Director of Digital Health

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership

Provide visible clinical and digital leadership and strategic direction for the EPR and clinical systems portfolio.

Ensure all clinical applications align with Trust, professional and national NHS digital strategies.

Act as the accountable clinical and digital officer for systems that enable safe, effective and efficient patient care.

Lead delivery of the Digital Strategy clinical systems plan, ensuring measurable improvements in quality, safety, and patient experience.

Translate clinical needs and digital vision into executable and value-driven delivery plans.

2. Electronic Patient Record (EPR) Transformation & Optimisation

Lead the EPR transformation and optimisation programme, ensuring clinically safe delivery against agreed outcomes.

Drive clinical engagement, ensuring the system is co-designed, tested and optimised by frontline clinicians to meet real-world clinical, operational and patient needs.

Oversee change control, configuration, testing, release, and benefits realisation for all EPR modules.

Ensure effective interoperability and data flow across systems.

Monitor and report on clinical outcomes, adoption and user satisfaction.

3. Clinical Systems Management

Lead the management and continuous improvement of the Trusts portfolio of clinical systems, ensuring system rationalisation and alignment with enterprise architecture principles.

Oversee supplier performance and service delivery for all clinical applications.

Ensure robust clinical and digital governance around configuration, integration and standards.

Ensure compliance with information governance and data protection requirements.

4. Clinical Safety

Act as Senior Responsible Clinician for Digital Clinical Safety across all digital clinical systems.

Ensure compliance with NHS Digital clinical safety standards (DCB0129/DCB0160).

Work closely with the CCIO to embed clinical safety throughout digital programmes.

Oversee incident management, post-implementation reviews, and the integration of lessons learned.

5. Digital Skills & Literacy

Provide strategic oversight of the Trusts Digital Skills and Digital Literacy.

Develop and deliver a Trust-wide programme to improve digital confidence, capability and literacy amongst clinical staff.

Ensure digital skills development is embedded into workforce development, clinical education and professional practice.

Work with education leads, clinical leaders and HR to align digital capability with role requirements and safe patient care.

Monitor digital literacy levels and define improvement targets, reporting progress to the executive team.

6. Leadership and People Management

Provide strategic leadership to digital delivery teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Line manage senior digital delivery managers and clinical systems leads, ensuring clarity of objectives and accountability.

Support workforce capability development aligned to the NHS Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework.

Promote equality, diversity, and inclusion across all aspects of team management and service delivery.

7. Stakeholder and Partnership Working

Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders including clinicians, operational leaders, suppliers, and NHS partners.

Represent the Trust in ICS, regional, and national digital forums.

Contribute to business cases, funding bids, and assurance submissions related to digital delivery.

Ensure that digital delivery supports integrated care pathways across organisational boundaries.

Education / Qualifications

Essential

• Clinician with current registration (GMC, NMC, HCPC or equivalent)
• Master's level education or equivalent experience

Desirable

• Project/Programme Management qualification

Experience

Essential

• Significant senior leadership in digital health
• Extensive experience in senior digital leadership roles in the NHS or a complex health organisation.
• Proven delivery of large-scale EPR or clinical systems transformation.
• Strong understanding of clinical workflows, patient safety, and how digital systems enable clinical care.
• Knowledge of national NHS digital policies.
• Demonstrable ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and manage change in complex environments.
• Experience of leading digital skills development, clinical engagement programmes and workforce transformation in a healthcare setting

Desirable

• Experience in mental health/community settings

EPR/Systems Delivery

Essential

• Proven delivery of large-scale EPR or clinical systems programmes

Desirable

• Experience with TPP (SystmOne)

Clinical Safety

Essential

• Knowledge of DCB0129/DCB0160 and clinical risk management

Desirable

• Experience as a Clinical Safety Officer

Leadership

Essential

• Strong track record of managing senior teams and complex stakeholders

Desirable

• Experience developing digital professions

Interpersonal Skills

Essential

• Excellent leadership, communication, influencing, and negotiation skills

Technical Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding of interoperability, integration, and application lifecycle

Desirable

• Knowledge of HL7, FHIR standards

Digital Literacy & Skills

Essential

• Experience leading organisation-wide digital literacy or skills programmes

Desirable

• Formal education / training qualification

Values and Behaviours

Essential

• Respect and dignity - valuing every individual's contribution.
• Commitment to quality of care - striving for excellence in all aspects of service delivery.
• Compassion - acting with empathy and understanding.
• Improving lives - driving innovation and improvement.
• Working together - fostering collaboration across disciplines.
• Everyone counts - ensuring equity and inclusion for staff and patients.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).