Head of Technical Operations

Job responsibilities

NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB (HWICB) are the NHS commissioning organisation working across the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care System (H&W ICS).

The post holder will play a pivotal role within the digital leadership team in shaping and managing our technological vision and strategy, managing technical elements of digital transformation, ensuring a fit for purpose and performant infrastructure and being responsible for technical operations for corporate ICB and Primary Care.

The post holder will be responsible for overseeing our technology systems, ensuring that they align with business objectives, meet digital and cyber standards and help drive innovation and productivity in our digital landscape.

The post holder will take the lead in driving forward technological programmes of work, in a complex and evolving environment, as well as supporting ICS wide technological improvement programmes, working closely with ICS partner organisations.

Key Working Relationships

• This role supports the business in driving transformation as well as value for money in planning, commissioning and service delivery.
• This role is designed to build a combination of subject matter expertise and technical skills to develop a strong service delivery.
• The digital transformation team is a great team focused on the interface between health, social care and digital transformation and innovation and speeding up the scaling of the strongest solutions with the biggest benefits to citizens and staff in NHS and social care.
• The post holder will build strong relationships with senior clinical, operational and digital leads across Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICS and across the Midlands region in support of taking forward key digital programmes and aligning them to improvements in the delivery of healthcare.
• Work with regional and national NHS x, NHS Digital, NHS England and Improvement teams on regional and national initiatives.
• Work with, support, and share work and learning with equivalent roles in other ICSs across the Midlands region.

• Lead and direct multi-disciplinary teams within HWICB and from across partner organisations within the H&W ICS.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

The post holder will:

• Commission and manage IT service delivery partners, ensuring service delivery contracts and SLAs meet required standards and policies
• Develop and implement technology strategies to support the ICB and Primary Care to support overall business objectives
• Ensure that fit for purpose infrastructure and technology is in place, kept up to date and managed in a safe and secure environment to meet all standards expected of NHS organisations
• Ensure the security and integrity of our technology infrastructure and systems to meet the requirements (legal and regulatory) of an NHS organisation
• Responsibility for cyber security across ICB and Primary Care IT
• Lead the development, implementation and maintenance of ICB and GP information security policies and standards
• Ensure robust and fit for purpose disaster recovery and business continuity plans are in place, with a regular testing schedule
• Act as a key escalation and liaison point for major technology incidents and outages
• Take the lead on ensuring technical elements of DSPT (or any other NHS digital standard) are understood and develop and manage standards and policies in relation to operational technology delivery and ensure adherence to those
• Lead on technology-based change and improvement programmes of work including development of business cases, funding bids, planning and management of project and programme teams to deliver
• Drive innovation and change in order to maintain and improve standards, ensure value for money and fit for purpose services
• Oversee the design, development and implementation of technology solutions, products and services
• Manage the suppliers relationships including supplier assurance and performance, and negotiate contracts for technology products and services
• Tactfully but firmly manage any service provider or supplier under performance or delivery gaps
• Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends to information decision making

• Work collaboratively across ICS partners to help shape and inform design and standards in future technology products and services
• Provide technology related subject matter expertise to programmes and projects within the ICB, Primary Care and across the ICS
• Lead cross ICS programmes in relation to renewal or consolidation of technology products and services
• Develop credibility within the ICS in order to persuade, influence and affect change at senior management levels and ensuring that the key decisions from a digital transformation perspective are understood and made at correct levels.
• Contribute to the design and delivery of a programme that will prioritise innovations and improvements that make the most difference and accelerate implementation and realisation of business change and benefits to clinical practice and patients.
• Contribute to the development of digital strategy and delivery plans, including business cases and funding bids, to support the delivery of prioritised digital programmes.
• Liaise with partners across NHSX and NHS Digital and NHS and Social Care bodies to co-ordinate activities across teams and provide a cohesive programme of activities.
• Outline and promote the mission and objectives of the H&W ICS digital programme and their activities in enhancing the performance of the NHS through greater adoption of technology.

Leadership and management

• Matrix management multi-disciplinary teams to deliver programmes and projects. Teams will often be from a number of different ICS provider organisations and suppliers of services to the ICS.
• Planning allocation and use of technical and subject matter expertise staff, as well as project and programme resources.
• Recruitment of temporary programme and project resources.
• Working with temporary staff to bring them smoothly into working with the digital team and project/programme teams, and ensure they are performing as required within their roles.
• Working with partners (such as IT support providers) to scope, commission and monitor delivery against specific programmes of work.
• Commissioning consultants or agency resources to carry out discrete pieces of technical work where required, ensuring that deliverables are clear and that resources are delivering against agreed statements of work.

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to master's or post graduate level in IT, digital or related field or equivalent experience working at a commensurate band/level in an operational digital role.
• Managing Successful Programmes Practitioner (MSP) or Managing Successful Programmes Advanced Practitioner
• Certified information systems security professional (CISSP) or Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT)
• Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to role.

Desirable

• Management qualification
• Specialist technical qualification
• Membership of relevant professional body (e.g. BCS, FEDIP)

Experience

Essential

• Substantial relevant experience in a senior leadership position
• Substantial experience in IT operational management and/or commissioning and management of IT service delivery partners
• Extensive experience of leading large-scale digital change and transformation projects.
• Experience in managing significant resource in terms of finances, people and contracts
• Experiencing of managing digital infrastructure services to UK cyber security standards
• Experience of managing business continuity and major IT incident response and recovery
• Experience of managing external audits against technology standards
• Excellent people management and leadership skills, including ability to accurately assess the potential of individuals, delegate appropriately and effectively, and the ability to manage and motivate staff ranging from operational support professionals to senior technical staff.
• Demonstrable evidence of leading large-scale infrastructure refresh or improvement programmes.
• Evidence of successful risk and issue management regarding complex, multi-organisationalprogrammesof work.
• Experience of effective management of IT service management contracts and technology suppliers

Desirable

• Experience of IT operational management in NHS or public sector organisation
• Experience of planning and managing large competitive procurements (either on frameworks or via OJEU) for digital solutions
• Track record of enabling effective service delivery in a public service environment.
• Experience of service and quality improvement methods and their implementation.

Skills

Essential

• Solid understanding of modern digital infrastructure design, standards and trends
• Understanding of ISO27001, Network & information systems regulations and Cyber Assessment Framework
• Understanding of the GP IT operating framework
• Understanding of SLAs and ITIL standards for IT service delivery
• Ability to drive strategic planning activities and to develop plans for work activities over the medium and long-term.
• The ability to identify internal/external business issues and developments and use knowledge to focus work and drive improvements.
• Ability to write and bring together complex information into business cases and project/programme documentation
• Demonstrate the ability to plan over the short, medium and long-term altering plans to fit with the rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to effectively plan and think strategically and analyse and resolve problems in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• Able to provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information.
• Takes decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be a number of courses of action
• Able to draw qualitative and quantitative information from a range of sources and present it in a clear and concise way.
• Ability to successfully prioritise and manage a busy workload.
• Able to negotiate on difficult and contentious issues including performance and change.
• Ability to maintain objectivity and good decision making under pressure.
• Ability to explain/present highly complex ideas to a diverse audience.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Excellent communication and presentation skills and an ability to engage successfully with a wide range of people at all levels within the organisation.
• Good ability to build relations with internal and external partners which are critical in securing the strategic objectives of the business.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work, think clearly and lead others under pressure (e.g incident, cyber attack)
• Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making.
• The ability to show tact and diplomacy in working with a range of stakeholders and organisations.
• The ability to describe complex technical information to people in ways that they can understand
• The ability to negotiate commercially with suppliers and hold them to account to contract performance

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).