staff in digital literacy

- Represent the Trust externally at networks and conferences, presenting to large audiences online or in person

- Provide high-quality operational and informatics leadership across the organisation in collaboration with other stakeholder

3. Analytical & Judgement Skills

- Ability to analyse highly complex data and research findings relating that information to development of clinical pathways and digital intervention

- Make judgements involving a range of facts and situations which require complex analysis or comparison of a range of options, including data which may be conflicting, or of varying quality

- Explore ways to involve and consult with staff, patients, public and carers when developing or evaluating digital services for the care you provide, where appropriate

- Complex problem solving across multiple projects and developments to ensure project timescales are maintained. Planning and Organisational Skills

- Autonomously plan own workload in line with role requirements

- Contribute to the overall informatics strategy, including the planning and development of short, medium and long-term initiatives within own sphere of work

- Plan, develop and facilitate clinical digital projects in line with trust digital agenda, some of which are multi-stranded and will require long timelines of implementation.

- Lead audits to ensure a robust system of compliance with protocols and care pathways across clinical staff groups

4. Research and Development

- Undertake surveys, research or audits in own work area.

- Use examples of good working practice and experience from elsewhere (within and outside of the Trust) are explored and learning is acted upon.

- Promote the conduct and application of nursing informatics research in practice with a spirit of innovation and enquiry

- Assist in assessing new technological opportunities that impact/improve care delivery, enhance patient safety and workflow efficiency.

5. Communications and Working Relationships

- Provide leadership in the field of health informatics to support the Trust wide Informatics strategy

- Develop and maintain standards for health informatics in line with best evidence and national guidance

- Establish and maintain effective communication with multi professional / multi agency teams, individuals and large groups about complex matters in a manner which enables understanding and achieves engagement, where at times there is resistance to engagement

- Establish good relationships and leadership with staff at all levels to engage and advise on achieving high standards of care and encourage appropriate use of technology in doing so

- Regularly writes and presents reports to board level and below on all aspects of clinical digital strategy

- To have the ability to effectively represent clinical opinion across multiple professions and appropriately challenge where necessary, technological proposals to provide assurance on clinical safety of the same

Person Specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential

• Primary degree in operational management or related field or relevant experience
• Masters degree in associated relevant topic or relevant experience
• Evidence of ongoing CPD

Desirable

• Leadership qualification
• Qualification in informatics or equivalent experience

Experience

Essential

• Significant senior operational experience
• Evidence of innovation in practice
• Experience in leading audits and/or research

Desirable

• Experience of change management in at least one major informatics intervention

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Beacon House, GRH

Great Western Road

Gloucester

GL1 3NN

Employer's website

https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)