Job responsibilities
KEY KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE
The post holder will be expected to demonstrate:
Strategic Leadership and Alignment: Proven ability to work with the Director of Digital Operations / CTO to translate the Trust's overarching Digital Strategy into actionable, short- and medium-term Infrastructure and Service Delivery roadmaps, ensuring alignment with Trust and ICS goals.
Infrastructure Governance and Assurance: Strong capability to advise on the strategic design and technical evolution of core Digital Infrastructure, assuring the Director/Board that solutions are resilient, future-proof, secure, and cost-effective for 24/7 clinical operations.
Critical Risk and Resilience: Extensive experience in leading and governing Critical Incident Management (CIM) processes and possessing a strong understanding of digital risk management and governance frameworks.
Service Transformation and Benefits Realisation: Demonstrated track record of leading service-led change, particularly in driving IT Service Management maturity and linking continuous service improvement outcomes (e.g., increased efficiency, improved user experience) to strategic objectives.
Financial and Commercial Acumen: Proven ability to manage significant Digital Budgets (Revenue and Capital), develop compelling business cases for infrastructure investment, and deliver Cost Improvement Plans (CIPs) through effective supplier management.
Collaborative Stakeholder Management: Excellent skill in building strong, collaborative relationships with a significant number of strategic stakeholders (clinical, operational, and external partners) to ensure productive partnerships and shared ownership of digital stability.
People and Workforce Development: Experience in workforce planning and developing the capabilities of multi-disciplinary teams across technical infrastructure and service desk functions, ensuring long-term succession pathways.
MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The post holder will provide professional, strategic, and operational leadership across the Digital Operations & Infrastructure portfolio, ensuring service continuity, driving technical capability, and leading cultural excellence.
Key Responsibilities
Direct the strategic and operational functions for Digital Infrastructure (Server, Network, Data Centre), Service Desk (1st/2nd line support), Telephony (Fixed and Mobile), IT Admin, and the Small Works / Projects pipeline.
Ensure the availability, security, and resilience of all core infrastructure platforms that underpin critical clinical and corporate systems (EPR, PACS, etc.).
Provide visible senior leadership in Critical Incident Management (CIM), commanding the response to major service outages to minimise clinical impact.
Act as the strategic link between the overarching Digital Strategy and the operational delivery teams, ensuring all tactical workstreams and investments support the Trusts long-term goals.
Leadership and Culture
Provide visible, compassionate, and collaborative leadership to all multi-disciplinary teams within the portfolio, fostering a high-performance culture that reflects the Trust values: Caring, Inclusive, Compassionate, Accountable.
Act as a visible and inspiring leader, driving a service-led culture committed to first-time resolution and excellent user experience across all service desk and infrastructure teams.
Champion a culture of openness, learning, and continuous improvement, ensuring staff feel empowered to contribute to service evolution.
Strategy, Planning, Quality & Assurance
Develop and execute a strategic roadmap for both Service Delivery and Infrastructure renewal, ensuring technical investment aligns with operational capacity and long-term resilience requirements.
Define, monitor, and report on critical Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), using performance data to drive service quality and maturity.
Lead the architectural review of infrastructure platforms, ensuring they are scalable, highly available, and capable of supporting the Trust's evolving clinical informatics needs.
Innovation, Research and Development
Champion the adoption of modern, innovative tooling and methodologies (e.g., automation, proactive monitoring, Cloud adoption principles) to drive operational efficiency and stability across the infrastructure estate.
Lead service transformation initiatives, focusing on leveraging technology to enhance the staff digital experience and increase the efficiency of clinical and corporate workflows.
Maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of leading-edge digital technology and services relevant to NHS operations and resilience.
Communications and Working Relationships
Maintain strategic relationships with a significant number of stakeholders across clinical, operational, and corporate divisions, translating complex technical information into clear business terms for effective decision-making.
Manage strategic relationships with third-party suppliers, ensuring high-quality delivery against contractual obligations and actively contributing to contract negotiation and performance reviews.
Deputise for the Director of Digital Operations (CTO) as required, representing the Digital Operations function at senior clinical and executive forums.
Planning & Organisational Skills
Lead the long-term planning for infrastructure lifecycle management (servers, network, hardware), ensuring appropriate resource allocation and capital investment planning.
Design and implement governance processes for the intake, prioritisation, and resource allocation for minor IT works and small projects, balancing delivery with essential business-as-usual activities.
Ensure robust operational planning exists for all services, including physical asset management, software licensing, and inventory control.
Governance
Accountable for establishing and enforcing the Critical Incident Management (CIM) framework and ensuring timely Post-Incident Reviews (PIRs) and Root Cause Analysis (RCA).
Lead the development, review, and assurance of all ITIL processes (Incident, Problem, Request, and Access Management) to maintain a robust and compliant service management framework.
Accountable for infrastructure-level technical assurance and ensuring rigorous compliance with NHS standards, including the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) and mandatory testing of Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans.
Training and Capability Building
Support the development of digital training strategies that support workforce capability and safe, confident, use of Trust technology.
Drive user adoption of self-service tools and knowledge bases, contributing to the wider Trust goals for digital literacy and competence.
Ensure technical staff receive appropriate and continuous professional development (CPD) to maintain expert knowledge across the evolving infrastructure and service delivery domains.
Workforce
Lead the development and implementation of a long-term workforce plan for the Digital Operations and Infrastructure teams, focusing on critical skills identification and succession planning.
Be responsible for the line management, development, recruitment, and performance management of senior staff and team leaders within the portfolio.
Ensure appropriate operational leadership and management capability exists at all levels within the function to achieve strategic objectives.
Other Responsibilities
To take part in regular performance appraisal.
Undertake any training required to maintain competency including mandatory training, e.g. Manual Handling.
Contribute to and work within a safe working environment.
Comply with Trust Infection Control Policies and minimise the risk of healthcare associated infections.
Abide by any relevant code of professional conduct and/or practice applicable to you.
Expected to be onsite regularly
A member of the Digital Gold on call rota
